Does anybody do wrenching without gloves & why?

[Rst277]

You have to protect your hands. Imagine how difficult it would be to do all the things you enjoy doing with even limited hand function. I wear gloves all the time and have different ones for a variety of jobs. There are some really good, thin, grippy little suckers that are great for working on cars. They save you from a lot of cuts and scrapes. Petroleum products are also carcinogenic - cancer is one thing I'm scared of!

 

[38Chevy454]

I'm like most, leather gloves for welding or sharp metal. Sometimes leather gloves for outside yard work, or if it's real cold. But I grew up not using gloves and I find it hard to get feel what I am doing when using tools or doing mechanical type work if I have gloves on, even thin latex or nitrile. So almost never use gloves when doing work in the garage. Clean up afterward, sometimes just live with resulting oil/grease in the finger grooves and nails.

 

[ludakris04]

I just about always wear gloves. Early on I worked at dealers and saw enough old guys hands.. I started wearing gloves, and eye protection.
Funny thing I noticed 20+ years ago.. domestics = no gloves, imports = gloves..

 

[mmb617]

Like many of my fellow old farts I don't wear gloves to keep from getting greasy as that's the way I've always done it. Leather gloves are for welding or handling sheet metal, that sort of thing, but general mechanics work is glove free.

It's an old guy thing. My son who's 28 and works as an auto tech wouldn't even think about doing anything in the garage at home without gloving up first. I think he'd glove up to sweep the floor.

 

[zmotorsports]

I only wear the nitrile gloves when doing extremely dirty jobs such as brakes or clutch and only when I get to the actual dirty parts. I also have some gauntlet style nitrile gloves that I don when I have my hands in the parts washer, which is something I only started doing about 10 years or so ago.

In my 33+ year career wrenching I have not been one to wear gloves for general wrenching work. I have co-workers who can't seem to even do paperwork without putting on gloves and will go through multiple pairs a day which I simply don't understand. If they don't want to get their hands dirty they sure chose the wrong profession.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Like many of my fellow old farts I don't wear gloves to keep from getting greasy as that's the way I've always done it. Leather gloves are for welding or handling sheet metal, that sort of thing, but general mechanics work is glove free.

It's an old guy thing. My son who's 28 and works as an auto tech wouldn't even think about doing anything in the garage at home without gloving up first. I think he'd glove up to sweep the floor.

Lol I am 18 and am a mechanic and only wear them for oil changes cause usually I rip them for anything else I am trying to do. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty as long as I don’t get my hat dirty I am alright.


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[couch67]

I usually remember to put gloves on after I've bashed my knuckles in

 

[rbgearz]

Never wear gloves unless handling hot materials. At work, we were required to wear gloves but I never did. Most of the guys would get a little scratch and run to first aid. I'd slap a band aid on and go back to work. My hands have taken a beating but I can't stand having gloves on.

 

[engineer2]

Gloves are for pussies when turning wrenches, unless it's covered in nasty grease.
If working with solvents I'll wear nitrile gloves. Too many horror stories of guys who spent decades rebuilding carbs who died of liver cancer.

 

[Jwallace1]

i think it's funny all the responses you get that say they're for pussies or it somehow makes you tougher not to wear them. i guess cutting your hands i considered tough and not dumb when it was easily preventable by wearing a pair of gloves. i work for a heavy equipment dealer and about 10 years ago it was required we wear safety glasses and it was funny how much of a fight it was to get people to wear them and now the attitude has changed to where its crazy to see someone not wearing them and you will bring it up with a fellow employee if you see them not wearing safety glasses. the same issue came up with gloves when it became a safety policy a few years ago, lots of old school mechanics that gave all of the excuses listed in the last few pages including my father that has been wrenching for almost 40 years. now i go over to his house on the weekends and he is even wearing gloves at home now, it came down having the right glove for the job available and getting what is comfortable or you're not going to wear them, if you do jobs that require a lot of dexterity you can go without for that task but when you're doing something like throwing chains to tie down equipment and slice your hand open on a rusty chain there is no excuse. its been interesting to see how the culture has changed from thinking something was totally ridiculous and you hated it to now its part of our everyday life and you wouldn't do a job without it. gloves, safety glasses, ear protection etc. when i see people working construction running an abrasive cutoff saw with no gloves no eye protection and no hearing protection i just shake my head where 10 years ago i wouldn't have given it a second thought. just because its the way its always been done doesn't mean its the right way. i agree they don't always make a job easier but it is nice not having your hands always cut up and filthy at the end of the day.

just my two cents

 

[Jon_E]

Used to wear gloves only when doing yard work or firewood. Always Wells-Lamont leather pigskin gloves. Barely got n out of them. For the past six years I've been part of the healthcare industry and gloves are a constant thing. Now I wear nitrile gloves when doing greasy stuff or painting at home, and the latex-coated fabric gloves (Showa Atlas 300) when doing firewood and yard work. It takes many cords of handling firewood to wear out those things. The older I get the more often I wear gloves. Worth the investment to save your hands. I'm glad I stocked up on the black 9 mil HF nitril gloves before this pandemic set in.

 

[BearsFan315]

yes...
Mechanix for general auto work, etc
Nitrile 5mil for greasy gunky jobs 7mil for brake cleaner and other light chemicals
Chem Gloves for heavy duty and nasty chemicals

got a shelve and dispenser just for my gloves

at work they have been pushy hand safety so now we can NOT touch a part with out gloves, only exception is if you are operating rotating/machinery equipment. standard issue gloves are cut resistant. get caught touching a part without gloves ?!? do not pass go do not collect $200.

 

[Dutch01]

No gloves as a rule. Will put one glove on - snug fitting pig skin glove - when welding (left hand that hold the items) but only after I have burned myself . Might put gloves on when pruning / getting rid of thorny shrubs

 

[smackey05]

Always without gloves. The only time I will use gloves is with harsh chemicals. For the standard car or snowmobile work the tactile feel helps.

 

[GJreader]

In my college days, I worked for a stone mason who would always yell at me to put put gloves on and to take care of my hands. Now I try to wear gloves when I remember. I usually wear one glove when removing oil drain plugs, one glove when holding parts to spray paint. Definitely try to when handling lumber/firewood (but not always) because I hate getting splinters and I hate handling wet pressure treated lumber. So sometimes my hands get greasy and sometimes not. Sometimes I get splinters and sometimes not.

 

[CN Spots]

I use nitrile gloves to keep the blood off of my engine after I forgot to put on the mechanic gloves.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

I hate gloves ...makes my hands sweat. The only time I'll use them is if I have my hands in the solvent tank cleaning parts...but I still hate them. Makes me cringe when I watch guy's wrenching on a TV show that's wearing gloves...my hand start sweating just watching!

 

[engineer2]

Speaking of gloves, I see guys TIG welding without gloves or sleeves. Not needed?
When I was a MIG welder, forgetting your protective gear earned you a nice UV burn.

 

[Lassen Forge]

That’s cool I didn’t know they had the impact ones

Took some searching to find good ones - making sure the foam density was right, and there was enough. I like the Carhartt Pro-palms, the ones I got from S/O were a no go. Google "vibration Gloves" or something like that...

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Took some searching to find good ones - making sure the foam density was right, and there was enough. I like the Carhartt Pro-palms, the ones I got from S/O were a no go. Google "vibration Gloves" or something like that...

That’s good to know I will look into them


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[eastbaysubaru]

yes...
Mechanix for general auto work, etc
Nitrile 5mil for greasy gunky jobs 7mil for brake cleaner and other light chemicals
Chem Gloves for heavy duty and nasty chemicals

got a shelve and dispenser just for my gloves

at work they have been pushy hand safety so now we can NOT touch a part with out gloves, only exception is if you are operating rotating/machinery equipment. standard issue gloves are cut resistant. get caught touching a part without gloves ?!? do not pass go do not collect $200.

This guy gets it. Regardless of safety requirements, I end up washing my hands too many times if I'm not wearing gloves for anything dirty/greasy. My hands are always dry and cracking as it is and that just exacerbates the issue.

Before the COVID ****, I'd just get a two-pack of the nitrile gloves from Costco and they'd last a year or more. As my friend's father used to say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Glove me up!

-Brian

 

[chuck356]

I'm old-school, no gloves, eating my sandwich with greasy hands guy. I do wear welding gloves when handing hot items or leather gloves for gnarly items, like firewood.

 

[mepstein]

I didn't used to wear gloves but now I do all the time. My dad is a general surgeon and my best friend a brain surgeon so I figure if they can find the dexterity they need while wearing gloves, so can I. I have lots of different gloves for different uses. I love being able to take off the gloves, walk into the house and eat a meal with a light hand wash. And my wife hates if I touch her with "mechanics hands" so there's that...
*****, maybe, but they've sure saved my hands from wear and abuse.

 

[CraigStu]

I spent >20 years as Lexus tech and wore latex gloves all the time. We were required to wear them so we could take them off to drive the cars and they provided them. In the summer w/ more sweat I sometimes had 2-3 pairs going. Once they get damp they are hard to get back on. So I pull them off in a way that they end up inside out and set them on a shop rag to dry while I work in the next pair. On one weekend I was helping a neighbor do something on his boat. He said something about he couldn't believe I work on cars for a living since my hands were so clean. BTW my wife appreciates my clean hands also.

 

[Showkey]

DIY vs Profession makes a slight difference but:

Skin cancer and blood poisoning from prolonged exposure. It’s real hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

In the last 10-15 years a lot of guys have seen the light on skin issues. Same for eye and hearing protection. Both my neighbors are 65-70 have hearing aids paid for by the industry they worked in.

 

[Buckaroo5]

I wear nitrile golves to do lots of jobs and, when doing a short duration heavy task, just put leather gloves over them. My favorite nitrile gloves are the Microflex Midnight but have not been able to get them since Covid. I had a few boxes stocked up but down to my final one. I usually get them from Zoro but they just cancelled my last order (after 3+ months). I am conserving them, letting them dry inside-out and reusing them as much as possible. I recently got a box of 100 Vulcan brand gloves from Costco in-store for $10 and just tried them - not bad. Going to buy some more.

Buckaroo

 

[Metal-Marc]

DIY vs Profession makes a slight difference but:

Skin cancer and blood poisoning from prolonged exposure. It’s real hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

In the last 10-15 years a lot of guys have seen the light on skin issues. Same for eye and hearing protection. Both my neighbors are 65-70 have hearing aids paid for by the industry they worked in.

This. Gloves, eye protection, ear protections, workboots, why take a chance.

 

[DGersic]

Welding, leather gloves.

Yard work, some kind of gloves. Usually a “mechanic” glove. Helps keep blisters from forming, and I type for a living.

Wrenching, gloves. For wrench work, a mechanic glove. For chemicals, cleaning, oil, grease, or dirty work, the thick nitrile ones from HF, or neoprene gauntlet size.

I saw the light while using Super Clean to scrub dirty parts. A few days later, the skin was flaking off my hands. That hurt.

Taking off gloves and having my hands clean is nice. Then I’m only dirty from wrist to elbow.. When I turned wrenches for money, my hands were permanently black stained. That took months to go away when I stopped.



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[BaMaDuDe87]

You guys who wear the thicker nitrile gloves, can you post what kind you like?

I would wear them when doing auto work, but my hands sweat so I have trouble getting them on most of the time and when I do get them on, they seems to rip very quickly, so I skip the hassle.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

You guys who wear the thicker nitrile gloves, can you post what kind you like?

I would wear them when doing auto work, but my hands sweat so I have trouble getting them on most of the time and when I do get them on, they seems to rip very quickly, so I skip the hassle.

The Harbor Freight 9mil black ones are great and if you take them off you can put them back on after awhile if you just done a light job or something in them and they are very durable what would have ripped a lighter glove won’t rip these.


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[andyvh1959]

Rarely wear gloves as I prefer the easy grasp and tactile feel of my hands and fingers. Sweat in the gloves drives me crazy. Some chemicals, glues, Great Stuff, I do wear gloves as I seem destined to get all that stuff on my hands if I don't wear gloves. But nearly all of my wrenching work is done without gloves.

 

[Showkey]

Welding, leather gloves.

Yard work, some kind of gloves. Usually a “mechanic” glove. Helps keep blisters from forming, and I type for a living.

Wrenching, gloves. For wrench work, a mechanic glove. For chemicals, cleaning, oil, grease, or dirty work, the thick nitrile ones from HF, or neoprene gauntlet size.

I saw the light while using Super Clean to scrub dirty parts. A few days later, the skin was flaking off my hands. That hurt.

Taking off gloves and having my hands clean is nice. Then I’m only dirty from wrist to elbow.. When I turned wrenches for money, my hands were permanently black stained. That took months to go away when I stopped.



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There another post on the “PURPLE“ cleaners.......it’s active ingredient is sodium hydroxide ( aka LYE) .

 

[goingtoarizona]

I visited a buddy of mine who was replacing struts on an old Honda and I was helping him out. The cars was an oily, greasy mess. I declined his offer of using gloves and in about 30 seconds my hands were so oily I couldn't do anything. I washed up, put gloves on and didn't like the way they made my hands sweat.

Later on, I worked at his shop for 15 years and always wore gloves. When a piece of metal is about to slit your hand, the glove will resist and you can feel it before you get cut.

I no longer wrench, but seldom don't wear gloves. I like having clean hands and fingernails. Your skin absorbs chemicals and they go right into your blood stream, this isn't good. Our hands are callused and used to it so we don't notice. Recently I spilled some kerosene on my shin and got a large chemical burn and now have a permanent scar.

Call me ***** all you want, I prefer to stay healthy and clean.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I visited a buddy of mine who was replacing struts on an old Honda and I was helping him out. The cars was an oily, greasy mess. I declined his offer of using gloves and in about 30 seconds my hands were so oily I couldn't do anything. I washed up, put gloves on and didn't like the way they made my hands sweat.



Later on, I worked at his shop for 15 years and always wore gloves. When a piece of metal is about to slit your hand, the glove will resist and you can feel it before you get cut.



I no longer wrench, but seldom don't wear gloves. I like having clean hands and fingernails. Your skin absorbs chemicals and they go right into your blood stream, this isn't good. Our hands are callused and used to it so we don't notice. Recently I spilled some kerosene on my shin and got a large chemical burn and now have a permanent scar.



Call me ***** all you want, I prefer to stay healthy and clean.

That ***** about the kerosene. Once I got diesel on my hands from my dads truck and it stung for awhile but didn’t get any chemical burns after that each time I changed the fuel filter I wore gloves lol. Gas doesn’t bother my hands at all and I enjoy the smell so if I get it on me it doesn’t bother me one bit.


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[logical]

No gloves i'm not a *****.

That's your criteria for ***** vs not a *****?

Sent from my garage.

 

[Jason B]

Someone link a nice pair of gloves they like?

Also, I have a big cactus outside and when I weed it, not matter which gloves I wear the invisible needles still go through the gloves and into my hand! Even rubber gloves!

 

[Rst277]

I wear different gloves for different tasks. Oil and gas are carcinogens and I don't need anymore scars. Nitrile gloves for dealing with oil and fuels. I like these gloves for mechanic work - you can still feel what your doing, good grip and cut protection.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/10-pr-large-latex-coated-gloves/A-p8641292e

For general work,yardwork, construction, hauling scrap a variety like this:

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/cr5-pro-work-gloves-xxl/A-p8899841e

If you are going to work in a cold or wet environment - or both, Jokasafe gloves and mitts are the best. Tough, great grip, warm and waterproof, oil and chemical proof.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/jokatherm-mitts/A-p8566200e

Ralph in winnipeg

 

[lolaetype]

Depends on what I'm doing. Dirty, nasty greasy, I wear latex or nitrile gloves. A good chance of cuts or abrasions, I wear mechanics gloves. If I have to reach into areas up to my elbows and there is a chance of cuts I wear kevlar sleeves.

 

[Iowafox]

I am one where if it's oily stuff I use ComfortFlex Complete T9559 Nitrile gloves. I wear them with oil and any gas because I want to stay healthy and my wife appreciates my clean hands. When we first started dating I did the oil on my truck and touched her after wiping most of it off, still left a hand print and man she gave me a look that would kill. I have since learned to wear gloves when doing that stuff. Plus now that I have a 2 year old son and a almost 2 month old it is way easier to take the gloves off and helping right away.
When I do anything with metal or fire wood I wear leather gloves just to protect my hands as well.
Plus it is nice to have clean hands when your hungry it saves your mouth from getting metal slivers which hurt way worse on your gums.

 

[Lassen Forge]

You guys who wear the thicker nitrile gloves, can you post what kind you like?

I'll have to go out tot he shop, but google "Nitrile Gloves, 11 mil" and it'll take you there.... get the ones that are like surgeons gloves, not the hazmat ones...

BTW, stock up on J&J Baby Powder before they ban it (like everything else)... it breaks the sweaty stuck syndrome. Especially if you pull them off and plan to reuse them - dust them after you take them off, and they slip back on.

No gloves i'm not a *****.

That's your criteria for ***** vs not a *****?

Didn't your granddaddy ever teach you if you're gonna get into some strange *****, you need to wear a glove?

(Sorry, but I couldn't resist!)

With all the deadly **** they're putting in chemicals (even in California) that we use daily, you may be the twitchyest, tumor-filled deadest tough guy around.

Sorry, but in gramp's day they didn't have gloves, they blew asbestos dust out of brake drums with compressed air, cut fireboard with a radial arm saw, and smoked 2 packs of camels a day. They didn't need no pansy masks or gloves, and somehow they still lived to a ripe old age of 57. If they were lucky.

Working smarter isn't being "tough" - it's being "smart". The side benefit is you may actually get to know your grandkids, rather than having them plant you instead.