Does anybody do wrenching without gloves & why?

[mfewtrail]

I use nitrile gloves for working on practically anything car related where I will actually get dirty. Lack of "feeling" is not a problem for me unless I'm doing very fine assembly work which isn't that often on a car. Keeping as many cancer-causing chemicals out of my skin is the main reason I wear them. As an added bonus, my hands are never cracked all to hell, stained up, etc. like they used to be when I didn't wear them.

 

[MattRMagnum]

Glove usage for me is mostly depending upon the fluids I'm working with. If it's something with a scent (gasoline), or capable of soaking through your skin? I wear gloves. Otherwise? I tend to skip them. Exceptions would be things like brake work, or my current project car, which has had an oil leak for awhile, and so the whole underneath of the car needs cleaning due to a oil/grease/road grime compound coating everything.

 

[mark#3]

I rarely wear gloves, hate getting hands greasy/dirty though.

 

[glentre]

I am amazed at the number of responses to the glove question and quite surprised that the majority of us don't wear gloves or do only occasionally. My thought that gloves were commonly used may have come from seeing them on many of the YouTube demo videos I've seen or at tire stores and national chain service shops where they may be required.

Thanks for all the interesting input. At 81, I wouldn't have changed my no-glove ways anyway.

Glen

 

[L5wolvesf]

I can't stand nitrile gloves my hands get too sweaty to work. My gloves usage depends on the car I'm working on (it's cleanness) and whether I'll need to use my fingers much. In a wrecking yard I usually wear Mechanic's brand type gloves.

 

[LeeG]

I wear Maxiflex ultimate gloves 90% of the time I am working on anything. Form fitting and very comfortable. If I am getting into grease and solvents, I’ll pull a pair for nitrile gloves on over them. I have no trouble working with fasteners as small as 6-32 with them on. I wish they’d have been available 40 years ago.

 

[larry_g]

I find that I wear heavier leather gloves to protect my hands from abrasion and cuts. Only in chemicals do I wear PPE gloves. Most wrenching is done bare handed.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[kaymccampbell]

If it's dirty greasy, or nasty n sharp, then I'm wearing gloves. Otherwise it's hit or miss.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

When I paint, especially when using a non latex product. Also when working with chemicals Most other times I remember after it is too late. Different gloves for different jobs, have a thing for leather

 

[jsaw]

I wear gloves so the time.( Full time mechanic) In the winter, My hands used to get so dried out and cracked. Grease would get in the cracks and I could not get my hands clean, so they looked grimey all the time. Since I started wearing gloves , I don't have to scrub grease off of them, My hands are much better condition.

Also all of the fluids and chemicals that I come in contact with are not good for you

It did take a while to get used to them, but I can do everything I need to while wearing them

 

[Higgins]

Only in chemicals do I wear PPE gloves. Most wrenching is done bare handed unless i'm packing hubs with grease, or doing oil changes .............

 

[mcbane]

Never had nitrile gloves last longer than 10 minutes or so. Even leather gloves, when working outdoors , tend to last at most one work day.


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[ddawg16]

You are not a mechanic until you have had hot oil running down your arm and into your shirt.

My Dr says (Urologist) says "No Gloves, No love".

I'm the bare hands kinda guy....(seeing how I'm not shoving my hands up some ****).....Not a big deal if I get a little dirty....I keep my engines clean.

 

[scooterbum46]

Yes.. In my shop I have leather/ballistic cloth Mechanix type, fabric back textured latex grip, rubber chemical resistant long gauntlets, super thin goatskin Tillman gauntlets for Tig, 9 mil nitrile for greasy type stuff....
I started wearing some type of hand protection about the time we bought our first house and I had to start doing more yard work. I found that computer and teletype keyboards were easier to use with 10 functioning fingers. For a long time, my go to gloves were heavier Wells-Lamont goat skin for just about all outside work, until they were sold and quality went south. 40 years down the road, the Mechanix brand get my vote - I tried HF and other low buck gloves - poor fit and heavy internal seams in the wrong places drove me crazy.

When don't I use them? parts assembly, using a table saw, lathe or drill press (I was helping put up steel siding on my shop last week, wearing gloves due to the sharp siding, tried to start a 1 1/2" screw with the fabric back latex faced gloves and promptly wound my finger around the driver bit, luckily not breaking it)..

 

[p00p]

if the latex/nitrile gloves are going to easily get sliced on a sharp object early in the job, nope. Sewage work, I will wear gloves that go up to the elbow & wear eye protection.

 

[Kevkx125]

If it's dirty greasy, or nasty n sharp, then I'm wearing gloves. Otherwise it's hit or miss.

I am pretty much the same as kay.

 

[aventino68]

They weren't around when I started out as a mechanic but I'm slowly using them more and more. They get thinner and better and cheaper, that helps.

 

[harley jim]

I never used gloves, didnt matter how dirty I never used them. For the last few years I have started wearing welding gloves and I kind of like not getting burnt. Still dont wear them much for other things

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[RivennHewn]

Hate gloves.

About the only time I’ll wear them is welding, or working with chemicals known to the state of California to shrivel your nuts.

 

[flyingdog]

Under the car - $0.99 Harbor Freight gloves if I remember.

Inside the car - Never

When I was a toolbelt electrician - Always leather gloves (AZ)

Racing sailboats - Always as well

 

[Mikeske]

Retired now but spent 30 + years in aircraft production and 10+ years as a vehicle mechanic prior to going into aircraft and wore gloves 90% of the time except when drilling or using rotating machine tools. I seen to many guys with badly mangled hands wearing gloves when drilling and got the glove caught in the drilling end. So now after all those years of exposure to some nasty chemicals I just glove up before I work on my vehicles whether it is the lawn equipment, tractors or vehicles I drive. It makes it much easier to clean up after working on my equipment.

 

[Jlarson]

It's just too damn hot out here right now to wear gloves right now, like today I was out pulling valve banks of a boom truck, its 110 something, it just be a mess of nasty oil and gloves filled with gallons of sweat. I usually don't wear them unless I'm working right on like a waste water pump changing chopper blades or something else "bio-hazardy" or using a lot of cleaners/degreaser.

 

[mark#3]

When doing low voltage(120) electrical wiring hot, I wear leather gloves.

 

[glentre]

Several mentioned wearing gloves when packing bearings. I like the feel of clean new grease between my fingers and pressing it into the bearings.......takes me back to pre-school when we finger painted and played with that old white paste. Think it results in a better packing job too.

Glen

 

[paredown]

Several mentioned wearing gloves when packing bearings. I like the feel of clean new grease between my fingers and pressing it into the bearings.......takes me back to pre-school when we finger painted and played with that old white paste. Think it results in a better packing job too.

Glen

Funny--when I was my dad's gopher BITD, he would always get me to pack the bearings bare-handed and coach me on what they should feel like well done!

These days--gloves for running the splitter and chainsaw--the clearance Elkskin gloves that got posted on the Deals section were the best ever--but I can't afford retail. So usually it is the cheap Wells from Costco...

Suspension/rough work on the car--Mechanix from Wally's World--I hate banged knuckles. If I am framing or pounding a lot of nails (especially if cold)--I''' wear the carpenter version that has the short fingers where you need to grab a nail

And I wear the nitrile or latex when I have my hands in harsh liquids like solvents, stain, and these days I wear them when I have a bunch of painting to do, just for fast cleanup.

 

[PhantomEB]

Grew up never using them other than welding. Still fall into that thinking but am trying!

 

[wood02]

I have the gloves...usually do not remember to put them on until the job is almost finished.

 

[ripperd]

I wear mechanics gloves while working with tires, grinding/cutting/welding, and suspension work where my fingers might get smashed and the parts are big enough to easily grab.

I wear latex gloves when doing really greasy work (repack wheel bearings) or messy filter changes.

Most of the rest of the time I'm gloveless, better feel and dexterity.

All 3 of my techs wear latex gloves most of the time.

This is pretty much me to a T, especially the mechanics gloves. I hate smashed or cut up fingers since I have to type for my day job.

There are many times though where after not using gloves I look at my hands that couldn't get clean and wish I would have worn gloves.

I'm just a guy who works on my own stuff randomly in the evenings though, not my day job.

These are the mechanic gloves I use. They have held up great and are very comfortable.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Large-Performance-Work-Gloves-48-22-8722/207175382

 

[Rlfd213]

I wear them now when my hands are gonna get really dirty. When I did this in the 90’s for a living we had 1 guy who would wear gloves and we always gave him **** about it. Was just ahead of his time.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

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

Tell a Lineman or Weldor he's a *****...

Tommy

 

[cousin eddie]

leather gloves for welding, cheap cloth gloves for work out on the road. i dont mind getting dirty, but i hate a greasy steering wheel. any other time no gloves. however, i most always have my safety glasses on in the shop. they have bifocals in them.

 

[BaMaDuDe87]

For the things I do, most of the time I don't wear gloves except for working in the yard (aka cutting/hauling trees, picking up prickly stuff, cleaning gutters). Mechanic work, no gloves unless it is hot temp wise. Working with metal, no gloves. Painting, no gloves. Wood work, no gloves.

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[Maivz]

I generally don't wear gloves at all. If I think about it and if I have them I might throw them on for packing a bearing. I rarely wear gloves even while welding. If I will have to touch what I am welding then I will put them on.

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[BiggityBen]

i always wear gloves, either rubber or fabric, whenever i'm working. most of the problems listed in this thread go away when you find the right size, honestly. i've gone through about 6 different brands of each style before i found the one that was right for me. now i rarely get rips/tears, and you don't notice any hand sweat until they are taken off at the end. you're looking for a good, firm grip on your hand that is not too tight to already put stress on them. then you still have dexterity and no piece of glove will catch on anything to rip, and sweat doesn't have the room to pool up either.

 

[Metallitubby]

Gloves on. Once you work on a stranger's minivan with sour milk and three year old Cheerios in the carpet, you tend to shield yourself from such things.

*I've had various bouts with skin cancer as well.

 

[Snip]

Never used to wear gloves, that is until I took a position as a plant mechanic at a wastewater treatment plant. I did that for the last 20 years. That will change your thinking process about gloves. Now retired i still wear gloves ( just not as often) when doing things like greasing or changing oil, or in the solvent tank etc. Leather gloves when handling metal.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I have a pair of the impact padded gloves, got them originally for using on impact wrenches, but fond they also work well for a day-long session with the weed whacker, keeping that nerve-damage buzzy feel out of the fingers and palms.

The dark blue 7 mil thickness ones at HF also have the knurled finger tips on them I use them as a professional mechanic and they work great in my opinion

I found the 11 mil gloves I use, while not "grippy tipped", work surprisingly well. The dexterity came with use. Plus they come in boxes of 50, just like the thin and worthless ones...

Funny--when I was my dad's gopher BITD, he would always get me to pack the bearings bare-handed and coach me on what they should feel like well done!

Wow. My dad taught all us kids the same thing. And yeah, you can feel a set of shot bearings right off the bat... then again, those were the days we'd use gasoline as a parts washer bare handed (and outside, of course), and not worry about getting a mouthful of "Union 76 mouthwash" when siphoning from a tank.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

I used to not use them much at all. But now I almost always do - I figure it's safer and, for no other reason, clean up is a hell of a lot easier.

I've also started using my Mechanix slip ons for suspension work and whatnot. It's just nice to not have to worry about the cuts/scratches, pinches, etc.

 

[APEowner]

I hate working with gloves on. I just don't like the feel. I also don't like them when when I ride a motorcycle or drive a race car.

However, I also don't like cancer, or burns or not driving a race car so I wear them under some conditions but only if it's necessary for safety as determined by me or a sanctioning body.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I have a pair of the impact padded gloves, got them originally for using on impact wrenches, but fond they also work well for a day-long session with the weed whacker, keeping that nerve-damage buzzy feel out of the fingers and palms.







I found the 11 mil gloves I use, while not "grippy tipped", work surprisingly well. The dexterity came with use. Plus they come in boxes of 50, just like the thin and worthless ones...







Wow. My dad taught all us kids the same thing. And yeah, you can feel a set of shot bearings right off the bat... then again, those were the days we'd use gasoline as a parts washer bare handed (and outside, of course), and not worry about getting a mouthful of "Union 76 mouthwash" when siphoning from a tank.

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


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