5 Gloves You Should Always Have On Hand
Updated: Feb. 10, 2023There’s no such thing as a universal glove that does everything well. Here are five of my favorite gloves for the shop and job site.
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AMMEX Nitrile Disposable Gloves
I wear Nitrile gloves anytime I’m doing dirty work on the car or in the shop. They’re thin and fit tight, so dexterity is never a problem. The nitrile material completely isolates my skin from chemicals like brake cleaners, engine fluids, epoxy coatings and solvents. And at 15 cents per pair I never feel guilty tossing them in the trash.
Atlas Rubber-Coated gloves
Atlas gloves are somewhat unique in the glove world. The back is woven fabric so your hand stays cool in warm weather or indoors. But the natural rubber coating on the palm and fingers give you all kinds of “gription.” They are perfect when you have lots of material to move—bricks, sheet goods, lumber or lots of cardboard boxes. They’re cheap and durable. The natural grip means your hands don’t get as tired since you don’t need to use as much of your hand muscles.
Handling plywood sheets are what Atlas gloves are really good at. Here is a plywood rack you can build for storing those sheets.
Food handling disposable gloves
It might sound silly to have food handling gloves out in the wood shop, but you’ll find they’re pretty handy for quick, dirty jobs like small staining tasks or glueups. You don’t have to struggle to slip them on like nitrile gloves and at less than a nickel per pair, who cares how often you slip on a fresh pair and toss them away? However, they’re pretty clumsy and not the best when dexterity is called for.
These gloves are particularly good for wood staining because dexterity isn’t too important. Here are some staining tips.
Lined Deerskin Gloves
My everyday work gloves for outside are very plain, lined deerskin gloves. They’re flexible, giving me plenty of dexterity for most jobs. They easily slip on and off and the Thinsulate linings keep my hands warm under most conditions. Even when blowing snow at plus or minus zero temps, I can last for about 30-minutes between warm-ups. Like a new pair of shoes, the more you wear them, the more comfortable they become.
Here are 13 of our best snow blowing tips.
Fleece Lined Choppers
When it’s super-cold outside and I’m gonna be out there for a while, I wear a pair of choppers. I like the ones that have elastic cuffs to keep my wrists warm. But under the choppers, I also wear a light-weight pair of cloth gloves. That not only keeps my hands warm no matter what, I can slip off the choppers for short periods to do some nimble work for a few minutes.