Disposable Gloves: A Material Guide

When you buy your disposable gloves you'll want to make sure that you buy the correct glove material for you. To do so depends entirely on what you want your gloves for. Do you want them for use in the kitchen when you'll be working with messy food, or do you want them to keep the oil off your hands when working in mechanics?

The material you choose should depend on what task you will perform

All of these questions matter, which is why we've devised this short guide explaining the benefits of our top-selling disposable glove materials - latex, nitrile and vinyl. To help you make your choice we've outlined the pros and cons of each material, explaining which task that material is suitable for, and providing you with a few pointers on our top recommended product for that choice.

Which glove Material Should I Choose?

To help you decide, we've taken the 12 different factors that we believe are what matters most when it comes to disposable gloves. We've rated each material on that factor, giving it a score anywhere from one to three judged on its performance. We've taken into account things such as contamination, durability and comfort, so hopefully you'll get a good idea of where you're at afterwards.

What Do These Scores Mean?

★☆☆ - Not Recommended

★★☆ - Pretty Good

★★★ - Outstanding

Latex, Nitrile or Vinyl?

Hopefully our guide has made you a little more familiar with the types of materials that we sell for disposable gloves here at Health and Care. To give you a bit more of an in depth look, we've explored each material provided job recommendations and even our top picks for that material.

Latex Gloves

Latex has been used in gloves for as long as people have been buying them. They offer exceptional unbeatable strength and flexibility, which has made them popular in the industrial, food and medical industries. In recent times nitrile has mounted a challenge on latex's dominance. However, the reliability of latex will continue to keep it at the top of the market.

Our Top Latex Pick

Our top pick for latex is the Aurelia Vibrant Medical Grade Latex Gloves 98225-9. These powder-free gloves provide everything that's made latex one of the best, with comfort, sensitivity and dexterity meaning that you can examine patients while keeping them and yourself at ease. Micro textures ensure outstanding grip, perfect for more tactile tasks. 

Aurelia Vibrant Medical Grade Latex Gloves

Top Industries for Latex: Dentistry; laboratory; healthcare; automotive; industrial; food industry.

Nitrile Gloves

If you're working in oily environments that demand strength, puncture resistance and durability, then we'd recommend that you go for Nitrile Disposable Gloves. Nitrile lacks the flexibility of latex, but makes up for it in pure strength, making them ideal for mechanics and other industrial applications. That's not to say that they aren't just suited to dirty jobs though, as they can prove useful in health and food industries.

Our Top Nitrile Pick

Our top pick for nitrile is some of our top-selling gloves: the Black Mamba Disposable Nitrile Gloves BX-BMG. The Black Mamba Gloves are nitrile at its very best, with exceptional strength, high puncture resistance and a lining that can repel chemicals, oils and abrasion. For most dirty jobs where you require the sensitivity and flexibility of disposable gloves, we would recommend the Black Mamba Gloves.

Black Mamba Disposable Nitrile Gloves BX-BMG

Top Industries for Nitrile: Assembly, construction, care, mechanics, food, industrial, maintenance, tattoo artistry.

Vinyl Gloves

Lastly we have Vinyl Disposable Gloves. Vinyl is reliable and affordable, and perfect for industries where you can expect to get through a lot of disposable gloves fast and want a minimum level of protection against contamination rather than dangerous hazards to your hands. They are extremely comfortable, making them well suited to food industries, hairdressers and other hair and beauty industries.

Our Top Vinyl Pick

Our top pick for vinyl gloves is the Aurelia Delight Blue PF Vinyl Gloves 38995-9, as their versatile design offers excellent protection against contamination in a wide range of industries. They are reliable and cheap, providing good resistance to a range of different chemicals while proving suitable for use with food. They are recommended for dentsitry, automotive, industrial and laboratory industries.

Aurelia Delight Blue PF Vinyl Gloves 38995-9

Top Industries for Vinyl: Health, medical, hairdressing, hair and beauty, food retail.

Choose the Right Disposable Gloves

Choosing the right disposable gloves makes a difference. Whether it's to the quality of the final product or to the safety throughout the process, choosing between latex, nitrile and vinyl will greatly impact your day at work. You can browse our Latex Disposable Gloves, Nitrile Disposable Gloves and Vinyl Disposable Gloves at SafetyGloves.co.uk or if you're after some more personal advice, try calling 020 7501 1104 where an expert will be delighted to help.