Joe McGarry - Also known as the Glove Guru
Joe formerly founded Polygenex International, Inc. in 1989, the largest specialty knit glove manufacturer in the world at the time. Thousands of companies and users follow his advice on glove manufacturing, or user guidance, and utilize his gloves every day. Joe's specialty is in industrial work and critical environment high-tech gloves.
Joe founded Gloves-Online in 1996 to assist consumers needing to locate hard to find gloves and educate consumers about different glove features and benefits. With just over a quarter century of glove experience, he undoubtedly can give you useful and practical glove advice.
This will be Cary’s 40th year as a Tree City USA community since 1983 and we are fortunate enough to be headquartered in this wonderful green conscious town in North Carolina.
Sarah Justice, the environmental outreach program coordinator of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources and her great staff have been very busy preparing for this wonderful event so don’t miss it.
The Arbor Day celebration will be held this Saturday near the town hall campus at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center courtyard, noon-3 p.m.
Celebrate Cary’s commitment to our urban forests with live music, local food, kids’ activities, and more! Enjoy a live falconer demonstration, paint a bluebird house to take home, ask an arborist about the trees in your yard, or pick up a native sapling while supplies last. This event will include free fun for the whole family plus the chance to engage with environmental experts about native plants, healthy soils, and going green at home. Don’t miss the chance to register to win a free compost bin, rain barrel, or native plant gardening kit while we celebrate Cary’s 40th year as a Tree City USA community. Learn more at https://www.carync.gov/recreation-enjoyment/events/environmental-events/arbor-day
We are pleased to participate in this event with the Garden Kit Raffles with our unique earth-friendly GO Greens Bamboo Gloves, a multi-purpose garden and work glove.
Additionally, they will also have a native tree giveaway program for residents.
In case you didn’t know, the green conscious Town of Cary has 30 public parks and natural areas, a green-way system of more than 80 miles, and four sports venues. Cary also operates the Good Hope Farm which is a community-supported urban farm supporting the local food system through events and workshops, farm-growth produce, and resources for new farmers. Their mission is to marry Cary’s agricultural past with an innovative future by connecting beginning farmers to affordable farmland and our community to local food.
We know that most of our subscribers are not local to us but the many who are, may find this event worthwhile.
See the links below to learn more about our GO Greens Bamboo Gloves.
Gloves-Online is proud to announce the addition of the US Mesh line of Stainless-Steel Metal Mesh gloves by Worldwide Protective Products.
GO Gloves has sold metal mesh gloves for almost 2 decades and the US MESH line adds a larger range of models which is vital for our food processing, restaurant, and food service customers.
This new line is also assembled in the USA and delivery will be quicker since the US Mesh factory is located near to us. This new product line became available to us since it became a new member of the PIP Global family of gloves. We have also negotiated favorable pricing which we will pass along to our customers.
We will be adding the various models to our inventory on a one-by-one basis, and we should have the full range available in the coming weeks.
Initially, we added the Standard Size Stainless Steel Glove with the web strap and the model with the spring cuff along with the extended cuff forearm model with the spring cuff.
The added benefit with adding the Worldwide Protective Products to our glove armamentarium is that we will also be introducing new customized cut and abrasion knit gloves for our automotive and food processing customers where cut and abrasion risks are high. This new line made from special blended super-strong fibers will be introduced shortly and we will let you know when they become available. These special gloves are also produced in the USA in Wilkesboro, NC.
In the meantime, please see the link to the US Mesh Glove line below:
This week, I received a surprise email from one of our loyal and long-term glove customers. It included an image from their 40th Annual Professional Santa Claus School held earlier this month in Denver, Colorado. The photo above is the Class of 2022 wearing our gloves.
The title on the photo image says it all: Santa’s source for gloves since 1996. Yep, that’s 26 years!
Susen Mesco, the founding director of this special Santa Claus School since 1983 was kind enough to send me this image which was a pleasant surprise.
For your information, this Santa Claus organization is much more than just a Santa Claus School, they also arrange many Santa Claus events and Santa Claus visits across the country. You can see the link to this Santa Claus organization below to see all the many things they do and provide to bring more enjoyment to your Christmas time events.
Regarding our special Santa Claus Gloves, we even have a distinctive link on our web site which is devoted exclusively to our most popular Santa Claus Gloves. We have many glove styles for both Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus including Beaded Grip Glove models for handling small toys to Long Winter Glove models for those outdoor parades and events.
As many of you may already know, we have supplied Santa Claus Gloves to many Santa’s around the world and for the many special event companies that stage the Santa kiosks at many Shopping Malls across the country including as far away as Australia.
GO GLOVES is honored and proud to be an important supplier of gloves for the Queen’s Royal State funeral events.
This week we expedited several cases of our special White Gloves to England for the Queens funeral events. That would be over 1,200 pair in case you were curious.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised since we have supplied gloves to various military dealers in the UK for years for their pageantry and parade uses. As most know, England is famous for their formal pomp and ceremony events and since we have the broadest selection of military dress gloves, we have a longstanding following for over 25 years now in the UK and the USA. In fact, we also supply gloves to the Funeral Honor Guards in Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.
Coincidentally, I was about to create a post this week about selecting Military Dress Gloves, but I think I will wait since I may have some new images from the Queen’s State Funeral.
The Covid pandemic drove certain glove sales to new highs the last two (2) years. This was especially the case for single use disposable gloves, but no one anticipated the unmet demand for Cryogenic Low Temperature Safety Gloves.
Therefore, I thought it would be useful for me to bring these gloves to everyone’s attention and the safety benefits that they have provided workers around the world even up to today. It is always good to be in-the-know about glove issues like these.
First, to inform you, Cryogenics is the science that addresses the production and behavior of extremely low (cold) temperatures.
Cryogenics is widely used in fields including rocket fuels in Aerospace programs and projects, Mining Operations, MRI Machines, Cryotherapy, Bio-Medical, Handling of Vaccines, Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Nitrogen manufacturing and services, Home Health Oxygen Services, Frozen Food Operations, and Laboratory testing just to name a few.
Cryogenic Safety
I prefer to discuss this issue up-front since it is very important for user safety issues.
Cryogenic safety is very important with hand safety since the extreme cold can cause very harmful and damaging skin burns and even frostbite.
Temperature Examples are: Liquid Nitrogen Boiling Point is -196oC (-320oF); and Liquid Oxygen Boiling Point is -183oC (-297oF).
Therefore, you will require specific and certified gloves that will meet and withstand these harmful low temperatures and meet the appropriate standards. These standards include: EN 511, EN 388, EN 420, and for the Liquid Nitrogen Gloves, they must meet: Static Charge Resistance NASA MMA-1985-79; Cryogen Penetration Resistance ASTMF 903, Procedure D 10 minutes; Limited Oxygen Index (LOI) ASTMD 2863, and Flame Resistance ASTMD 6413. Your Safety Officer should be able to provide you with further assistance for on-the-job safety with cryogenics.
NOTE: Anyone handling cryogenic liquids should be familiar and knowledgeable about the hazards presented by such materials and trained in how to handle them safely. Emergency procedures should be established and rehearsed, proper training in the operation of all equipment provided and knowledge and appreciation of hazardous properties of the materials instilled. Cryogenic liquids should never be handled without proper protective safety gear.
Generally recommended protective apparel for handling cryogenic liquids include the following: Proper fitting gloves*, Protective face shield and goggles, Protective apron without pockets, Protective gaiters, Pants without cuffs, Shoes without laces.
*Proper Fitting Gloves: For maximum dexterity, comfort, and safety, cryogenic gloves must fit properly. Although gloves should be loose enough to allow for quick removal, if necessary, a glove that is too large impairs dexterity and function. A glove that is too tight will lead to thermal loss. I will provide a glove fitting guide below.
The TEMPSHIELD Brand of Cryogenic Safety Gloves and Products
Over 15 years ago, GO Gloves (Gloves-Online) narrowed our line of Cryogenic Gloves down to the Tempshield line of products. Although there are a few notable Cryogenic glove manufacturers, we limited our offerings to the Tempshield brand due to their superior quality, and high standard for materials and workmanship. Additionally, their products are certified by the United States and International testing agencies which is vital since we sell these gloves around the world. Besides their high-quality standards, and extended glove product line, they also offer exceptional customer service and timely delivery. I would also like to add that their pricing is very reasonable since these gloves are handmade and crafted to-order and we all know about those high labor costs.
Another very nice bonus is that the Tempshield Gloves are made in the USA. This became a very vital issue recently due to the accelerated demand for Cryogenic Gloves, which are required for workers handling the Covid vaccines on a world-wide basis as I previously mentioned. As most of you have heard and seen on the news, these vaccines must be stored in an ultra-cold freezer. I have no doubt that many of you may recall seeing the workers handling the vaccine kits and those thick blue gloves.
Cryogenic Glove Model Options including Cryogenic Safety Products
Since we carry over 35 different models of cryogenic products, I will refrain from discussing the features of each model below for the sake of brevity (including reading time) and since the features of each model is represented on our web site listings for these models including model lengths and sizing, etc.
Models include Wrist Length, Mid-Arm Length, Elbow Length, and Shoulder Length.
One notable new model are the new Tempshield LOX Cryo-Gloves which is a newly commercialized glove specifically made for handling hazardous Liquid Oxygen. These gloves were in limited production and specifically made upon request for the military and NASA for their aerospace programs and projects. The good news is that we now have available the LOX Cryogenic Line of products in LOX Gloves, Lox Safety Kits, LOX Aprons, and LOX Gaiters. We are very proud to finally be able to offer these to our commercial and industrial customers around the world.
I have provided a link to each model as a reference, and you can also find a “related” link in each product listings. Please note that each model below is a single listing since the gloves come in various models as mentioned above.
A quick tip primer about Novax Electrical Safety Gloves
We have sold the prominent Novax Electrical Insulated Gloves from PIP for over 15 years now, shortly after the Novax Company began producing the Class 0 & 00 Insulating gloves in Malaysia. They have since been used as life-saving protective gloves by our customers in many trades. These work-related trades include applications such as Power Generation, Electrical Contractors, Linemen, Plant Maintenance, Utility Work, Mining Operations, and Electric Vehicle Repair, Service, and Manufacturing.
From an interesting historical perspective, after learning more about electrical shock energy back in 2007, I find it amazing that Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison didn’t perish from their early inventions and tests with electrical energy. As you can imagine, they had no protective means in those early days. Think about it.
The Novax line of rubber insulated gloves are certified under many standards and regulations including 29CFR part 1910; ASTM D120-14a; and the NFPA 70E certifications just to name a few of the most important and popular standards of the 9 standards that these apply to. You can contact me directly if you have a safety standard that you require if that is necessary for your industry.
Note: The natural rubber raw material used in the Novax Gloves Insulating Gloves is kept in its natural aqueous state, as opposed to the solvent dip process used by other manufacturers which uses extensive amounts of volatile compounds (VOC’s). Our Novax gloves retain more of the beneficial physical properties of natural rubber which is demonstrated in the physical property tests required in the ASTM D120 testing requirements. This process also keeps the gloves very nimble and dexterous opposed to competing models.
Testing
Another vital aspect of the Novax brand is that these gloves are “made to order” to ensure that they are compliant with 29 CFR 1910.137 specification which requires testing on first issue and every six months thereafter. Additionally, the Novax Gloves are individually serial numbered for traceability and stamped with the factory manufacturing date. If the insulating gloves have been electrically tested but not issued for service, they may not be placed into service unless they have been electrically tested within the previous 12 months.
Glove Types and Styles
We offer the widest selection of Novax Rubber Insulated Glove sizing and lengths, model types, and electrical classifications which I will cover below. This includes sizes from 7-12 in most models which includes woman’s sizes, and lengths from 11” to 18”, and Electrical Classifications from 00 to 4. Our styles include the traditional Straight Cuffs and Bell-Shaped Cuffs. For those of you new to the glove cuff selection, the Bell-Shaped cuffs are designed for a more comfortable fit under heavy clothing such as winter coats or other types of thick protective sleeves.
EV (Electric Vehicle Gloves) – Class 0
(Class 0 = Use AC Voltage of 1,000 & Use DC Voltage of 1,500)
The Novax Gloves are the most prevalent models used today in Electric Vehicle manufacturing, repair, and maintenance. Currently, the class of choice are the Class 0 models. This may change due to advancements, and it would be wise to check the vehicle manual for the vehicle’s specifications.
These models are often referred to as models used for hybrid electric cars since they were originally designed for hybrid vehicles, but the gloves referred to as “hybrid models” will also work for today’s fully electric vehicles. They fall into the same Class of 0.
Selecting an Electrical Insulating Glove
How do I know what glove to use?
First, you should determine the maximum voltage that you will be exposed to during your work. Once you have determined the risk, you can use the chart below to determine the appropriate class of glove that will provide you the protection required to complete your job safely. Each class of gloves is clearly marked with the maximum use voltage on the permanent color-coded label.
Leather protectors should always be worn with rubber insulating gloves. ASTM F696 provides the specification for the manufacture of Leather Protectors. Leather protectors are sized to be worn on the same size rubber insulating glove so if you wear a size 10 rubber insulating glove you should order a size 10 leather protector.
The length of the protectors are determined by the class. Certain leather protectors are used with specific classes of rubber gloves according to their length. The protectors are not interchangeable with the different classes of rubber gloves.
Cleaning and Storage
How should rubber insulating gloves be cleaned and stored?
Wash in warm water (85oF) with mild detergent, disinfect with a small amount of chlorine bleach. Air or tumble dry at low heat (165oF). Gloves may be dusted lightly with talc to reduce tackiness. Gloves should be stored in a glove bag, finger tips up, hung and not laid flat. Leather protectors should be removed before storage. Never fold gloves. Store in as dry and cool (95oF maximum) location as possible, away from sources of ozone and direct sunlight.
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Joe McGarry
The Glove Guru
Wash in warm water (85oF) with mild detergent, disinfect with a small amount of chlorine bleach. Air or tumble dry at low heat (165oF). Gloves may be dusted lightly with talc to reduce tackiness. Gloves should be stored in a glove bag, finger tips up, hung and not laid flat. Leather protectors should be removed before storage. Never fold gloves. Store in as dry and cool (95oF maximum) location as possible, away from sources of ozone and direct sunlight.
For over 25 years, GO Gloves has been famously known world-wide for our high-quality gloves. This not only includes our materials of choice, and the construction and design of our gloves, but also the fine features we include in each glove model.
This includes glove features like the “ergonomic” finger lengths, our precise sizing, the finger fourchettes on some models, ornamental seams on the back of various glove models, our special Beaded Palm gloves for better grip, our unique shirred “gathered” wrists which help hold the gloves on the hand, and our Keystone Thumbs.
These glove features, just to name a few, are good to know about ……and from time to time, I like to bring them to your attention.
I have no doubt that most of you have no clue what a Keystone Thumb is, which is expected, so I will inform you on this special glove feature so you can make wise decisions on your glove purchases in the future.
Keystone thumb feature: I am sorry to repeat myself about this glove feature since I have discussed this feature many times in the past, but it is essential. This glove feature may not seem to be particularly important or maybe taken for granted, but a Keystone Thumb feature is very important if you want the gloves to be comfortable, offer better dexterity, have a more natural fit and be more form fitting to your hand, and “ergonomically” fit the user. After all, this is what a high-quality glove is all about.
As an example, think of the comfort and dexterity required by marching band instrument members who must wear and use the gloves for exceptionally long periods of time. This includes the dexterity that is desired and required by musicians and everyone else who wears and uses gloves daily or occasionally. The same also applies to most all work gloves that must be used and worn daily.
Note: To identify a Keystone Thumb glove model, these are where the thumb piece is made separately and set into and sewn into the palm of the glove. Gloves without a Keystone Thumb are simply two pieces of fabric laid out and cut to the shape of the hand and sewn together. We often refer to these types of glove thumbs as Wing Thumbs or Straight Thumbs. Our hands are not designed this way and therefore, gloves without a keystone thumb are less comfortable, have an unnatural fit, and provide much less dexterity.
Gloves without a Keystone Thumb are also a sign of a lower quality and cheaply made glove. A Keystone Thumb is an essential feature in almost any glove except for Ambidextrous Gloves, Knit Gloves, or some rugged Heat Resistant Gloves and various industrial work gloves such as some Impact Resistant Gloves and Welding Gloves.
In conclusion, the fine glove features that we use in our gloves that I mention in my introduction, like a Keystone Thumb, certainly add to the costs in producing the gloves. However, our goal is to only provide the best quality gloves available. It is what we built our glove business upon since our beginnings and that will never change. It is what we are renowned for and why we have thousands of repeat gloves customers around the world.
“We leave the cheaply made gloves up to our competitors along with the complaints that come with them”.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or questions pertaining to any glove feature or a glove purchase that you may need assistance on. It is always nice to speak directly with our customers and I enjoy when they say, “I’m glad I called.”
At first glance, I am sure you are asking, what the heck are Plogging Gloves.
I completely understand since I was unaware until we had a request for some recommendations on Plogging Gloves… so let me explain more so everyone is aware and informed…. After all that’s my job at GO GLOVES to keep you informed on the newest and latest information on gloves. I am surprised that I was unaware about a need for these types of gloves by now but the growing interest in gloves that could be used in the plogging activity and efforts became particularly important to me.
This is a new and exciting category of gloves that we are very proud to participate in on a world-wide basis. We even established a new site navigation category for these gloves which is provided below.
Before I discuss the gloves that we supply to these forward thinking and very earth-conscious people, let me provide you some background on this growing movement on how this wonderful activity became a very popular and a growing sporting and exercising phenomenon around the world. It’s nice and refreshing.
You can thank me later for bringing this to your attention and even my wife, who jogs daily is “in” now once she learned about this great effort and earth conscious concept. I also suggest you investigate a local group of runners who are very active in this new “plogging” movement. I will provide some links at the end of this post that maybe helpful.
Now for the low down on Plogging Gloves……..
Plogging Gloves are gloves used in the popular sport of Plogging that helps reduce plastic and debris pollution. These joggers pick up litter while jogging which promotes exercise and environmental care at the same time. It is estimated, according to Wikipedia, that ~2,000,000 people plog daily in 100 countries and some plogging events have attracted over 3,000,000 participants.
You can look up “Plogging” on Wikipedia on your own for more information. However, it all started in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution.
Therefore, since we always try to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to new gloves and new glove issues, we have entered the Plogging arena with GO Plogging Gloves. The glove themselves are not brand-new glove models but they are unique gloves which lend themselves to Plogging due to their special features that people need to protect their hands. The gloves that we list in the Plogging Glove category were originally developed for special uses in the work and consumer glove markets, and due to their special features makes some of them very useful and appropriate for Plogging users and their needs.
GO Plogging Glove Features: Since these gloves are principally used while jogging, they must have these features.
These features include:
Being light weight
Very form fitting
Breathable to reduce perspiration
Have a good grip to easily pick up debris and litter
Offer high durability for a longer glove life
And in some cases, also offer cut resistance in the case of broken glass and sharp metal from tin cans, etc.
I would also like to mention that the gloves we offer are also washable since they will become dirty, and you will want to re-use them from time to time rather than discard them to save money.
Note that we also include a durable Ambi-Dex Grippaz Engage Disposable Glove in this category which do not have some of the features mentioned above but some people may want or need a fully coated glove like a disposable glove if they need some protection from liquids or chemicals. The Grippaz Disposable Model we list are more durable than your typical disposable glove and have a great grip and offer some protection from common chemicals and liquids.
Another nice feature that many joggers prefer to have is high visibility. We have added a few hi-vis gloves for this preference, and we have even included a nice pink model for the ladies.
I would also like to emphasize that since we are a company that specializes in gloves, the gloves that we have listed in the GO Plogging Glove category are special and they are not commonly available in your local hardware or sporting goods shop.
Leather work gloves is a very broad category, and I will do my best to provide you with some good recommendations since I have been involved with developing, making, and selling these types of gloves for almost 3 decades.
Basically, leather work gloves have been the standard for work gloves for centuries going back most likely to the stone age if you think about it.
Today, we have more modern designs and even synthetic leathers which have proven to be very worthy, but it always goes back to the fit, feel, and function and the price.
I decided to create this post focused on “Leather Palm Gloves” due to the many calls we receive from customers looking for a good leather work glove or one for a special application.
Obviously, we are your best source for work gloves since we are glove experts, and we only offer the best gloves in each class of gloves. Although your local hardware store carries gloves, they are not glove experts and their focus is generally on hardware and their glove offerings are very limited often to their own brand and not near as broad as a company like GO Gloves who specialize in gloves. We carry many brands and we only select the best models from select manufacturers.
Types of Leather
First let me address the types of leather. I have discussed the types of leather in the past so I will be brief. Many work glove users fail to recognize the type of leather but there is a difference.
Top Grain Cowhide Leather models are the most popular since they are generally the highest quality of leather and have a smooth finish, are more flexible, and very durable. Split Leather models, although durable, have a rough, suede type of finish and are usually used in less expensive glove models.
Pigskin Leather Gloves and Deerskin Leather Gloves are also very good and durable like cowhide, and they are the best option if the gloves are frequently used in wet conditions since pigskin and deerskin dries soft unlike cowhide which can get stiff after they dry out. Goatskin Leather Gloves and Deerskin Leather gloves are also popular and a very practical choice since they have a softer feel. It would be rare to find Goatskin or Deerskin in Leather Palm Gloves since they a less likely to withstand the durability required in this type of glove designed for rugged work.
Why Leather Palm Gloves?
There are Leather Drivers Type Gloves and there are Leather Palm Gloves. Leather drivers are generally all leather from the palm to the back of hand. Leather Palm Gloves are constructed with leather only on the palm side of the glove for hand protection and durability. The back side is generally made with cotton, canvas, or a synthetic material to save costs on the gloves which helps reduce the pricing with these gloves. This material can often provide some breathability as well to minimize hand perspiration. Also, since the back of hand is not generally exposed to any harm in most jobs, you may not need the extra protection.
Note: However, you will find that in most of the better Leather Palm Gloves have a leather knuckle strap on the back side of the glove and leather fingertips for added hand and finger protection.
Cuff Options
You will find that Leather Palm Gloves have two types of cuff options. The most popular being a “Safety Cuff” which is generally around 2.5”. The other cuff option is a “Gauntlet Cuff” for extra protection, and they are generally around 4.5” or more. These cuffs are normally internally rubberized (rubber under layered between cloth) for added stiffness and better durability.
Palm and Thumb Design
You should find that in the better Leather Palm Gloves that they should have a Wing Thumb (no seam on the palm side) with a Gunn Cut Palm (seams only on the palm side of the two middle fingers). These features reduce the number of seams on the palm side of the gloves for longer glove life and more durability in the gloves.
Impact Resistance
If you are looking for some impact resistance in a work glove, see the links below.
