Category: Uncategorized

SLOW THE SPREAD – Wear Face Masks

Posted on by The Glove Guru

As states lift restrictions and work to reopen their economics, a growing number are adapting CDC guidelines regarding the use of face covers as essential to preventing community spread.

Now SPREAD the word that you can now buy your face masks at GO Gloves.

Lightweight Reusable Face Mask

  • Contoured shape provided secure fit
  • Elastic head straps for all-day comfort
  • Washable/reusable
  • Antimicrobial up to 30 wash cycles

Economical Disposable Face Mask

  • 3-ply pleated construction
  • 99% Bacterial Filter Efficiency (BFE)
  • Adjustable aluminum nose clip
  • Latex-free ear loops

Thank you for subscribing,

Joe McGarry

The Glove Guru

Should I buy Powder-Free or Powdered Disposable gloves?

Posted on by The Glove Guru

This old question about buying Powdered Gloves vs. Powder-Free Gloves has recently become a new question again by consumers due to the current catastrophic virus pandemic. This new virus has created a new increased demand for protective disposable gloves by new users. Most people think it’s a user issue regarding a friendlier glove but, funny enough, the powder issue is due to a necessity that came about a long time ago originating with the manufacturing. It brings back fond technical memories to me when I got into the glove business over 30 years ago.  

When disposable gloves were first developed, they were either made from solutions of latex or vinyl. Now, picture a long assembly line that moves with artificial porcelain (mandrel molds) hands hanging from a track. As these mandrels move along, they dip into big vat full with a special liquid solution containing powder. Then they move to another vat containing the latex solution. Next, they travel through a heat chamber which essentially evaporates (dries) the liquid from the latex. The gloves are now cured and ready for removal from the mandrels, inspection and packaging.

To remove a cured glove from its mandrel mold, the mandrels were coated with powder solutions prior to the dipping process in order to make it easier to remove the cured glove from the mold. Without the powder solution coating on the mandrels, the cured gloves would stick to the mandrels casing them to be defective when removed. Therefore, the powder practice became an intricate part of the manufacturing process. This was especially the case with latex gloves. It should be noted that powder ended up partially coating the outside of the gloves due to powder dust caused by the gloves  being removed from the mandrels.

What everyone discovered was that the powder process also made the latex gloves easier for users to slip the gloves on or off. This was because a residue of the powder solution remained inside each glove after they were made. This powder residue made the inside of the gloves slick eliminating a lot of glove breakage when putting them on.

In the late eighties many manufactures even used flavored powder coatings which were popular to the dental industry. A few also manufactured some latex models without powders due to allergic issues caused by the powder. The flavored models eventually were discontinued since they created excess saliva from patients which hindered many dental procedures. Powdered models are still popular but to a less degree due to good vinyl and nitrile glove models which are easier to slip on and off. It should be noted that latex had its own disadvantages to about 20% of the population due to allergies from the proteins in the latex. This is a separate issue from  problems caused by the powder as noted below.

Keep in mind that, today, disposable gloves are widely used in many industries outside of healthcare. For example, they are a required protective accessory (PPE) in the restaurant and food service industries as well as most manufacturing industries.

Today, I highly recommend powder-free gloves for many reasons.

First, they are less expensive. Yes, it is only a matter of pennies a glove but it adds up quickly with disposables.

Also, powder-free disposable gloves have been vastly improved technically over the last two decades and better materials and manufacturing processes make the gloves easier to slip-on and off and rarely break.

Additionally, powdered gloves add another element to contamination and allergy issues. Think of ordering a sandwich in a sandwich shop and they wore powdered gloves which added minuscule talc or powder to the bread or slices of meat or greens.

Another aspect is to know that the FDA has banned powdered gloves from the healthcare industry in 2016. The FDA claims the powdered glove models present an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury.  

(It should be noted that having an added element such as a powder or talc added to the gloves creates issues about the type and source of the powder or talc since most all disposable gloves are made outside of the USA.)  

I also predict that powdered gloves will become more expensive over time and eventually become harder to find. I don’t think powdered gloves will disappear from some markets such as manufacturing since some workers will insist on using them. However, powder gloves no longer offer any distinct advantages over powder-free gloves for the manufacturers or for the users.

In conclusion, powder-free gloves offer you a safer and more economical glove choice over their powdered counterpart.

Link: Disposable Gloves

Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for subscribing,

Joe McGarry

The Glove Guru

The Best Heat Resistant Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

Unlike other utility and work gloves, Heat Resistant Gloves are made with a wide variety of various materials from fibers including Nomex and Kevlar to rubber including neoprene. Besides using them at home with cooking and grilling, they are most commonly used for personnel protection in many industries. They are most popular of the food, rubber, mechanical, and petrochemical industries but also widely used for boiler room work, handling of molds, adhesive manufacturing, construction and road work, medical autoclaves and sterilizing, and steam cleaning.  

With over 25 years of selling heat resistant gloves, we’ve managed to select the very best heat resistant gloves that meet everyone’s individual needs and requirements. We have also managed to eliminate any heat resistant gloves from our glove offerings over the years that didn’t perform well or that didn’t hold up well in everyday industrial applications. It should be noted that our offerings include models from neoprene to terry cloth and from knit to heavy gauntlet cuff styles.

We also carry a line of heat resistant arm sleeves for workers that require some arm protection from heat in addition to gloves. Additionally, we also offer some heat resistant gloves with long cuffs and sleeves that offer both hand and arm heat protection. You will find these on our category listing link at the end of this post.

Since we offer over 15 styles of heat resistant gloves that vary in many levels of heat protection from 2500 F up to 26000 F temperatures, I will not list each one here for brevity purposes. However, I will highlight a few models due to their uniqueness. Again, you can find all of our popular and best heat resistant glove models in the category listing on our web site which is linked at the bottom of this post.

Special Note: Keep in mind that some models listed in the Heat Resistant Glove category are also cut resistant in addition to their heat resistant properties.

Below, I am highlighting 3 Heat Resistant Models. I’ve selected these three not only because they are our most popular heat resistant gloves but since they are very distinct from one another.

MAPA Temp-Tec Insulated Neoprene Gloves

These heat resistant gloves are a heavy duty, double-layer glove with thermal insulation and extended length (17” overall) for extra arm protection. A multi-purpose chemical resistant glove with excellent thermal insulation due to a double-knit cotton lining. They also offer good grip of wet or slippery objects. Besides the high heat and chemical resistance against acids and aliphatic solutions, these gloves are also liquid and steam proof. Their heat resistant has been certified up to 480 F. See listing on web site for additional details.   

CarbonX Heat and Flame Resistant Gloves

These heat resistant gloves with a built-in 20” sleeve are made of CarbonX material which is extremely nonflammable. Originally developed for NASCAR, these gloves will not ignite or burn, even when exposed to 26000 F for 120 seconds. They will not melt or shrink. The material’s soft finish and multi-directional stretch make them exceptionally comfortable. The ambidextrous reversible design allows replacing one glove at a time, rather than pairs. The ambidextrous feature also permits the gloves to be worn on either hand, extending wear and reducing costs. See listing on web site for additional details.   

Wells Lamont Heat Resistant Gloves

These seamless knit heat resistant gloves are made with Nomex and Kevlar fibers and rated up to 5000 F.

This is the thinnest model we offer at this temperature range. This is a heat resistant glove that also offers cut resistance. The cotton lining provides comfort while the outside provides excellent thermal properties, allowing you to handle hot objects. The ambidextrous reversible design allows replacing one glove at a time, rather than pairs. The ambidextrous feature also permits the gloves to be worn on either hand, extending wear and reducing costs. These gloves also have an extended continuous protective cuff. See listing on web site for additional details.   

Link:  Heat Resistant Gloves

Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for subscribing.

The Glove Guru

Joe McGarry

The Best High Visibility Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

It’s that time of year again… so this post should be timely for those that work outdoors.

This is a very helpful guide for selecting the best High Visibility Gloves for your particular need and conditions. These recommendations are based on over 2 decades of experiences in selling Hi-Vis Work Gloves and assisting customers in fulfilling their specific needs with their specific work conditions.

The good news is that we offer a wide variety and range of Hi-Vis Work Gloves that meet most any requirement, weather and temperature conditions, wet environments, day and night time conditions. We also have Hi-Vis gloves that also meet heavy-duty work conditions or light weight, normal work conditions.

Having said all that, I’ll break things down at make it simpler and easier to match up the gloves to the various conditions. I’ll present them in a step by step manner which should help make it easy to find a High Visibility glove model ideal for your work.

Although some of these points may seem to be very obvious, the options should make a good check list for you so that you don’t overlook a condition or option before purchasing a new pair of Hi-Vis gloves.  

Color – Safety Orange or Lime

According to safety standards, the color does not make any difference and more a matter of personal choice. Both the traditional orange and the newer hi-vis lime colors work identically. The lime color was initially introduced in Europe and the thought was to stand out better than the traditional common orange color. I’m told that people became less alert to seeing the orange color as a potential safety hazard but I believe that when people see hi-vis colors they notice them whatever the color.

I’m sure that there are people out there that may disagree with me but the ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 High Visibility Standard does that make any preference to color other than the intensity and reflective capability is the benchmark. 

Day Time or Night Time

I know for a fact that customers overlook the time of day when they will use hi-vis gloves but this is a primary safety selection issue. For example, many customers fail to realize that some hi-vis gloves will only be effective during day light hours while other hi-vi gloves will work in both day time and night time.

First, it is important to know that Nighttime Hi-Visibility Gloves contain retro-reflective patches or elements within the gloves that will reflect back light beams to the source such as automobile headlights. These patches are easily identified since they are normally a glossy colored material or shiny silver metallic material.

Warm Weather or Cold Weather

This is an obvious issue but, again, often overlooked by customers. Some Hi-Vis gloves are suitable for both types of weather depending on the temperature ranges but this is primarily a comfort issue verses a safety issue. Look for lined or thermal models in cold conditions. We also have some nice breathable mesh back models or knit models for warm weather.

Wet Conditions

Police, Traffic Control, Highway Workers, and Construction personnel frequently find themselves working in rainy weather. Consider using High Visibility Moisture or Waterproof Gloves. They do exist and you will find them a useful in these wet conditions. 

You may notice that the most popular Hi-Vis Leather Gloves are made of Pigskin. There is a very logical reason for this. First, Pigskin is very dense and more durable than Cowhide so they usually last longer. They are not much more durable than Cowhide but enough to make them stronger.

The main reason that the Pigskin High Visibility Gloves are more popular is due to the fact that they are principally used outdoors and in wet conditions. Therefore, since Pigskin remains soft when they dry out after being wet, they are the best option in wet conditions. You should note that as nice as cowhide is, it becomes hard when it dries out after being wet. This will reduce the life, flexibility, and comfort with cowhide models in a wet environment.

We also have a Cryo Hi-Vis glove model which is both liquid proof and withstands freezing conditions. These are popular with aircraft signalers, crossing guards, and commercial fishermen.

Durability – Heavy Weight and Light Weight models.

There is not much that I can say on this topic since it is obvious which model may be more durable than another. All of the Leather Palm models are the obvious choice for rugged conditions. We also have a new Hi-Vis model that is also cut resistant and impact resistant which is a nice glove.

The light weight models are also popular with parking attendants and we have a few nice options there.

Below are seven (7) examples of the High Visibility Gloves that I’ve mentioned. We currently carry 16 different Hi-Vis Glove models so I won’t list them all in this post. However, you can see all of these models at this link:

High Visibility Gloves

Examples:

  • Heavy Duty Model

Shown is our WK-1938 Lined Pigskin Model which also available in Lime Green.

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  • Light Weight Model

Shown is our WK-HVO990K Drivers Gloves

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  • Daytime Model

Shown is our WK-C874FY Maxiflex Coated Gloves

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  • Daytime & Nighttime Model Example

Shown is our WK-1919 Model – Note the Retro-Reflective Strips which can be found on other models.

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  • Warm Weather Model

Shown is our WK-908 Mesh Back Leather Gloves which is also available on Orange.

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  • Cold Weather Model Example

Shown are our WK-41-1400 POWERGRAB Thermal Grip Gloves which are also available in Lime Green.

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  • Water Resistant Model Example

Shown is our WK-1938KWP which are a Lined Waterproof Pigskin Model with a Knit Wrist to keep out cold air.

Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for subscribing.

The Glove Guru

Joe McGarry

The Best Handbell Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

This is a useful guide for selecting the best Handbell Gloves for Ringers for their individual need and use. These suggestions are based on over 25 years of making and selling gloves for Bell Ringers and Bell Choirs. We even have a special category link on our Home page devoted to Handbell Gloves.

Cotton Gloves verses Nylon Gloves

My first major suggestion is DON’T buy nylon gloves for Handbell Gloves! Always buy and use 100% COTTON gloves.

Cotton gloves for handbell use are better for the following reasons. First, 100% Cotton gloves last much longer than nylon gloves and fit the hand better (snugger) for better dexterity. Additionally, cotton protects the bells better due to its density and softness. Cotton gloves also act as a better barrier from hand oils that will tarnish the bells. Blended cotton gloves are OK but blended cotton gloves tend to be inferior since they are generally blended with weaker fibers to make them less expensive than 100% cotton gloves. Blended gloves are also less durable and the seams tend to break down quicker.

It should be noted that gloves made from 100% cotton are also washable and can be bleached when they become soiled.

Nylon gloves may look good and are more size friendly since they stretch but they are weaker. They also tend to get runs like nylon stockings due to the active stress from the constant hand movements. This includes stress on the stretchy seams which will split quickly. Nylon gloves are also slick and slippery which is undesirable when good grip is essential. By having to grip the bells harder with nylon gloves due to the slippery issue also creates hand fatigue.

Colors: Black & White

Although White Gloves are the most popular, many bell choirs prefer to use Black Gloves. It’s really a matter of choice but it is presumed that the Black Gloves are used since they will not show any soiling over time.

Dotted Palm Glove Models for better grip

Our glove models with the rubber Dotted Palms and Fingers are by far the most popular models with ringers. They offer a much better grip which also provides more dexterity and less hand fatigue. We also have gloves without the dotted palms and fingers for those that prefer a slicker grip.

Handbell Glove Models

We offer 8 different Handbell Glove models. Although this many may seem to be perplexing, we really have 4 models when you consider we offer the same models in either black or white.  

MC-571 – Deluxe Beaded Grip Sure Gloves with Velcro Wrist Closure

These are our most popular Handbell Gloves which come in both Black and White Models. These are the ultimate grip gloves which offer robust gripping and reinforcement elements in high stress areas of the gloves including the thumb crotch. Even the side finger panels (fourchettes) are dotted for extra dexterity.

This model also has a special Velcro Wrist Strap Closure for a more comfortable and snug fit.

This model is very popular among active ringers due to their high dexterity, extra durability, and long glove life.

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MC-550 – White Cotton Beaded Gloves

This is our other very popular Handbell Glove model.

These are the beaded palm and finger version of our most popular white gloves.

I’ve only listed here our two most popular Handbell  gloves but you can use the link below to see all 8 models. It would be too redundant to list all of the gloves in this post. The other models include Black versions and extra-long versions for those that prefer to hide their skin.

See all Handbell Gloves using this link.

Thank you for subscribing to my blog and please let me know if you have any questions.

Joe McGarry

The Glove Guru

Rappelling & Zip Line Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

Photo above courtesy of the Alligator Farm who use the Kinco 97 Gloves.

Rappelling & Zip Line gloves are very similar for their hand safety, gripping, and abrasion resistance properties and functions.

The primary safety goal is to protect your hands from the friction caused by the fast movement of the ropes or zip line cables. Therefore gloves used in rappelling maneuvers and grabbing zip lines must have a high level of abrasion resistance on the palms of each glove. These gloves should also be sized to the user so their dexterity is not hindered.

The only difference is that some rappelling gloves should offer some higher dexterity for handling ropes and tools. This would especially be the case when rappelling out of helicopters. However, in most cases, gloves used in rappelling operations would also be ideal for use in zip line operations.

We currently feature 2 types of Rappelling and Zip Line Glove models which are distinctly different in design and materials. These 2 glove models are described below.

Before I describe the gloves we are featuring, it is important to understand why. First, while I was searching for gloves to sell with the elements needed with these types of gloves, I obviously searched the internet. I found a few potential glove candidates but the problem was that these gloves were not sold or made by known reputable glove manufactures. They were branded gloves sold by companies who cater to the rappel and zip line markets and made by third-party foreign vendors. This is a red flag to me for many reasons.

I’m sure that some of these branded gloves are very good but I am also sure that many are made with more focus on fashion and design than the actual quality. This quality issue is in both the quality of materials used along with how the gloves are actually made. This is most important since these gloves need to last and withstand the high stress and friction that these gloves will endure.

As a footnote to some of the better rappelling and zip line gloves that I reviewed, the ones that looked very good were priced in the $40 to $50 range. That’s a bit extravagant in my personal opinion but that’s what the big brands guys do. The gloves we feature work and look just as good at a fraction of the price.

The gloves we are featuring are made by very reputable and reliable glove companies who design and make their own gloves. Furthermore and a very interesting aspect is that both of these companies are known for and make industrial work gloves such as welding gloves. Obviously, you want to purchase durable, hardworking gloves from companies who actually know how to make strong gloves.   

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Kinco WK-97 Strong Cowhide Fencing Gloves

A Glove that is very popular with Zip Line operations is our Kinco WK-97 Strong Cowhide Fencing Gloves. Don’t let the name fool you since these gloves were originally designed for ranchers constructing and mending fences. Think barbed wire!

Kinco has since changed the name of these driver style leather gloves but I kept the old name alive for posterity reasons. I still think ranchers need to identify with their own type of glove that was originally designed for them.

By word of mouth, Zip Line operators started buying these gloves and they became as popular with zip line customers as well as their popularity with ranchers, landscapers and utility workers. It’s actually not surprising when you consider the basic features of these gloves. These gloves found their way to the zip line market by their own design and function and I take no personal credit or accolades for making them popular with zip line customers.

I’ll mention a few important features with these gloves but you can read more at this link: Kinco 97 Cowhide Gloves

  • They have an additional Suede cowhide patch on the palm which reinforces the high-wear area of the glove. This allows the gloves to withstand abrasions and to extend the longevity of the gloves.
  • Out-seam wrap around index finger for more comfort and less wear on a high wear seam.
  • Ergonomic keystone thumb design offers more flexibility, a fuller range of motion and provides more dexterity and less hand fatigue.
  • Shirred back for a snug fit.

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Caiman MAG 2984 Rappelling and Zip Line Gloves

The MAG stands for multi-activity gloves.

These gloves were specifically designed by the Caiman glove company for rappelling and rope handling.

  • The MAG-2984 Gloves are made with a base of Goatskin leather for a comfortable fit and feel with a large reinforcement layer of tough Pig Skin Grain leather in the high wear areas of the palms and the fingers.
  • The leather palm reinforcement extends over onto the backside of the index finger and the thumb crotch for added durability and longer glove life.
  • Air-mesh back keeps gloves cool.
  • Internal padded palm for extra comfort.
  • Hi-Viz reflective back for maximum visibility. I’m told by the manufacturer that these gloves may come in a black model due to requests from police departments but I think the hi-vis aspect is a very nice feature.
  • Although the base Goatskin is not as durable as cowhide or pigskin, I feel these gloves offer a great balance of higher dexterity and good abrasion resistance for rappelling. For zip line users they meet their needs in many ways.

See this link for additional information: Caiman MAG 2984 Gloves

Link to both models: Rappelling and Zip Line Gloves

Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for subscribing to my blog.

The Glove Guru – Joe McGarry

A Brief History of Gloves-Online.com

Posted on by The Glove Guru

This week in 1991 the World Wide Web (WWW) was founded.

It was just 5 years later that, Joe McGarry, launched Gloves-Online.com.

To put this innovative endeavor into perspective, this was around the same time that Amazon initially launched its bookstore and 2 years before Google was founded.   

The timing of the Gloves-Online.com URL and the uniqueness of the URL domain name alone is a great example of it’s the early entry into the internet WWW world. Some of you may recall the heydays of the early .com era and the drive to have a web presence at that time. During this time many opportunists were buying up all sorts of URL names without any intentions to build a web site but with the only objective to sell the name to an eager buyer.

FYI, below are very interesting examples of the most expensive domain names recently publicly reported:

·  CarInsurance.com — $49.7 million.

·  Insurance.com — $35.6 million.

·  VacationRentals.com — $35 million.

·  PrivateJet.com — $30.18 million.

Joe also owns glovesonline.com but he preferred the novelty by using the “hyphen” in the name and for a better look to users. Glovesonline.com is a redirect domain as well as gogloves.com.

It’s interesting to contemplate what the value of the GO Gloves and Gloves-Online domain family of URL internet names are worth today.

Our evolution’s through the years….

GO Gloves, which the company is commonly called today, was the very first web portal in the world devoted exclusively to gloves. GO Gloves was an offshoot of Polygenex International, Inc. which was founded by Joe in 1990 and became the largest domestic manufacturer of specialty high-tech knit gloves. GO Gloves was originally developed as a source of glove information for people searching for glove know-how on the internet.

The existence of the original Gloves-Online information web site actually led to a new unforeseen opportunity to actually sell gloves that people were searching for but could not find. 

The very first gloves that GO Gloves featured for sale on the internet where high-quality white cotton gloves including the gloves that were manufactured by Polygenex. These white gloves, often referred to as parade gloves, were selected since people were searching for sources of these gloves since they were difficult to find locally or at department stores as in the old days. As examples, these types of gloves were used by church ushers, bell choirs, funeral pall-bearers, military guard units, marching bands, catering companies, cotillions, Santa Claus outfitting, and doorman just to name a few. Consequently, a new internet business dedicated to hard-to-find gloves was born.

The rising popularity of GO Gloves was reflected by its search history which was just over 1 million page views by the year 2000 and doubled to just nearly 2 million page views only a few years later. Today, Joe no longer provides this data for obvious proprietary reasons but it’s become one of the largest glove sources on the internet with a world-wide audience.

Industrial & Work Glove concept….

In 2008, GO Gloves launched its sister web site Industrial Gloves Online which was focused exclusively to work and industrial gloves. The Industrial Glove web site was set up under a separate URL domain so that buyers looking for work gloves had easier navigation without filtering through all of the consumer glove listings. However, all of the gloves listed on the industrial work glove web site are also available on the main original consumer Gloves-Online web site.

The Glove Guru Blog….

Also, in 2008, Joe developed a special blog devoted to gloves called The Glove Guru. The blog covers useful glove information, glove technical data, and valuable and beneficial glove suggestions. The advantage of the Glove Guru Blog is that it contains more in-depth information about particular types of gloves that is difficult to include on a product description and this information remains as a permanent archive on the internet. The Glove Guru Blog also has its own search engine so you can easily locate articles and information on gloves.

Today….

During all this time, we’ve done “major” up-grades and modernized our web sites over 10 times using the latest web site technology and shopping cart functionality including web site security processes and friendly web site navigation.

Gloves-Online also has a very robust internal search engine integrated within the web sites to make it very easy to find and locate a glove by its design, manufacturer, or use. Our site search engine will also locate a glove that is featured on both of our web sites regardless of which web site you are searching from using the search box.

Today, GO Gloves serves over 13,000 dedicated customers, stocks over 2,500 glove styles, represents over 34 glove manufacturers, and ships gloves worldwide.

Ambidextrous Work Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

Want to double the life of your work gloves? Would you like to save money on your work gloves?

Most people overlook the ambidextrous feature of some work gloves and that oversight might turn out to be very expensive in some cases. Our competitors don’t talk about the advantages of ambidextrous work gloves since it reduces glove sales but we like to educate and make our customer’s glove smart.

Simply said, ambidextrous work gloves are gloves that can be worn on either hand. Some manufacturers refer to them as reversible gloves but you get the idea.

I’m sure that many of you never stopped to think about an ambidextrous glove or a non-ambidextrous glove but the difference is very dramatic. One point is that non-ambidextrous gloves have what is called a keystone thumb. A keystone thumb is made from a different piece of fabric or leather and sewn separately into the palm of the glove. Gloves with a keystone thumb are more comfortable and ergonomic since they mimic the hand structure. This feature is very important with very form fitting work gloves or dress gloves. The other type of a thumb design is winged thumbs but they are not very popular today in more modern work gloves in general.

Another type of non-ambidextrous gloves is coated work gloves that are very form fitting and replicate the natural curvature of the hand.

By what I’ve mentioned already may make many of you think that ambidextrous gloves are cheaply made or inferior gloves but this is not the case. It is simply that some gloves lend themselves to this type of glove design opposed to non-ambidextrous glove models. You will see that in the examples below.

As many of you have experienced, under most working conditions where you need to wear protective work gloves, the palms always wear out before the rest of the glove making them useless. So, if you think about it, by simply wearing the glove on the other hand, you reverse the palm side to the back side which extends the usefulness of the gloves. OK, now that the back side may not look pretty but who cares when it comes to work gloves. We’re not talking dress gloves here. We are taking performance in a work glove.

Therefore, once you consider that you can renew the life of the gloves by reversing them, in essence, you have now doubled the working life of your work gloves. This is money saved.

Another example is the fact that in some operations, one glove wears out faster than another like a right hand or a left hand glove. In the case of ambidextrous gloves, you can replace one glove and it doesn’t matter if it’s a right hand or left hand model since it will fit either hand.

To put this in perspective, I’ll give you some examples so you can get a better idea how ambidextrous gloves can possibly apply to your situation. The examples may seem obvious in some cases but it’s good to point out some examples employed by many of our customers.

A factory assembly line is the best example where there is a very high usage of gloves. Therefore, by doubling the life of the gloves that workers use can lead to some very significant savings. So, if you purchase gloves for your factory workers try and find an ambidextrous model. Some examples of these are cotton inspection gloves or utility cotton gloves used in moving items along an assembly line. Our 7 Gauge – Standard Weight Seamless Knit Cotton/Polyester gloves are a good example.

Another good example is ambidextrous heat resistant gloves. In many cases only one heat resistant glove is required in a work activity. In this case and since heat resistant gloves are sold by the pair, an ambidextrous model is more cost effective since you only have to replace one glove at a time and it doesn’t matter if it is a right hand model or a left hand model. Otherwise, if these gloves are not ambidextrous, you will be throwing away either the left handed or right handed glove. See this link as an example.

The same condition applies to some ambidextrous cut-resistant gloves as they do in the ambidextrous heat resistant gloves above. See this link as an example.

Regarding ambidextrous cut-resistant gloves, our Stainless Steel Metal Mesh Gloves are an excellent example. These are widely used in meat cutting activities such as grocery stores, and an ambidextrous feature is ideal since they are shared among many employees and it does not matter if they are right handed or left handed.

The most popular and obvious example of ambidextrous gloves are disposable gloves such as latex, nitrile and vinyl gloves. Although no one ever thinks about it, these gloves are ambidextrous and always have been.

See the following link to see our current offering of ambidextrous work gloves.

Ambidextrous Work Gloves

If anyone wishes to bring a nice Ambidextrous Gloves to my attention, please let me know.

Thank you for subscribing to my blog,

Joe McGarry, The Glove Guru

Flash Colored Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

We’ve made and sold Flash Colored Gloves for over 25 years. The generic name “Flash Gloves” is unknown but is believed to be derived from the colorful gloves popular among cheer groups. This post contains information about colored gloves which are primarily used for events, cheerleaders, parades, promotions, and shows.

History and evolution of Flash Colored Gloves

Originally, colored gloves could not be found commercially and were dyed at home using white cotton gloves with dye solutions. Over time, due to their world-wide popularity, they became commercially available is select popular colors. They eventually evolved from cotton to being made using high quality stretch polyester fabric since they were more universally sized (one size fits all) and not as size critical with cotton versions.

Another advantage of using polyester is that polyester fibers, being a polymer, can be made in very vibrant colors and will not fade or lose their color like cotton.

Today, almost 100% of the colored gloves you will find are made from a high quality polyester fiber except for fashion silk and satin colored gloves. Also, Flash Colored gloves are now made in a Men’s universal size in popular colors. It should also be noted that the Flash colored gloves that we offer at Gloves-Online (GO Gloves) are made from a polyester fiber that looks and feels like cotton. It’s nothing like the polyester that was used in clothing in the ‘60’s.  

Two Models

We offer Flash Gloves in 2 models. The most popular are the solid color models. The other model is our Flash 2 Color model. The two color models have a white top with a colored palm. The purpose of the two color model is that the performers look like they are wearing traditional white gloves while marching which turns into a color as they do a dance routine showing their palms in unison. This may sound blasé but it is a very nice feature when you see a performance using the two color models.

Important features

Besides the vivid colors, there are 2 important features to consider.

A soft stretch polyester fabric: Not all polyesters are stretchy and this is important since one size will fit most. Otherwise, sizing will become an issue with almost everyone.

Keystone thumb: This feature may not seem important but it is if you want the gloves to be comfortable, form fitting, and ergonomically fit the user. 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 a hand and sewn together. Our hands are not designed this way and therefore, gloves without a keystone thumb are less comfortable. They are also a sign of a lower quality glove.

Useful Links:

Flash Gloves (all models)

Men’s Flash Gloves

Colored Gloves (Including Silk and Satin models)

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Joe McGarry – The Glove Guru

White Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru

White Gloves

White Gloves happens to be one of the most popular searched key words in regards to gloves on the internet search engines. It’s also interesting that white gloves happen to be our largest selling gloves in terms of volume.

To give you a little history, White Gloves happened to be our first product line on Gloves-Online back in 1996. To put this time-line in an interesting perspective, this was even before Google was live.

We introduced white gloves since people were searching for these using our static web site that only had an email contact link along with glove information. This was before internet shopping carts. People kept asking us where they could purchase white gloves so with their help; they did our marketing research to introduce white gloves as our first product.  

This wasn’t exactly a rabbit out of that hat idea as an internet product idea since we were already an established domestic glove manufacturer. We used Gloves-Online to sell the high-tech gloves that we manufactured but we also needed some consumer gloves to help with our visibility on the early Netscape browser search engine at the time. Maybe that brings back some memories for old times sake. I doubt you Millennials have a clue what I’m referring to here.

The vast majority of the White Gloves we sell today are cotton gloves and nylon gloves. Although we also sell white leather gloves which are only popular in the winter months and normally only used as a nice fashion accessory, my focus will cover our cotton and nylon gloves. Another large category for white gloves is satin and silk gloves which I will discuss in the future. These models are normally used for weddings and balls.

Our White Gloves today:  

As you can tell by the paragraph above, we’ve got the white glove category covered. The important issue is that not only are we an authority on gloves, we have 30 years of glove manufacturing know-how and expertise.

This brings up another matter. Quality and trust from these years of making and selling white gloves. We not only know how to make a good quality glove for a fair and reasonable price, we also know what the market wants, needs, and likes in gloves.

The white gloves we make and sell today are much different than the ones we introduced in 1996 except for a select few nylon models. Over the years, we learned what people liked in these gloves and what people preferred as far as glove design, glove fit, glove feel, and glove function. I often say that when it comes to gloves, it’s all about the 3 F’s. Fit, feel, and function.

Another aspect is pricing. It’s a big mistake to think that people buy gloves based on price. Although, people are very cost conscious, people don’t want gloves that are too thin that you can see through them. They don’t want gloves where the knit gauge is too high were they end up stretching and falling off. Nor do customers want gloves that fall apart due to poor stitching.

A big mistake that people often make when searching for white gloves on the internet is they cannot judge the quality or type of glove. They simply type in “white gloves” in the search and up pops the following types. Cheap inspection gloves used in manufacturing operations to eliminate finger prints on products or inexpensive thin therapy gloves from the chain drug stores that are used primarily for wound protection or therapeutic creams. Although our gloves can be used in these cases since they are made from 100% pure quality cotton, most people want gloves for special events where they look great and feel great.

A point to always remember: “You get what you pay for.”

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Popular White Glove Categories

I’m sure you never sat back and thought about all of the uses that people need white gloves for so I listed the most popular categories. To help you, these categories are linked to our web site in case you are reading this for the first time and looking for a glove in the general category you’re searching. Note: The site search on our web site will do the same.

When you link to any of the categories below, the header in that category describes the type of gloves that are listed in that specific glove category.

You may also find this list amusing if it’s new to you. The other funny aspect is that these categories are only the most popular. If you know of a good one, please let me know, we would enjoy your feedback.

For example, we know that some of our gloves are used for Bell Choirs but we have this covered under our Church Glove category.

Here’s this list:

Band Gloves

Church Gloves

Cotillion Gloves

Doorman Gloves

Food Service Gloves

Formal Gloves

Funeral Gloves

Hospitality Gloves

LOGO Gloves

Military Gloves

Parade Gloves

Santa Claus Gloves

Uniform Gloves

Usher Gloves

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White Cotton Gloves verses White Nylon Gloves

Which one should I buy?

This is a question that we get asked about almost every day for new customers. I’ll answer the most popular questions below.

Are the cotton glove models better than the nylon glove models?

The answer is no. Our white nylon gloves are a very high quality nylon that looks and feels like cotton. The big difference here is that the cotton can be bleached and washed if they get dirty and you want to reuse them. The nylon gloves also stretch unlike the cotton gloves.

When should I buy nylon gloves rather than cotton gloves?

This is a simple answer since our cotton gloves and nylon gloves are of the same quality, look, and feel. The main difference is with sizing issues.

Our cotton gloves are made in up to 7 different sizes for men, women, and children depending on the model. See our sizing chart in the left hand navigation panel of our web site.

Remember, our nylon gloves are made to stretch. Therefore, we have only 2 adult sizes plus children’s sizes in separate models.

The adult sizes in the nylon gloves come in 2 sizes: Small/Medium and Large/Extra Large. The S/M will fit most women and the L/XL will fit most men. We always suggest that if you are looking to buy gloves for a large group of people, then buy the nylon gloves since the fit is more forgiving.

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Our most popular White Gloves:

CP-250 – White Cotton Parade Gloves

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NYP-404 – Unisex Stretch White Nylon Gloves

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The Glove Guru

Joe McGarry