[Limbaza]

Hi, I was wondering what kind of gloves are best to use in an organic chemistry lab.  I'm typically handling solvents like Acetone, ethyl acetate, thf, dcm, methanol, ether, benzene, the occasional chromium reagent and some generally weak acids.
I find it difficult to find information on which kind of disposable glove is best to use.  Any suggestions?  (I'm also worried about developing an allergy to latex... my hands are recently starting to become itchy, I suspect it's from the use of powdered latex gloves).  Cost is not a big concern of mine when it comes to this.

[stewie griffin]

I work in a total synthesis lab and we deal with nasty reagents all of the time. Everyone wears nitrile gloves from Fisher. Other places probably have them too, we just happen to have Fisher close by for ordering.

[Limbaza]

Do you know about good technique with gloves, in the sense of how often should they be switched out?  From what I understand Nitrile gloves arent good at protecting against some solvents.  What about letting your  hands 'breath'?  Sorry if these are ridiculous questions.  But the health of my hands ever since I started working in a lab have declined severely.  They used to be nice and baby soft, now they're all wrinkley and semi-soft.  Thanks for the response!

[bromidewind]

Nitrile is definitely one of the best ways to go. Only caveats are that DCM and chromium agents very easily eat right through the gloves. I would recommend wearing two sets if you're using these compounds, and if you spill any, quickly toss them. Better to waste a few bucks on gloves then suffer chemical burns (believe me, they hurt).

Don't worry about the status of your hands.. any glove will make them pruney/rough/etc. It's one of the end results of working in a lab. Just like guitarists develop callouses and factory workers lots of little cuts. Nitrile gloves for the most part are excellent at protecting your hands. I wear the same gloves for hours at a time, but I do check them often just to make sure that I haven't spilled anything. I toss them whenever I leave the lab. Washing your hands is always a good idea too. When handling organic solvents, I give my hands a VERY light rinse of acetone, then follow up with soap and water.

[stewie griffin]

Yeah nitrile gloves aren't completely protective against organic solvents, but they are the best glove one can get for the job IMHO.
As far as your hands go.... get some Palmer's cocoa butter or some other lotion. My hands tend to crack in the winter around my knuckles, and I like the Palmer's b/c I can get it in bulk at Sam's club. Alright I'm starting to sound too much like my parents so enough with the lotion talk  

[408]

Nitrile.  3 years of latex use means my hands now turn red and cracked if I wear them thanks to the latex allergy I developed. 

[johanroth]

I was very interested to read the posts in this topic and we may be able to help each other.

We sell disposable gloves that are treated with an aloe vera gel inside the glove. Like me you'll probably be sceptical at first that this can really have any significant benefit so I'll send you samples for free to try this experiment.  Put one of these gloves on only one hand. Leave it there for 15 - 20mins then compare your hands afterwards. I'm sure you will be surprised. Now I'm not saying that if your hands have been drying out for 3 years they are going to give you the hands of a pampered hollywood star overnight but we have to start somewhere.

If you are pleased with the results, can I have some feedback that I can use to help with my promotion? Of course if you are really pleased and want to tell other people then I'll be even more grateful.

PM me or drop by the store and use the contact link to let me know whether you want nitrile or latex, what size you want and where to send them to. I tried to attach a link to the store but I'm new to this forum so the link may not be visible.

[cpncoop]

I'm sure you're all well aware of this, but nitriles (or any common lab glove) is really only good for protecting against the occasional solvent splash, and none are good for any type of submersion.  If you're working with DCM frequently, in decent amounts, you may want to invest in a pair of butyl or viton gloves. 

I use nitriles everyday, and just change them regularly.  I particularly like the ones from Kimberly-Clarke (blue nitriles) as they seem to have better thickness than most of the other brands.

[Arctic-Nation]

Nitrile gloves are the way to go, though wearing the same pair for hours on end is a bit extreme, especially if you're doing more labour-intensive work. If you find yourself with a few minutes to spare, switch gloves and wash your hands in between. As stewie said, a good hand lotion is also recommended, especially in the winter when working with degreasing solvents.

Heavier gloves like butyls are fundamentally unsuited for the finer lab work, but it's good to have a pair lying around just in case you need to handle something big (or clean something up, which is probably more likely).

I've never had problems with acids or bases eating through the gloves (never used chromium compounds either), but at my current position I handle piranha solutions on a daily basis wearing only thin latex gloves (not my choice, but changes here only happen after accidents, unfortunately) without any problem.

[nj_bartel]

Nitrile over polyethylene is what the new mom in my group uses.