Latex Gloves Uses and Overview
What makes latex gloves so special? – Good you asked
Excellent feel like no other glove. Latex gloves are known for their fit and comfort.
Excellent barrier protection – from bacteria, viruses and fungi. The excellent barrier protection of Natural rubber latex gloves is the main reason why they are used and trusted by doctors and healthcare professionals. The EN 374-5:2016 test (viral penetration test) of our latex gloves confirms this.
Environmentally friendly & Biodegradable. Latex gloves are nature friendly and do not pose toxicity risk to the environment because they are made from Natural rubber tapped from Rubber trees called Hevea brasiliensis. Their decomposition time is short and assimilate back to nature in a span of few months whereas its counterpart nitrile glove take years.
Low Carbon Footprint- Natural rubber latex is tapped from the rubber tree early in the morning. Apart from rubber composition in the glove, the rest in it is chemicals to promote rubber crosslinking to provide it strength and elasticity. On the other hand, nitrile latex is a synthetic derivative of petroleum gone through rigging and fractional distillation of crude oil. All of this requires large amounts of energy making the carbon footprint of nitrile gloves very high. To use a green glove that offers everything you need and is safe to use is the latex glove.
Food contact gloves- Latex gloves are a product of natural rubber processing making it highly safe to use with food. The chemicals used in latex glove processing are safe and pose no risk to the human body. You can feel free to touch your food by wearing latex gloves or nitrile gloves if that is your choice.
Chemical handling & PPE gloves- Latex gloves also does pretty good in term of protection against chemicals. Chemical protection of latex gloves can be found out by the EN 374-1:2016 test. The permeation and degradation test of latex gloves will give you a fair idea of the protection level against specific target chemicals you intend to handle with latex gloves. Nitrile gloves have a slight edge over latex gloves in the handling of specific chemicals. Hence if you are handling serious chemicals, it is best to know by test results of which gloves to choose for with certain chemicals to ensure maximum protection of your hands.
Excellent shelf life- If stored and kept properly away from sunlight at a cool or room temperature, Latex gloves can last from 3 upto 5 years.
Surplus availability of Natural Latex raw material. Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, India boast surplus plantation of natural rubber trees. Thailand and Malaysia being one of the oldest rubber tappers produce excellent quality latex for glove production at a much lower cost than synthetic nitrile latex.
Latex gloves of different Weights, Length and Color specifications- Latex gloves can be manufactured to suit your needs and application. Specifications can include higher glove weights, color of the glove, scent of the glove and longer length gloves that give higher hand protection against spillage and withstand integrity against dangerous chemicals. Latex gloves has usage in many segments such as Beauty Salons, Dental clinics, Hospitals as medical gloves, Household cleaning jobs such as thick colored household gloves, Mechanic works in the automotive industry, Hazardous Chemical handling in laboratories, Personal Protective Equipment where risk of spillage is concern, food handling where gloves are used, Hard disk manufacturing and semiconductor industries where it is used in clean room applications where electro static charge is a concern. Happy Hands gloves can manufacture gloves of various specifications as per requirements of use.