About Our Disposable Gloves.

All of our disposable gloves are AQL 1.5 medical grade and they meet all stringent UK standards and testing. Disposable gloves are made of several different polymers, the most popular being latex, nitrile and vinyl. All our disposable gloves come as either powdered or unpowdered and they can all be used in medical examinations helping to prevent contamination. Our gloves however are not restricted to the medical practice; they are often used in the catering and food preparation industries, medical and electronic cleanrooms, laboratories, veterinary surgery, hairdressing and tanning salons, janitorial work, police work, jewelry making, and many other sectors. Latex gloves are undoubtedly the most popular of disposable gloves due to the sensitivity and dexterity they offer the wearer but there are many professional health users and users in other sectors who have developed allergies to latex and this means that nitrile and vinyl are now becoming much more widely used.

Latex Gloves – Latex gloves are manufactured from natural rubber latex. Latex gloves offer strength, sensitivity, control, flexibility, comfort, and a superior level of barrier protection than other gloves. We stock clear and blue latex gloves, either as powdered or powder free. Allergies from the proteins found in latex gloves are on the rise among users, particularly professional medical wearers, with as much as 10% of the population susceptible. The Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 places a general duty upon employers to keep employees, and others (such as patients), healthy & safe at work. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 requires employers to undertake an assessment of any substances used at work that are hazardous to health. Natural rubber latex is hazardous to health. To ensure that employers comply with their legal duties they should undertake an assessment: Eliminating the risk where appropriate - gloves should only be worn where there is a risk of infection; Substituting to other glove materials where appropriate - nitrile, vinyl, synthetic; Limiting exposure - HSE's policy for this is: "Single use, disposable natural rubber latex gloves may be used where a risk assessment has identified them as necessary. When they are used they must be low-protein and powder-free." Learn more about the law on latex glove usage here http://www.hse.gov.uk/latex/law.htm

Vinyl Gloves – Vinyl gloves are manufactured from Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated to PVC. Polyvinyl chloride is a thermoplastic polymer, it is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating ethenyls. It is made softer by the addition of phthalates. Vinyl gloves are soft, comfortable, sensitive and more importantly to allergic users, they are totally latex free. In our disposable gloves range we sell both powdered and powder free vinyl gloves, either in clear vinyl or blue vinyl.

Nitrile Gloves – Nitrile gloves are made from a synthetic rubber copolymer of acrylonitrile and butadiene. The resultant Nitrile butadiene rubber (or NBR) is used widely in the manufacturing of disposable gloves, providing a strong and resilient nitrile glove that has a higher resistance to oils and acids than latex and vinyl, and is harder to puncture, though this is offset by its lower flexibility. Nitrile rubber gloves are on sale in our disposable gloves range.