Wearing heavy duty gloves in the middle of summer isn’t always easy. Thick, high-quality protective workwear can make you feel even hotter when working hard in warm weather. However, with gloves able to protect you from everything from thorns and sunburn to electric shocks and acid spills, wearing reliable, purpose made gloves, even in the height of summer, is essential.
To help ensure you get the protection you need – and aren’t putting your fingers through all that sweat for no reason – we’re taking a look at some of the best protective workwear gloves on the market.
Best Gloves for Thorn Protection
If you work in land clearance or landscaping – or any job that requires you to deal with vegetation – thorns can be a real issue. Thorns can cause serious scratches and puncture injuries, leaving you in pain and, in some cases, vulnerable to infection.
Some of the best gloves for thorn protection are Tough Duck 150g Thinsulate Premium Cowgrain Fitters Gloves. These incredibly hard wearing gloves have a hefty 150 grams of insulation. This will help to stop most thorns before they get to your skin. Despite this thick layer of insulation, the gloves have a lightweight feel and are easy to work in.
The gloves have a leather palm, leather knuckle straps and leather fingertips. They also have a rubberized safety cuff to protect your wrist from cuts and abrasions. This gives your hands all-round protection from thorns and other potential hazards.
Best Gloves for UV Protection
Generally, all heavy-duty work gloves will provide you with a good level of protection from UV rays. While UV can get through thin clothes like light shirts and vests, the rays won’t be able to pass through thick, insulated gloves.
If you want to stop all UV rays reaching your hands and wrists, look for a pair of gloves with a long cuff. A pair like these Tough Duck Snowmobile Gloves will cover the area between your glove and shirt and help to keep your entire body safe from harmful UV.
Best Gloves for Heat Protection
If you’re required to work close to an intense heat source, protecting your hands from burns is a must. Most good quality work gloves will provide some level of protection from heat. Insulated gloves will help to stop your hands from becoming uncomfortable in high temperatures. And, as leather is naturally fire resistant, gloves that feature large areas of leather will help to prevent flames from taking hold.
Some of the best heat protection gloves for work are these Tough Duck 3M™ Thinsulate™ Insulation Lined Full Grain Hi-Vis Fitters Gloves. Well-insulated and covered in leather, they have a lightweight feel and a rubberized safety cuff. Their high visibility finish makes it easier to keep an eye on what you’re doing in dark conditions and ensures colleagues can spot you even when working in poor light.
If you’re working in hot conditions and are looking for gloves that will help to keep your hands cool, Tough Duck Palm Lined Premium Cowgrain Fitters Gloves are a good option. Although, like most work gloves, they’re insulated, they’re less bulky than many of the other options on the market. This should help to keep your hands a little cooler during the working day.
Best Type of Gloves for Acid Protection
If you work with acid on a regular basis – or are employed in a lab or other scientific environment – you should invest in purpose-made chemical protection gloves. These are often made from butyl rubber and offer full protection from chemical spills. As well as gloves, you may also need to protect your clothes, shoes and hair from potential accidents with comprehensive specialist clothing.
However, if you only work with acid occasionally, or work with less corrosive chemicals, a set of heavy-duty gloves should offer you the protection you need. Leather gloves offer some protection against chemical spills. However, they can become damaged if exposed to acid so you may need to replace your gloves after a spill.
Best Gloves for Electrical Shock Protection
Electrical shocks can happen easily when working in tough environments like building sites. Leather is non-conductive, so leather work gloves are a good choice for those who want to protect themselves from electrical shocks. However, it’s important to buy good quality gloves as poor quality leather can still contain traces of water. In theory, this can conduct electricity and allow the shock to pass from your gloves to your hands.
If you want to protect yourself from electrical shocks when working, look for a pair of gloves, like Tough Duck 100g Thinsulate™ Cow Split Leather Fitters Gloves, that have leather fingertips. You’re most likely to accidentally touch a cable or socket with your fingers, so protecting this part of your hands should help to keep you safe.
Best Gloves for Wrist Protection
When you’re carrying out physical work like site clearance, tree surgery and landscaping, your wrists can be very vulnerable to cuts, grazes and abrasions. Wearing gloves is the best way to keep your wrists safely out of harm’s way throughout the working day.
A lot of heavy-duty work gloves, like Tough Duck Women’s 3M™ Thinsulate™ Lined Cowgrain Fitters Gloves, have rubberized cuffs. This helps to keep your wrists safe and stops thorns and other hazards from causing injuries.
Wearing thick, high quality gloves, even in the summer months, is incredibly important if you’re going to look after your hands and minimize the chances of an accident in the workplace. To find out more, and to find the perfect pair for your profession, explore our collection of gloves today.
About the Author
Nick Warrick
Nick Warrick is the Sales Manager at All Seasons Uniforms. With over 15 years of experience in the work uniform business, he has worked with hundreds of clients across 20 different industries. Holding bachelor’s degrees in both Business Administration and Information Technology, Nick revamped the company’s online presence, offering its customers a new uniform shopping experience.