Wearing gloves while cleaning guns

MEK is a far cry from Hoppe's No. 9. And OSHA demands the use of protective clothing and your employer is required to furnish protective gear.

Nobody in their right mind uses MEK for gun cleaning.

Bob Wright

MoreIsLess said:

Do any of you wear disposable (or other type) gloves while cleaning your guns? I do not but am thinking of starting to. If you wear them what kind do you wear (exam, industrial, etc.) and wear can they be purchased?

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I do. Just use the cheapo disposables. Makes clean up easier, that's for sure and cuts down on lead exposure.

https://www.amazon.com/Nitrile-Disp...0&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=surgical+gloves&psc=1

I wear them while cleaning guns or using any cleaners around the house. I just recently went to glasses from contacts which was the main reason I started. I continue because some of the cleaners can be nasty if absorbed.

I buy them by the 2 pack at Sam's Club

BobWright said:

MEK is a far cry from Hoppe's No. 9. And OSHA demands the use of protective clothing and your employer is required to furnish protective gear.

Nobody in their right mind uses MEK for gun cleaning.

Bob Wright

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Agreed, while I expect that MEK would be effective in cleaning a gun, no one in their right mind would do it (Really! if you are reading this thinking . . . hmm. . . . MEK. . . Stop right there. Don't do it!). I was just throwing that in as a "stupid things people do with solvents," story.

As far as the employer, as you can gather, they didn't offer correct protective gear and certainly didn't encourage its use. I definitely didn't feel even a twinge of guilt when I left that place. . . In just two years, at that place, I accumulated a trove of bad management stories from there that were useful as I wrote papers when working on my MBA.

As far as general gun cleaning chemicals, I keep a box of disposable nitrile gloves in my gun box and in the back of my jeep. I keep them in the jeep so that I have them when putting on tyre chains, and stuff like that (although, I haven't had to chain up this jeep even once . . .knock on wood. . . ).

I used to use the inexpensive disposable nitrile gloves. I switched my cleaning oil to Ballistol, so I don’t wear the gloves much for cleaning anymore.

Yes, I wear them when cleaning guns. Not only to reduce exposure to the oil and solvent, but also the lead and powder residue that the oil and solvent removes from the guns. It's also a big plus when it comes time to clean up.
I say to each his own, but if you start looking at a box of crayons and wonder if the red will taste better then the blue, you might need to see your doctor.

GunnyUSMC said:

I say to each his own, but if you start looking at a box of crayons and wonder if the red will taste better then the blue, you might need to see your doctor.

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As an aside, blue is better than red.

The primary reason that I have the box of disposable nitriles in my "gun zone" (like boxes are also in 2 other places in my house) is for use while reloading and any handling of lead bullets or volumes of dirty brass.

Heck, when I "process" (disassemble) a baked turkey I am wearing nitriles ... they help minimize the dreaded, painful winter fingertip splits later on.

When I am cleaning, I always wear gloves.

I wear them when cleaning my guns. Who knows for sure what the chemicals in gun cleaners may cause with ling term exposure. I shoot a lot and will often have to clean a couple guns a week. My wife is a nurse and one daughter is a nursing student who also works part time in a nursing home. They often end up with a pier or 2 in their pockets when they get home from work and throw them in a drawer for me when they empty their pockets

Yes, I always wear gloves when cleaning. I wear them to prevent my skin from absorbing chemicals in the cleaners I use. I have dry and cracking cuticles, especially in winter weather, so I need to keep solvents away from my skin as much as possible. I even wear them when reloading, but for a different reason. During reloading, I wear them to prevent skin oils (the little I have left) from getting on cases, primers, and powder.

A link to the gloves I bought is here. These cost about 42 cents/pair and I can get several cleaning sessions out of one pair before I toss them. I recommend heavy duty (which means thicker, like 8 mil) nitrile only. I also recommend getting a size that fits somewhat snugly on the had to allow better tactile feel when handling small parts. I do not like wearing loose fitting, wrinkly gloves.

I wear the cheapie nitrile rubber gloves from wallyworld. The key realization is what we are using solvents for. They dissolve, amongst other things, heavy metal deposits such as lead. Once these are dissolved the solvent can be absorbed through the skin, and some of the heavy metals can and will be absorbed along with it. If you shoot and reload a lot with lead-based primers it pays off to avoid lead absorption via any means possible - because it's hard to eliminate entirely.

I wear exam gloves a lot but not always. Just because I try to not get oil and carbon and whatever else on my hands. It’s more efficient to be done with cleaning pop the gloves off carry on.
However that’s just at home and not always the case.

I use disposable latex gloves, but the break half the time lol

Always wear em, Nitrile, when cleaning and when working with brass casings, except actual loading. Get a 2 box pack at sams club. Use em in the kitchen too, the gloves not the brass

I wear disposable nitrile gloves that I buy at Sam's Club. I prefer to keep chemicals from being absorbed by my skin. I like clean hands, what can I say?

MoreIsLess said:

Do any of you wear disposable (or other type) gloves while cleaning your guns? I do not but am thinking of starting to. If you wear them what kind do you wear (exam, industrial, etc.) and wear can they be purchased?

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I use latex gloves when cleaning guns, decapping dirty brass etc. I am not worried about the guns nor keeping my hands looking pretty but just makes for 1. easier clean up of your hands, 2. I dont really want all that carbon or cleaning solvents/oils on my hands.

BobWright said:

MEK is a far cry from Hoppe's No. 9.

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And Hoppe's No. 9 and other gun cleaning chemicals and post combustion residues are a far cry from biologically inert.

Yep, wear disposable nitrile gloves for all cleaning, and cotton linen gloves just for handling and wipe down.
Have been around and worked with chemicals my whole working career and dealt with some real nasties.

I should all the time, but don't always. As others have mentioned, I believe eye protection is more important, more than once I've had a spring bounce off my glasses (prescription polycarbonate lenses) that probably would have resulted in a trip to the hospital.

I wear medical nitrile gloves from CVS. I often wear The semi-disposable Wells and Lamont rubber/cotton gloves from Costo overtop of the nitrile ones since they are a bit more durable.

Ill wear the nitrile gloves when cleaning AND shooting. Just because I can't always have cleaning session immediately after getting home....or sometimes days later.

Gets me some sideways glances at the range, but nothings worse than having to polish rusty fingerprints off your gun......

NIGHTLORD40K said:

... Gets me some sideways glances at the range, but nothings worse than having to polish rusty fingerprints off your gun......

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Are you one of those poor fellas afflicted with super-corrosive sweat, NIGHTLORD40K?

Yes, I wear gloves to protect my hands from the chemicals.

I'm in the medical field and so I always come home with 2-6 nitrile gloves in my pocket. Those few gloves every shift has turned into a monstrosity of two huge bags. So I have to use them for something.

My hands always burned after solvent use, so started wearing gloves 20-something years ago.

Louca said:

Yes, I always wear gloves when cleaning. I wear them to prevent my skin from absorbing chemicals in the cleaners I use. I have dry and cracking cuticles, especially in winter weather, so I need to keep solvents away from my skin as much as possible. I even wear them when reloading, but for a different reason. During reloading, I wear them to prevent skin oils (the little I have left) from getting on cases, primers, and powder.

A link to the gloves I bought is here. These cost about 42 cents/pair and I can get several cleaning sessions out of one pair before I toss them. I recommend heavy duty (which means thicker, like 8 mil) nitrile only. I also recommend getting a size that fits somewhat snugly on the had to allow better tactile feel when handling small parts. I do not like wearing loose fitting, wrinkly gloves.

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Oh C'mon, Amazon! Whats wrong with you? Bezos the owner is working very hard to eliminate the 2nd amendment. Everywhere I go on gun sites, someone is linking to Amazon, I really am starting to believe you all have a death wish or something. Would it really kill you to spend a dollar more and buy from somewhere a little more more gun friendly? Anyway I find Walmat is usually cheaper or the same price as Amazon. Wake up people.
Rant off/