Gun cleaning and nitrile gloves

[Alabama2010]

Anyone know of any reason not to use nitrile or latex gloves when cleaning guns and handloading. I don't see any problem with handloading, but I wonder about any reaction of some solvents like Hoppe's #9 and Butch's bore cleaners.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I've cleaned all of my guns without any gloves for 35+ years without any adverse effects. That's reason enough not to use them for me. (I DO use them just not for cleaning).

 

[j-easy]

I have used both Nitrile and Latex while cleaning guns, to keep my hands from getting saturated in smelly solvent for the rest of the day. The Nitrile gloves seem to hold up a little bit better to the chemicals than the latex ones do, but both types will eventually wear though on the finger tips during your cleaning session if you are cleaning multiple guns thoroughly. I will stick with Latex from now on just because they are almost as good as the nitrile but considerably cheaper.

 

[Oro]

Nope, like j-easy said, no reason not to use them. I use them frequently for lots of purposes - cleaning guns, working on bikes or cars, etc. Just keeps the hands clean when doing messy jobs. Neither type will react very quickly to any common solvent - even stand up to full-strength acetone pretty well.

 

[1KPerDay]

Latex gloves don't last long enough to be worth it IMO. Solvent eats through them pretty quick in my experience. Nitrile last a bit longer. If I'm planning on using solvent (versus a 'CLP' type product) I try to remember to use gloves. The skin absorbs bad stuff pretty easily.

 

[Jenrick]

Unless you need serious finger dexterity the big black vinyl/pvc chemical gloves from the hardware store are pretty much indestructible when used with normal gun cleaning solvents.

-Jenrick

 

[jcwit]

No reason not to use them if it makes you feel better.

I just never have in 50 years of cleaning guns, 40 some years using gasoline to clean engine parts, Lord known how many times using lacquer thinner to clean stuff, ect., ect. Overall I think we get way to concerned with this chemical stuff while allowing folks to kill innocent people by drunk driving, cell phone use, and texting.

We already have one of the longest lifespans in history, and the fact of the matter is, none of us are going to last forever.

 

[dagger dog]

I use Hoppes original #9 as an cologne!

 

[Lee Roder]

Not all solvents are created equal. You can always make a determination from an MSDS which any manufacturer is legally required to provide you. It contains two important sections:

1) Composition / Information on ingredients
2) Exposure controls / Personal protection

In case of Hoppes #9 Solvent, grab it from http://www.hoppes.com/au_msds.html

Listed components in Section 2 indicate that this is a mixture. For "prolonged or repeated contact", Section 8 suggests selecting hand protection which is impervious to each listed component, yet no specific protective material recommendation is provided!

Here's where the legwork starts. Data for chemical resistence of materials is scattered and is frequently contradictory. One readily available source on nitrile gloves -

http://www.kcprofessional.com/us/download/Product Literature/K2365_09_01_SN_Chem_Guide_v10.pdf

Data from the table shows that nitrile provides excellent penetration resistence for the major ingredients ethanol (>30%) and kerosene (>30%) but poor resistence to xylene (<10%) and amyl acetate (<10%) which are able to penetrate this material within minutes.

You choose your exposure. Nitrile is probably be ok with frequent changes.

I use alot of acetone for degreasing, and nitrile is useless for me. Acetone eats nitrile gloves alive. Rubber is much better.

 

[oneounceload]

When I started wearing contacts, I started using the basic exam gloves typically sold at your big-box warehouse club. Depending on what and how many I'm cleaning, I may need to replace one or two during a session, but they're cheap enough and the hands remain clean