Wearing gloves while cleaning guns

[chicharrones]

I don't. I should, but I don't.

I've been working on machinery, cars, motorcycles, etc. since the late 1970s and I'll probably die of something someday. Will my death be from me not wearing gloves? Who knows, but I still can't bring myself to wear gloves unless the chemical I'm working with is extremely nasty.

I really don't like how nitrile or latex gloves make my hands sweat profusely. Maybe if I lived in a colder climate I'd wear them?

 

[Bartojc]

When I was a kid we used gasoline as a parts cleaner. Can't tell you how many times I cleaned a tractor part or truck part with a little gas in a tin can and an old paint brush. No one I knew used gloves. I got used to not liking gloves on to do any work where dexterity was needed. I've tried to use them when cleaning guns and handling brass but I never remember. I have 2 boxes full under my bench right now.

I know I probably should wear gloves. I do wash my hands a lot more especially where lead is a concern. That's about it though.

-jeff

 

[Spats McGee]

I'm in the "I probably should, but I don't" camp. Unless something seems really, really noxious, I don't wear gloves. I just wash my hands thoroughly when I'm done. I will say, though, that I think I want to start shooting some rimfire matches. If I actually find myself doing a lot more cleaning as a result, I'll reconsider wearing gloves.

 

[NMPOPS]

A shooting buddy popped positive for lead. Wearing gloves (for me) has become just another layer of safety, along with hand washing. I'm wearing gloves most of the time when reloading, cleaning, and other related activities where there is a chance of lead exposure. A lot of the potential lead exposure comes from the primers and ends up just about everywhere in the residues on the firearm, the cartridge case, etc. Needed? Maybe not. Got no scientific proof, but another layer of defense against the lead.

I'm not sure where my wife gets the blue nitrile gloves, but they are my favorite after trying various versions of vinyl, latex, etc.

I've been shooting for over 50 years and reloading for 40. While in LE it was common practice to pick up your brass after shooting and your hat made a convenient brass collector. I was told this was an unsafe practice as the lead in the primers in the hat can get on your scalp etc. Well after I retired I mewntioned this to my doctor and added a lea test to my next blood work. Guess what? Negative, Lead in normal ranges. And I have used my share of indoor ranges as well.

 

[CryptKeeper5]

When confronted with such questions I resort to my tried and true "WWJWD"...What Would John Wayne Do"? John Wayne would definitely NOT wear gloves...neither do I.

I have "LAVA" and know how to use it...and don't have the annoyance of losing dexterity. Don't wear them while working on my cars/trucks..."toys" either. Only if I'm going to have prolonged exposure to nasty solvents or other volitile chems will I put them on. A little Hoppes, brake cleaner etc?? Pffffft. Ummmm...no.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

When confronted with such questions I resort to my tried and true "WWJWD"...What Would John Wayne Do"? John Wayne would definitely NOT wear gloves...neither do I.

I have "LAVA" and know how to use it...and don't have the annoyance of losing dexterity. Don't wear them while working on my cars/trucks..."toys" either. Only if I'm going to have prolonged exposure to nasty solvents or other volitile chems will I put them on. A little Hoppes, brake cleaner etc?? Pffffft. Ummmm...no.

You do know that John Wayne died. Maybe he should have worn gloves.

 

[Slamfire]

I use the 7 mil blue nitrile gloves which I buy by the box at Harbor Freight



These blue gloves typically last two gun cleanings before the finger tips wear out.

I sometimes wear the 9 mil black nitrile gloves for gun cleaning, but not as often as the blue, because it is harder to pick up small screws, etc.



I regularly use the black nitrile when working on my vehicles. I wear them under my Maxiflex gloves



These maxi flex gloves are a more durable wrench pulling glove, but they leak. After a day of replacing ball joints, tie rods, control arms, my arms are covered with grease up to the elbow, but once I strip off the maxi flex and nitrile gloves, my hands are clean. Sweaty, but clean. I want as little skin contact with industrial chemicals, and that includes, greases, oils, and gun cleaning chemicals. Your skin is porous, if you have not figured that out, just rub baby oil on dry skin. Keep industrial chemicals and solvents off your skin, out of your blood stream. Your knuckle dragging monkey ancestors did not evolve with the oils, and oil additives, or the solvents, found in gun cleaning products. You have no idea just what that stuff does to your endocrine system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system or any other organ in your body. Don't assume that because the chemical mix has been around forever, that it is somehow safe. Around 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered in under the toxic chemical act:

62,000 chemicals on the market at the time were listed on the original TSCA Inventory of Chemical Substances.[22] TSCA "grandfathered" these 62,000 chemicals, allowing these substances to remain on the market without first assessing toxic impacts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_Substances_Control_Act_of_1976

You want to be a lab rat, well, you know what happens to lab rats?

 

[CryptKeeper5]

I suppose it's all a matter of risk tolerance. As with pain...every individual has their own tolerance and interpretation. In my own personal "world" considering the things I've done/do...not wearing gloves to clean firearms runs somewhere between crossing a street in Australia(where they drive on the "wrong" side so you must reverse your scan) and mowing my yard. I've already dodged the reaper a few times...he's not getting me because of a glove. It's not Dimethylmercury...and in that case it won't matter as it'll go right through and kill you anyhow.

Happy Friday!lol!

 

[Yorgee]

Sweaty hands damage bluing badly, so with gloves you get both ways protection

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I don't, but it's certainly a good idea-maybe I'll start, especially since I joined a gun club..

 

[gillmeister692]

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?

I use Hardy™ Nitrile Disposable Gloves, 7MIL thickness, size XL. Item #68506 at Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. While providing great tactility, they're very durable and can be re-used many times, if you're careful to avoid a puncture.

 

[Mauser lover]

Yep. Nitrile. As cheap as I can get them. Hazard Fraught is good, so are janitorial supply places or food service places. Just make sure you get nitrile. I despise latex and vinyl. Didn't wear gloves formerly, but the brake cleaner I got now burns like paint stripper! I decided it was a good idea anyway, so now I keep a couple of boxes around for gun cleaning, hand loading, even changing my oil; and yes, even when not using that cleaner. I love not having fingerprints on my new cartridges.

 

[Sav .250]

To your question..................No.

 

[sparkyv]

In the casting/reloading/gun cleaning room, if you use gloves, select the nitrile kind. They are resistant to many chemicals. If you don't (I don't) then do not touch your mucous membrane areas, such as nostrils, eyes, mouth, etc. until you have thoroughly washed your hands with hot, soapy water (Dawn is highly recommended). I've worked in a laboratory for over two decades, and I'm sharing sound advice.

 

[George P]

I get my blue gloves from Sam's in the 2 pack; cheap insurance against accidentally rubbing your eyes with some solvents, cleaners, or oil residue still on your finger after washing.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Saturday after the black powder cartrdge match I wore gloves cleaning the cartridge casings inside and outside - 25 rifle and 20 pistol casings. Each case was about as much work as I would do cleaning a barrel after shooting smokeless ammo. Cleaning the rifle and pistol were nothing compared to cleaning the cases (I use a cloth patch in a slotted tip rod to pump hot soapy water in and out til it goes from black to clear). If I did not wear gloves my hands would be prunes.

 

[stchman]

I love the smell of Ballistol in the morning.

Smells like black licorice mixed with baby vomit. Horrible. Hoppe's #9 is a good gun smell.

 

[SharpDog]

It is to keep you from absorbing oils and solvents into your skin, or at least, thats why I do it.

I just use disposable latex or nitrile gloves.

I never have but I sneeze Breakfree

 

[stchman]

I never have but I sneeze Breakfree

So you sneeze synthetic oil.

 

[warnerwh]

A good reason to wear gloves when cleaning guns is to keep my sweaty fingerprints off the gun which cause rust quickly due to the salt in your body oils. I have seen rust in the shape of a fingerprint on guns a number of times and I like to take very good care of all of my guns. That's why even my decades old guns still look nice.

 

[Legionnaire]

For routine cleaning, no. I do when soaking parts in mineral spirits or the like to deep clean. I should use them when handling unprocessed brass, but mostly don't.

 

[hso]

Nitrile gloves if using solvent cleaners.

 

[egd]

There's an ad for some product on tv saying each generation of american males has less testosterone than the one before. After skimming through this thread I believe it. Sheesh, what a bunch of scared wimps.
I'm a painter and my dad was a painter. I've washed my hands,arms and other parts with a lot of things and I'm doing fine. My dad was painting back in the days when painters mixed chunks of lead with linseed oil to make the paints. I guess the lead got to him. He only lived to 94.
The only decent excuse here I saw was from a dentist who said patients wouldn't appreciate stained hands while being worked on. Although dentists do wear gloves while doing the work so .....

 

[GunnyUSMC]

There's an ad for some product on tv saying each generation of american males has less testosterone than the one before. After skimming through this thread I believe it. Sheesh, what a bunch of scared wimps.
I'm a painter and my dad was a painter. I've washed my hands,arms and other parts with a lot of things and I'm doing fine. My dad was painting back in the days when painters mixed chunks of lead with linseed oil to make the paints. I guess the lead got to him. He only lived to 94.
The only decent excuse here I saw was from a dentist who said patients wouldn't appreciate stained hands while being worked on. Although dentists do wear gloves while doing the work so .....

I have a reply to that, but it just wouldn’t be The High Road.

 

[mdauben]

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?

I tend to do so, more to protect my hands than to protect my guns. One thing to be aware, commonly available latex gloves provide little or no protection from solvents. They tend to absorb right through the gloves.