Which Medical Exam Glove is Right for Me?

Personal protection equipment is one of the most important things to have on you. Not just in the medical industry, but in any job that can expose you to potentially harmful substances. Different kinds of protective face shields, masks, garments. Many items can fit under this umbrella, but the one we want to focus on today is one of the most important pieces of equipment, gloves. Gloves are one of the most accessible pieces of personal protection equipment that suit a variety of jobs. They vary in size and thickness depending on how tough of how flexible you need them to be. Do not understate the importance of gloves. Your hands are one of the most important parts of any medical profession. 

We’ve talked about numerous different kinds of gloves from different brands. Each glove we’ve talked about has something that set it apart from the rest. But that in itself just means that it can be harder to make a decision. If you’re in the market for gloves that can get the job you need it for done, you’ll need a guide. Something to help you make sure that if you need flexibility, you get flexibility. And if you need durability, you’ll get durability. So in this article, we’d like to tell you about the many different kinds of gloves you can get, and the many needs they serve. So that you can find the right kind of glove for you without the trial and error. 

The Materials

When it comes down to it, these gloves may seem similar, but what sets them apart from one another make all the difference. The ability for one kind of glove to take on a job that two other kinds of gloves aren’t made for. Yet having those two other gloves be just as important for two completely different reasons. They’re all unique in their own way. And Halyard knows just how important versatility is. But there is one thing we’d like to touch on beforehand.

In this article, we’ll be talking about 8 different kinds of gloves that Halyard has available. 7 of these gloves are nitrile gloves. However, one kind is chloroprene (neoprene). Just so we don’t become repetitive, we’d like to give you a brief guide into what each of these materials are. A brief description and how they differ from one another. 

What is Nitrile? 

Nitrile comes from a synthetic rubber polymer. A copolymer to be precise. Copolymers come from two monomers, in this case, acrylonitrile and butadiene. These monomers are placed into a vat and put through the process of polymerization. A process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks.

• Nitrile gloves have higher chemical resistance than the other leading materials, and can be used to deal with potent chemo drugs. 
• Nitrile is 3-4 times more puncture resistant than latex, perfect for situations dealing with sharp objects. 
• Nitrile does not have any of the natural rubber proteins that can cause allergic reactions. 
• Nitrile gloves form fit to your hand using your body temperature. 
• Nitrile gloves are frictionless and don’t require any powders to remove. 
• Nitrile can handle tougher jobs and is used by many industries like: industrial, medical, food industry, you name it.
• They’re waterproof, and are even advertised for damp work environments for their protection.
• Nitrile lasts longer in storage than other popular materials like latex. 

What is Chloroprene/Neoprene?

Well for starters, you may not know chloroprene, because it’s more commonly known by the polymer it creates, neoprene. Chloroprene is a monomer. Monomers are simply any kind of molecule that can react with any other kind of molecule, which then combine into a polymer. Polymers being a chain or group of smaller molecules combined upon reaction. Once this polymer formed, it was labeled polychloroprene polymer.

The chemical company DuPont actually created neoprene and gave it its name. During the 1920’s, natural rubber prices were getting too high. People were clamoring for a synthetic replacement. And Dupont actually ended up creating a rubber-like material during a polymerization experiment with chloroprene. The result, polychloroprene polymer, a material more resistant to water, oils, heat and solvents than natural rubber. Originally DuPont called it Duprene. But after some time, they changed the name to neoprene. This change was made to ensure that people realized neoprene was an ingredient, not a finished product, and this generic name achieved just that. 

Here are some other notable points about neoprene gloves: 

• Neoprene gloves are chemical resistant. They can resist oils, fats, greases, and petroleum products. As well as acids and caustics. 
• Neoprene can prevent cuts and abrasions when dealing with sharp edges or tools that can cause injury of this nature. 
• Neoprene gloves are somewhat impact resistant and can prevent mild impacts due to high tensile strength and high density. 
• Neoprene gloves are flexible and form-fitting. Popular for their sensitivity and finger movement, and can even return to shape after wear, so no need to worry about deformation. 
• Neoprene gloves are also waterproof. Which may not seem all that impressive, but for gloves, this is a great quality to have. 
• Neoprene can keep warmth well. Some workers use neoprene gloves in winter to keep their hands warm without losing that flexibility. 

 

The Gloves

Now time to move on to the gloves we’re here to talk about. When it comes to making a decision, variety is important. So we’ve got 9 kinds of gloves to show you today. We’ve written about most of them before, so there’s no shortage of information on the majority of these. And we’ll provide more information for the gloves we haven’t previously gone over. 8 of these gloves are made by Halyard. The other, a recent addition to the family, is produced by SemperMed. 

We’ll describe the gloves using a brief description of what they are, what makes them special, and what they’d generally be used for. And then we’ll use exact statistics to answer certain questions and highlight certain details. For example, the information we’ll show you will be formatted like so:

• OEM
• Rating
• Thickness
• Grade
• Texture
• Size Range
• Length
• Color
• Quantity per Box
• Quantity per Case
• Material
• If they are powder and latex free
• Sterile
• Chemo Rated
• Fentanyl Resistant 
• Specialty Use
• And weight

Aside from the description we’ll start each glove with, this information is in a bullet list, but when making a decision, these are the most important factors. Making sure you not only get enough of what you need, but getting the right tool for the job. 

Halyard Aquasoft Nitrile Gloves

The Aquasoft Nitrile Gloves are Halyard’s aqua blue nitrile glove. Using their SmartPull packaging, and using nitrile to form fit to your hand. Out of the box, just like the rest, Halyard shows you why they’re one of the best. While they are sporting the strength of nitrile, these gloves are lightweight, and are meant for general purpose examinations. And compared to some of the others we’re going to show you, these are relatively standard nitrile gloves. Here are the specs for Halyard’s Aquasoft Nitrile Gloves:

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Good
• Finger Tip Thickness – 3.1 mil
• Palm Thickness – 2.8 mil 
• Grade – Exam, Low risk 
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Extra small to extra large 
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Aqua Blue
• Quantity per Box – 300 per box, 250 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 3,000 per case, 2,500 per extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No 
• Chemo Rated – Yes 
• Fentanyl Resistant – No 
• Specialty Use – General Purpose Exam 
• Weight – Light weight 

Halyard Lavender Nitrile Gloves

The Lavender Nitrile Gloves are Halyard’s more flexible answer to the question of comfort. These nitrile gloves are the thinnest of the gloves we’re going over today. But that doesn’t mean they’re any less of anything than the others. Just like each glove, the lavender nitrile gloves serve a purpose. While these are the cheapest in the lightweight glove category, they can still be used in general purpose exams. And these gloves beat two leading brands for for tactile sensitivity, easier finger and hand movement, less hand fatigue, softness, coolness and comfort. Here’s the specs you need for these Lavender Nitrile Gloves: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Good
• Finger Tip Thickness – 2.8 mil
• Palm Thickness – 2.0 mil
• Grade – Exam, Low to moderate
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Extra small to extra large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Lavender
• Quantity per Box – 250 per box, 230 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 2,500 per case, 2,300 per extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – Yes
• Fentanyl Resistant – No 
• Specialty Use – General Purpose Exam 
• Weight – Light weight 

Halyard Sterling Nitrile Gloves

The Sterling Nitrile Gloves are somewhat similar to the gloves we’ve talked about up to this point, but with a couple differences. These silver nitrile gloves increased in thickness compared to the previous two. But this allows them to be functioning in all medical use instead of just in general purpose exams. But they also have increased weight compared to the other two sitting at medium weight category. Here are the specs for these Sterling Nitrile Gloves: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Better
• Finger Tip Thickness – 4.7 mil
• Palm Thickness – 3.1 mil
• Grade – Exam, Low to moderate
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Extra small to extra large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Silver
• Quantity per Box – 200 per box, 170 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 2,000 per case, 1,700 per extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – Yes
• Fentanyl Resistant – No 
• Specialty Use – All medical
• Weight – Medium weight 

Halyard Purple Nitrile Gloves

The next glove on our list are Halyard’s Purple Nitrile Gloves. These gloves are the best in the standard line of Halyard’s gloves. And actually boast the thickest palm and fingertip sizing out of ALL of these gloves we’ll talk about today. Having both the standard limit-breaking power of nitrile and the added thickness to this specific gloves adds certain resistances. Making these capable of tackling higher risk job environments. Need more proof? Let’s look at the specs then: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Best
• Finger Tip Thickness – 5.9 mil
• Palm Thickness – 4.7 mil
• Grade – Exam, High-risk 
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Extra small to extra large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Purple
• Quantity per Box – 100 per box, 90 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 1,000 per case, 900 per extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – Yes
• Fentanyl Resistant – Yes 
• Specialty Use – All medical
• Weight – Heavy weight 

Halyard Sterling Sterile Nitrile Gloves

Now we’re moving on to the category of specialty gloves. This category consists of gloves that deviate from the standard gloves in one way or another. For example, these Sterling STERILE Nitrile Gloves from Halyard. These are different from the standard sterling gloves from before. The original used Halyard’s SmartPull packaging, whereas the Sterling Sterile gloves are individually packaged in the box in pairs of two. This is done to maintain sterility between pairs of gloves, as these are meant for sterile environments. So instead of just grabbing one glove or many at a time, you can safely grab two packaged gloves at a time. With that established, let’s get to the specs: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Specialty
• Finger Tip Thickness – 4.7 mil
• Palm Thickness – 3.1 mil
• Grade – Maximum-risk
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Small to large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Silver
• Quantity per Box – 50 pairs per box (sterile and wrapped as pr)
• Quantity per Case – 200 pairs per case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – Yes
• Chemo Rated – Yes
• Fentanyl Resistant – No  
• Specialty Use – Sterile med and lab
• Weight – Medium weight 

Halyard Purple Sterile Nitrile Gloves

Just like the sterling sterile gloves, these Purple Sterile Nitrile Gloves from Halyard differ from their original counterparts. The sterile variant of the purple nitrile gloves are packaged in sterile pairs instead of Halyard’s usual SmartPull packaging. These gloves are meant for environments in need of maximum possible sterility. But they share a couple qualities with the original, those being size and thickness. Here are the specs: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Specialty
• Finger Tip Thickness – 5.9 mil
• Palm Thickness – 4.7 mil
• Grade – Maximum-risk
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Small to large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Purple
• Quantity per Box – 100 per box individually wrapped
• Quantity per Case – 400 per case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – Yes
• Chemo Rated – Yes
• Fentanyl Resistant – Yes  
• Specialty Use – Sterile med and lab
• Weight – Heavy weight 

Halyard Black-Fire Nitrile Gloves

Halyard’s Black-Fire gloves are one of the coolest looking gloves of its kind. And that impressive look isn’t just for show. These gloves have that signature nitrile strength in two different, reversible, black and orange layers. Thanks to Halyard’s Quick Check tech, if the black layer tears, then the orange layer will be visible. This indicator helps more quickly verify if your glove’s defense layer is compromised and allows for a fast acting fix. Not only that, but the gloves being reversible allows a more wide variety of jobs with the orange layer having uses in its own right. Halyard used the bright orange layer as a good example for someone needing to see your hands or theirs in more dimly lit or darker areas. Things both inside the medical sector and beyond. They even advertised being able to direct traffic with the orange layer. With that out of the way, let’s get to these specialty’s specs:

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Specialty
• Finger Tip Thickness – 5.5 mil
• Palm Thickness – 3.9 mil
• Grade – Exam, High-risk
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Small to extra large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Black/orange
• Quantity per Box – 150 per box, 140 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 1,500 per case, 1,400 per extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – No
• Fentanyl Resistant – Yes  
• Specialty Use – EMS
• Weight – Medium weight 

Halyard Flexaprene Green Gloves

These are the Halyard Flexaprene Green Exam Gloves. The newest in both Halyard’s specialty line and just in their gloves as a whole. These gloves sport advanced chloroprene/neoprene technology that allow for the same feeling as latex without using natural latex. This in turn eliminates any risk of activating known or possibly unknown Type-1 allergic reactions to latex that one might have. But they also do still have the same protection as the synthetic material. These very comfortable, light weight gloves are designed to fit well into the dental department. We have yet to talk about these gloves on their own, but for the definition of what material these are made of, we left a description in the beginning section of this article. Now let’s get into the specs: 

• OEM – Halyard
• Rating – Specialty
• Finger Tip Thickness – 2.8 mil
• Palm Thickness – 2.8 mil
• Grade – Exam, Low to moderate
• Texture – Tactile sensitivity 
• Size Range – Extra small to extra large
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Green 
• Quantity per Box – 200 per box, 180 per extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 2,000 per case, 1,800 per extra-large case
• Material – Chloroprene (Neoprene)
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – No
• Fentanyl Resistant – No  
• Specialty Use – Dental 
• Weight – Light weight 

SemperMed’s SemperForce Black Nitrile Gloves

Last on our list are the newest gloves from SemperMed. The SemperForce Black Nitrile Gloves aren’t in the specialty category, but they do sport a unique feature. While the other 8 gloves we’ve talked about mainly advertise tactile sensitivity for a specific type of job, SemperForce have a superior grip, capable of servicing any number of jobs. Not only that, while most other gloves can be used for anything where gloves are needed, they mainly advertise for medical use. But not SemperForce. These gloves are advertised for ALL medical jobs, food, auto, tattoo and the like. But we’ll let the specs do the rest of the talking: 

• OEM – SemperMed
• Rating – Better
• Finger Tip Thickness – 5 to 6 mil
• Palm Thickness – 5 to 6 mil
• Grade – Exam, High-risk 
• Texture – Superior gripping
• Size Range – Small to Extra-extra-large (XXL)
• Length – 9.5 inches
• Color – Black 
• Quantity per Box – 100 per box, 90 per extra-extra-large box
• Quantity per Case – 1,000 per case, 900 per extra-extra-large case
• Material – Nitrile
• Powder-Free – Yes 
• Latex-Free – Yes 
• Sterile – No
• Chemo Rated – N/A
• Fentanyl Resistant – N/A  
• Specialty Use – All med, auto, tattoo, food
• Weight – Heavy weight 

 

Final Thoughts 

9 gloves later and we’re finally in the endgame. Sure there are a good number of them to pick from, but they’re so unique to themselves and variety is important. Especially if there is a specific or unique task that only one glove can take on. Remember that the quality of all of these gloves won’t be understated. there’s something for everyone here and that’s why we give you nothing but the facts. Getting what you need is important, and having it all in front of you to get the full picture is even more so. Hopefully this article can help you find what you need. But if you’re still unsure, we’ve got your back. 

You can call us at our Free Tech Support line for any questions you might have. Just call 704-966-1650, and hit option 3 for our free tech support. 

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As always if you have any questions about this process or anything else please feel free to contact us and take advantage of our “FREE TECH SUPPORT.”

We also offer FREE VIRTUAL TECH SUPPORT to “See and Talk” with a “Real Time Live Technician” for any problems you may be in need of help with.

You can also use our “FREE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM”. Take the guesswork and worrying about what unit is due for maintenance and which maintenance cycle it is time for. We will keep track of all your autoclaves and let you know when it’s time for anything.

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Halyard Aquasoft Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

The Halyard Lavender Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

Halyard Sterling Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

Halyard Purple Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

The Halyard Sterling Sterile Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

Halyard Purple Sterile Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

The Halyard Black-Fire Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.

Halyard Flexaprene Green Gloves are available here to purchase.

SemperMed’s SemperForce Black Nitrile Gloves are available here to purchase.