To glove or not to glove, that is the question!

We regularly do object-handling training with new volunteers in the Society. One of the most questioned and important aspects is the use of gloves.

You probably have an image in your head of a museum worker in white cotton gloves. Historically, they were commonly used in museums and archives, though in the last couple of decades they have been phased out by most institutions. They can snag on objects, are porous, and transfer dirt and fibres easily. White cotton gloves are also thick, often baggy, and tend to come in only one size. This impedes manual dexterity and makes it difficult to ‘feel’ an object, making it more likely that someone will drop an item by accident. In their defence, I will champion the white cotton gloves’ eco-friendly credentials because they are washable and reusable.

However, due to various film and TV depictions, the stereotype continues. For example, they’re used when visiting archives and libraries in Who Do You Think You Are? with well-respected historians, and even in big Hollywood movies like the 2017 Justice League, where the alter ego of Wonder Woman works as a museum professional and is clearly shown wearing white cotton gloves.

The most common gloves used today are latex-free, powder-free nitrile gloves. Unlike cotton gloves, they are a safer barrier to prevent secretions from our hands going on to objects or any toxins from objects passing on the wearer. They come in a variety of colours, thicknesses and sizes (although they do tend to have long fingers, which can be problematic for individuals with very small hands). They are perceived by many members of the profession as being the gold standard for use in handling most types of objects. Nitrile gloves can also be filled with sand and other mouldable materials to create “sand hands”, which are used to support objects during treatments. Their downside is that they are difficult to recycle, so do have more of an environmental impact.

Lint-free nylon gloves, which have a characteristic green band around them, are an eco-friendlier alternative. Like the traditional cotton, they can also be rewashed, are more form-fitting and do not snag. They do have a fairly open weave, so are not suitable when the person needs to be protected from a toxin or chemical, but are perfectly suitable in most other cases. These are the white gloves of choice, occasionally used at SGS. Unfortunately, they cost a lot more than a full box of nitrile, so we do not have enough stock for all our volunteers to use at once! We hope to add in some more to be able to offset our environmental impact in future.

However, even the nitrile gloves can create too much of a barrier. When handling such things as very delicate archive materials or performing various conservation-based tasks, then clean, dry, lotion-free, nail polish-free hands are the best. A lot of people find this surprising, as the instinct is to have some form of glove on.

It would be unfair to not to mention the specific use gloves, for example the heat and cut-resistant gloves that are used for very specific tasks like box making and moving objects from the conservation freezer.

The table below shows the most common uses of gloves at SGS:

A key thing to remember is not to wear dirty and/or torn gloves when working or handling objects, as this defeats the main purpose of wearing them.

Another important aspect of wearing nitrile gloves is not just to protect the objects but also the people handling them, because some of the objects in our collection have components that are toxic or hazardous.

Hazardous and toxic

• Items affected by mould
• Items made from lead or radioactive material
• Live ammunition
• Leaking wet specimens
• Containers filled with old medicines or pesticides
• Natural history specimens due to older items that were often treated with toxic preservatives

It is important to make sure nitrile gloves are disposed of carefully after use and that polyester gloves go into a wash box.

Finally, if you are not wearing gloves, wash your hands thoroughly before your task and regularly during the task and finally thoroughly at the end – this is all common sense really!

By Mary Evans, Conservator