A lot of work in the industry revolves around using heavy machinery and exerting very high physical force/pressure. This work is mainly performed by labor, and they need some safety options for their protection while carrying out these burdensome tasks! For that matter, welding gloves are the safest bet.
For you to get a rough idea, industry welding gloves are stuffed with thick materials and have a strong, rough material on the outside that makes gripping easy.
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These gloves support hands and fingers and shield them against corrosive materials, sharp metals, wood splinters, and a lot of other hazardous things.
Why Do You Need Welding Gloves?
As we discussed before, welding gloves protect against electric shocks, flames of fire, scorching and burning metals, sharp materials, and arc rays. In many countries across the world, some policies compel welders to wear welding gloves while doing their work. When it comes to defense and protection for workers, welding gloves are the first thing for them, and other security measures come later. Different welding gloves are available to cater to a large variety of workers according to their jobs. Meaning some welders have jobs that involve risking their hands and arms up to elbows. At the same time, some have jobs that require them to use their hand. So, many gloves with different styles are available to cater to all these welders.
What are Welding Gloves Used For?
Welding Gloves are used to protect the hands and arms of the welders while they are doing a dangerous task, which involves exposing their hands to some burning hot metal, extremely sharp objects, hazardous substances, and even flames! It is very common for workers to have cut marks and burn marks on the skin of their hands. To ensure the hands of workers remain unharmed and protected from flames and hot metals while they are working, welding gloves were introduced, and they have been a major hit since then! Plus, they are made so comfortable that workers like wearing them and don’t wear them just as a precaution.
After the invention of welding gloves, the lives of workers have been made a little easy, and their job doesn’t feel that risky as well because these gloves protect their hands and offer them comfort at the same time. Moreover, the gloves are not only easy to wear but also protect the workers from a lot of severe hazards like burns.
How to Choose the Right Kind of Welding Gloves?
If you are a worker and you need to buy gloves for yourself, here is your guide! Firstly, you should know a few things:
- Gloves are available in different sizes, so you need to choose gloves accordingly.
- Secondly, you can’t just randomly pick up “and” welding gloves you like! Welding gloves are task-specific. Thus, you must know which gloves suit your work better.
Firstly, welding gloves should be up to the task. This means there are a hundred different styles and designs of welding gloves available. But it would help if you always opted for gloves tested and verified to offer protection against hazardous surfaces, electrical shocks, abrasions, ultraviolet heat, flames, and much more.
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Make sure the gloves not only protect your hands but protect your wrists as well. Also, heat-resistant material used in gloves is crucial! Moreover, you should also assess the amount of heat involved in your work and then choose gloves accordingly.
4 Types of Welding Gloves?
On a high level, there are 4 different types of welding gloves, which are classified mainly according to welding processes. We will be listing all 4 types with their descriptions, so you can know better which one suits you best!
TIG Welding Gloves
TIG – short for Tungsten Inert Gas, is an incombustible electrode made up of tungsten and a component that is commonly used in welds. Typically, this type of welding involves a lot of heat, and welders need to be cautious to protect themselves. These gloves are stitched using Kevlar, especially to protect the hands of welders.
What is unique about these TIG gloves is that they provide extra protection against heat. These gloves are made using goatskin or any other soft and ductile substance to provide comfort and protection to the hands of welders.
Moreover, these gloves are made extra comfortable as they have thick layers of padding around the area of the gloves, which spans the hand. The TIG gloves are designed in such a way that the welder can easily take them off when the gloves get too hot.
However, the gloves use Velcro straps, which are a bit hard to remove when there’s excessive heat buildup; thus, it is recommended to use some heat-protectant like Kevlar for additional resistance against heat.
MIG Welding Gloves
MIG refers to Metal Inert Gas. The MIG has been a popular welding method among newbies and expert welders. This welding procedure involves melting a metal structure using the power of intense heat and later soldering the melted metals together. This method is riskier in the sense that it includes dealing a lot more with fire and flames than the TIG method.
Because of the high amount of risk involved in the MIG procedure, some bright minds came up with the idea of introducing MIG Welding Gloves, specifically made for MIG welders. These gloves have the utmost soft material, made using goat and sheepskin. The gloves are extra padded using layers and layers of material to provide desired thickness and pillowing that will prevent the welder’s hand against the scorching heat.
Be it metal surfaces, sparks, or heat, these MIG gloves are your all-in-one solution to care for your hands!
Stick Welding Gloves
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The stick welding gloves came into existence when a huge number of workers had damaged their hands and arms because of welding shielded metal arc materials. This type of melting involves the usage of electricity which makes it extra risky for the welders.
Intense sparks of electricity turn the electrodes into liquid form. In this method, metal and electrode are melted together at first and mixed later. This procedure is usually done during the construction of flyovers and bridges, buildings, advertisement boards, and pipelines.
To protect welders’ hands and arms during this ultra-risky and dangerous method of welding, the Stick Welding Gloves are made with thick layers and split grains of goatskin and sheepskin. Since this procedure involves a lot of flames, sparks, and heat, extra layers of materials are used to provide padding to these gloves.
Cut Resistant Gloves
The Cut Resistant Gloves were manufactured to protect the welder’s hands from being bruised and hurt by sharp, edgy metals.
In a lot of cases, welders used to work with metals and get their fingers and hands slightly bruised because of a little incision. Initially, the incision did not appear severe, but it slowly caused infection in the whole hand and sometimes the arm, which became a serious problem. Thus, special Cut Resistant Gloves were made to protect the welder’s hands from these sorts of harmful infections.
In some cases, even if the welder was wearing gloves while cutting metals, the gloves used get cut which resulted in injuring the welder’s hands. Thus, Cut Resistant Gloves were introduced, which have extra layers of padding of thick material to keep the welder’s hands safe from sharp and corrosive substances and irresistible heat. These are easy to take off as well which makes them ideal for all welders!
How long Do Welding Gloves Last?
Essentially, it depends on the welder’s working hours and working conditions. If the gloves are exposed to a lot of heat and electricity daily, then chances are the gloves will get patchy and ripped in a couple of months. Even if the gloves are well-maintained and used for lower working hours, they will last you a little more than 2-3 months.
When they start to shrink and tear, you will know the gloves are about to expire. But if you are using extra heat resistance or specifically a heat shield, for that matter, then chances are your gloves will be well maintained and will not deteriorate in a short period.
You can even wash your welding gloves with cold water and some saddle soap to get rid of the excessive dirt and black color that takes over your gloves. It is very common for grime to sit on your gloves; for that matter, try using extra soap and let it sit for a minute or two!
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