Your turn to help me –
Conundrum: The holeyness of rubber gloves. I buy a pair for washing dishes or cleaning, but in a month or two one or both inevitably get a tear or cut — so out they go into the black bin and out I go to buy new ones.
Green living tips offers some reuse strategies, but how many heavy-duty rubber bands does one need? I’ve already accumulated a small stockpile — from around asparagus bunches and stuff — ready for action in case any unforeseen rubberband emergencies occur.
Question: How can I prevent rubber gloves from getting lil holes? Or alternatively — Do you know of a sturdier rubber glove brand I should try?
I’m using the same pair of rubber gloves I bought in the fall of 1997. Bluettes — check ‘em out. (They come in blue and magenta.)
Comment by meg — June 4, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
Who needs rubber gloves? I’ve been washing dishes and cleaning without them since I lived with my parents back in the day. I haven’t gotten any weird diseases of fungus or anything. Some eco friendly soap, vinegar, water, etc, none of it’s gonna hurt you :) Ok, so maybe for the toilet … but still, that water in the toilet is no different than comes out of the tap…
Comment by Russ — June 5, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
Regarding the accumulated rubber bands…I throw them in my farmers market bag & return them to the vendors weekly when I go. I figure they need them & they can be reused since I quickly take them off when I get home so they don’t dig into the veggies. it’s a little green solution but it also helps the vendors reuse and spend less, even if just a tini tiny bit. :)
Comment by More. — June 6, 2007 @ 7:31 am
Maybe rethink why you need gloves in the first place. I use a long handled brush when doing dishes which takes care of just about everything except for the most determined pots (they get Bon Ami and elbow grease, which I hear is biodegradable too).
Have you tried tire repair for your gloves?
Comment by cybele — June 10, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
If I wash dishes by hand, my hands start actually feeling different (dryer and uncomfortable) after a week or so. Beyond that — One definite reason I need rubber gloves is b/c I’m trying to use borax more — a more eco way to get stains out of clothes, etc. But you’re not supposed to use borax with bare hands….
cybele — I like the long handled brush suggestion for dishes — will look into that (though I’ll still need gloves for borax).
meg — Bluettes are on order! Thanks for the tip :)
Comment by Siel — June 10, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
Please tell me where I can buy Bluettes rubber gloves!!Please, Please!!
Comment by Mary Ellen — August 14, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
Russ, that isn’t a good idea. Bacteria can collect under your fingernails, and humans have a habit of putting their fingers in their mouths, or touching a cut, whatever. Fecal matter is no joke, it can cause all kinds of diseases, fevers, you name it.
As far as doing dishes without gloves. Using water that comes from the tap has chlorine and no saline. Using water that has a lower saline level than your body results in water moving through the concentration gradient (from your body) which is why your fingers pucker when wet a long time). This process of removing water from inside your skin and keeping the exterior constantly wet leads to dry skin. Over time this can cause surface damage, and enlarge pours on your skin. Not to mention the fact that the skin is dry and coarse to the touch. Most women like to have soft hands, so wearing gloves is important.
One last thing, dishes — especially ones that you won’t also put in the dishwasher — should be washed in the hottest water possible. Plastics, even more than wood, hold on to bacteria in little scars, cuts and holes in the surface. A friend of my son’s got salmanilla poisoning from a plastic cup that wasn’t washed thoroughly. He was sick for a couple weeks. So, you should use VERY hot water to clean dishes, which would burn your hands. A long handled brush doesn’t get them out of the hot water in the sink, so that won’t work.
Dishes should be washed by filling a sink with hot, soapy water, washing them in the one sink and rinsing them in another, or better rinsing them with clean, flowing water. A dip in water laced with bleach and then rinsed is even better. Allowing them to soak a bit in hot, soapy water is great to kill bacteria. Point being, washing them in very hot water is best, and you can’t do that without gloves or with a long-handled brush.
Comment by Michael — March 15, 2009 @ 2:38 am