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Difference Between Latex and Nitrile Gloves

Latex gloves and Nitrile gloves

Latex gloves and Nitrile gloves are both used in medical, chemical, and practical environments for a huge range of scenarios. They both provide protection against foreign objects, chemicals and fluids, and dangerous microbes, all of which can cause serious harm to a person if they come into contact with them. So, since both types of gloves are used in the real world, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? What exactly is the difference between latex and nitrile gloves, and what would persuade a laboratory to select nitrile gloves instead of latex gloves? That is what we’ll explore in this article.

Latex Gloves

Latex gloves are immensely well known. Everyone has heard of them or even used them at some point in their life. If you went to school in the west any time in the past fifty years you probably wore latex gloves to do dissection in biology class. Latex gloves are extremely accessible, very cheap, and cost-effective both for small purchases and enormous orders, and relatively reliable for most applications.

In learning applications, they can be depended on and protect medical and surgical students from microbes, dirt and bodily fluids. In chemical applications, they stop harmful fluids, gases or solids from touching human skin and causing damage. Latex gloves are very versatile and used for a lot of different practices in the real world. 

While latex gloves are of course more widely available and cost-effective, and also versatile for a lot of scenarios, they’re not on the same level as nitrile gloves for professional scenarios where good protection is needed. Sure, latex gloves are relatively elastic and reliable, but there’s definitely a better option. These gloves can break under too much stress or stretching, and they’re also very thin – not as strong as nitrile gloves – so they’re prone to breaking more often. 

Nitrile gloves

On the other hand, you have nitrile gloves UK. Nitrile gloves are a standard manufacturing type of gloves for medical, chemical and first aid related functions and are generally used more often in real-world scenarios rather than teaching or minimally dangerous scenarios.

Nitrile gloves offer significantly increased protection in comparison to the thinner, weaker nitrile gloves. They have more elastic resistance and can be stretched much farther than latex gloves, which can often break in intense scenarios, which is less than ideal. Nitrile gloves are much tighter and fit better to various shapes and sizes of hand, so they’re great for long practices where loose material can be annoying, distracting or impractical – or even dangerous for a patient being operated on. 

Because nitrile gloves are much stronger than latex gloves and have far greater elastic resistance, it follows naturally that they are not quite so cost-effective. They’re generally less readily available. However, they are still extremely affordable in purchasing sizes both small and large and very easy to get hold of if you have contact with a good manufacturer or distributor – like us! 

Nitrile gloves are strong, reliable, and great for a wide range of professional scenarios: they have been proven time and time again in real-life practices. They’re cost-effective if you’re functioning in a medical or chemical organisation and definitely a safer and more responsible choice of protection.