Why don’t I simply go without gloves? First off, it goes back to previously working as a nurse and donning my daily Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which basically means wearing the appropriate protective gear for the task at hand.
Even though the paints, mediums, silicone, etc. are supposedly non-toxic, that doesn’t mean they won’t irritate the skin with prolonged use. Second, my skin is exceptionally dry anyway, so the more I need to wash my hands, the dryer they get. Gloving up basically cuts the repeated hand washing way down.
Lastly, I like to have my nails done, and let’s face it, scrubbing dried paint off a new set of acrylic nails is just counterproductive!
Now, think about when you’re in the pouring zone: the tilting starts, and without fail the hands are saturated in glorious color. You don’t want to stop and change gloves, since there is more tilting, swiping, string dipping, bubble poppin’ activity that needs your full attention.
So what are you gonna do? Well, now—I reach for the paper towels, dry my gloved hands, and continue to work my painting. But this wasn’t the case when I first started pour painting…
As a nurse, when it came to disposable gloves—if they got saturated, you’d change them as soon as safely possible. When I first journeyed into paint pouring, there were times I changed my gloves three to five times per painting.
Yes, I quickly stopped that, but found when I took my gloves off, my hands had paint on them – so I started doubling up on my gloves.
My next glove purchase was much better, but I still wondered if there were other brands that might be even more appropriate for paint pouring and I searched for better options. I tried a wide variety of disposable gloves and at last found my perfect match.
After years of wearing latex gloves with no problems, I am now allergic to latex, so I had to find a new alternative. I decided to do an official comparison and share the results with you, the Acrylic Pouring community. I am extremely grateful to Glovenation.com for donating six of the seven samples used for this comparison.
Testing Process
The following process was used for EACH sample brand of gloves tested:
- I used one consistent pair of white gloves under samples to show comparison of wrist lengths and any paint bleed-through.
- I poured acrylic paints on an 8×10 canvas for each glove sample, with full manipulation and tilting, keeping gloves saturated.
- I wiped off gloves at exactly five minutes, then used gloved fingernails to remove old paint from tops of paint bottles.
- Final challenge: After nail scraping I then placed fingertips in a puddle of paint to soak for an additional five minutes to simulate a repour, extensive manipulation, or a much larger canvas before removing gloves.
Each brand was judged on strength/durability, cuff length, size variances, texture grip, safety/protection, flexibility, and comfort. ALL the gloves I tested were powder-free.
ALL gloves passed the five minute leak test, and five minute nail manipulation with second fingers-only paint soak.
