Nitrile and Latex Rubber Gloves: A Comparison

There are different types of rubber gloves available in the market. Various types of rubber are used to make these gloves. Depending on the application, there are rubber gloves like general purpose gloves, medical gloves or industrial rubber gloves. The durability of rubber gloves therefor depends a lot on the kind of requirement for which they are used for. The most popular of all are the latex gloves. Latex gloves are often used in the medical field. Nitrile rubber glove is another variety used in various industrial applications.

Latex Rubber Glove
High elasticity, slip resistance and durable material, leak and tear resistant are the basic characteristics of latex rubber gloves which make them suitable for medical professionals to use in surgery. These gloves provide extra sensitivity to the wearer while using surgical tools and instruments. Being light and well-fitted and highly applicable to wet or watery situations, latex gloves lets the wearer get hold of surgical and other tools in the most natural manner.

However, there is one serious disadvantage of latex gloves. They tend to render allergies to the wearer because of their natural chemical composition and constituting protein. These have adverse effect on skin.
Nitrile Rubber Gloves
Nitrile rubber is the best alternative to latex rubber. Nitrile gloves are made of synthetic latex. They offer excellent resistance to punctures and tears.

A comparison
As nitrile rubber is a synthetic rubber, there is no scope of allergic reaction in nitrile gloves. These gloves are safe to the skin, providing a snug and cozy fit for increased sensitivity.

Nitrile rubber gloves are soft and chemical resistant like latex gloves but the only difference is that nitrile rubber is not good in wet conditions and hecne the ntrile rubber gloves are not used for surgical purposes. However these gloves are used in auto and industrial units, pharmaceutical, and some household chores.

Nitrile gloves are more puncture resistant than rubber. They offer superior resistance to various chemicals.

Nitrile gloves have low resistance to friction . That is why they are very easy to slide on, unlike other latex gloves.

Nitrile gloves are also more popular than latex gloves because of their high degree of flexibility and superior solvent resistance.

Nitrile gloves come in a variety of sizes, textures, cuff lengths and thickness.