Static energy is created by the contact of two objects that are electrically charged and the human body is one of the objects that carry the charge. Hence, we are very delicate when we come into contact with objects that carries charges like the computer and other highly flammable products.
Therefore, while working with our electronic devices or in industries we should be fully protected from electrostatic discharge to prevent further damage to the environment and electronic devices that are expensive to replace or rectify.
Hence, wearing anti-static gloves is the best alternative to prevent the electrostatic discharge from our body to semiconductors and electronics.
In this article, we will discuss in-depth information about anti static gloves which include:
- 7 things you will get from wearing anti static gloves when working.
- What is important when looking for the best?
- What material help stop or reduce static energy?
- Top static-proof gloves on the market.
In a hurry? Check the top picks!
Best Valuable to Buy, Made of High Resistant Carbon Fiber, for PC Building: ThxToms ESD Safe Gloves
Wide Applicability Because of the Elastic Wrist Wrap and Pull on Closure: VViViD Grey Vinyl Gloves
Budget Options for Disposable Use, 100-Piece Latex Free Gloves for Electricians: Lutema Touch Screen Gloves
What Are Anti-Static Gloves?
These are gloves that are designed to offer protection against potential dangers from electro-static discharges which can very destructive to the environment and human beings.
Mostly they are used in a highly sensitive environment that can easily get charged due to sensitive materials being handled.
Thus, they are mostly used in electronic assemblies, Bio-tech and Pharmaceutical, Telecommunication, Aerospace handling materials that are highly flammable and manufacturing industries.
Also Read: Best Typing Gloves to Keep Your Hands Warm & Fresh
How to Choose Static Proof Gloves?
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Application
Before budgeting for ESD gloves you should first consider their intended purpose because it will determine the type of material that will be perfect for the application.
An application determines whether you need gloves with high resistance quality to factors that are semi-conductive and conductive to ESD.
For instance, you should not use rubber gloves in a situation where high voltage is applied because they are semi-conductive which makes them very hazardous to the application.
Therefore, you should take your time and research or inquire which type would be suitable for the intended application.
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Material
The material used for constructing ESD gloves is the major factor that determines the degree of the resistance to ESD which is the guarantee to your safety and comfort.
For versatility, reliability, and precision, the best ESD gloves should be highly resistant to puncture, water, chemicals, oil, grease, and extreme heat, elastic, skin-friendly non-slippery and offer good dexterity for precision and maximum comfort while working.
The Nitrile, vinyl and rubber will bring good results and these materials will be discussed in detail next.
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Friendliness
Before purchasing one you should be able to know what type of material works well and friendly with your skin because skin sensitivity is a serious issue that can inconvenience your precision and efficiency while working.
The most skin-friendly material must be vinyl.
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Cost
Your budget determines what type of gloves you should settle on. However, it is advisable to settle for the best one that will guarantee substantial guard against ESD concerning its application.
The price of electrostatic discharge gloves lies $5 – $20.
What Material Gloves Is ESD Safe?
There is no guarantee that ESD Gloves can offer 100% protection against ESD, but they are types of ESD Gloves that are safer than others because the quality of materials used for construction will determine the degree of their safety.
Below is the highlight of materials or types of ESD gloves you may consider comfortable and safe for your needs.
– Nitrile
Nitrile is also made from synthetic rubber.
- ESD Gloves made from rubber are waterproof making them suitable for a greasy and wet environment,
- They offer good thermal resistance up to 250-degrees Celsius, resistant to perforation,
- Offer mechanical and chemical protection such as chlorinated solvents and skin-friendly make them the best alternative gloves for those who latex allergies.
The only downside of Nitrile gloves is that they are resistant to halogen and ketone products.
Therefore, nitrile has a high dissipation property than latex and vinyl material.
– Vinyl
Vinyl materials are anti-static, delicate/soft, inexpensive, they fit well due to their elastic property.
However, they are less durable and they puncture easily compared to latex and nitrile materials.
Therefore, they are only suitable for handling electronics, Biotech, laboratory, and aerospace science.
– Latex
Latex is a material that is very thin, elastic, biodegradable, and highly resistant to chemicals, oils, solvents, and micro-organisms which makes them recommendable for handling petroleum, food, and medicine.
Secondly, they are comfortable and offer good dexterity which makes them good for projects that require high precision.
However, the disadvantage of latex material is that it is friendly with some people and they do not have high resistance to heat and perforation which makes them a bit risky to use.
– Fabric
There are many types of fabric gloves that you can choose from because of the varied comfort and properties each type possess.
- Generally, fabric gloves are comfortable, skin-friendly, non-slip on the palm and fingers for superior handling;
- They have high resistance to heat, making them suitable for handling hot circuit boards.
Reusable and long-lasting making them cost-effective in the long run.
The major disadvantage with fabric gloves is that they are subject to substantial friction build-up, thus, minimizing their anti-static ability.
– Rubber
Rubber materials are also good at static-proof because they are poor conductors of electrons and lack free electrons, but they are semi-conductors.
Hence, they can behave like a conductor or insulator depending on the amount of voltage.
Reviews of the Best Anti Static Gloves
Here are some of the best static proof gloves that are deserve to buy:
ThxToms ESD Anti-Static Gloves – for PC Building
ThxToms brand brings you ESD Anti-static gloves at a price of around $8. It is a pair for protecting your computer while installing applications and repairing its internal components.
These gloves are convenient and reliable for dispersing electrostatic discharge due to the following reason:
• The gloves are manufactured from a polyurethane material that has undergone multiple quality tests making its high resistance to water, oil, and grease making it durable and anti-static.
• The gloves are wrapped with carbon fiber conductive wire to making them strong anti-static ability.
• They are elastic for perfect fit, conductive dexterity, and handling projects that require high precision and, suitable for all hand shapes.
• The gloves’ fingers are coated with PU to provide a soft feel to your palms, maximum grip, and accuracy while working.
Avoid working on your electronic devices with bare hands and stop generating static electricity that will damage circuits of your devices by using these PU coated gloves which will help you to cut down the expense of repairing your device in the run.
VViViD Grey Vinyl Wrap Anti-Static Gloves – Professional Use
These pull-on vinyl wraps anti-static gloves are guarantee you will not only use for wrapping but also for pre-wrap preparation and post-wrap cleaning and polishing.
The premium construction makes them flexible and reliable to protect your work against unnecessary damages.
Why buy VViViD professional gloves?
• They are light in weight and do not come off easily. Hence, they are convenient and comforting with delicate projects.
• Offers low friction and the microfiber construction limits the gloves conductivity thereby enhancing its anti-static ability.
• The gloves have elastic wrist bands to firmly fit your hand and do not lose their shape very fast. Hence, they will serve you for a substantial period.
These excellently designed ESD gloves will ensure the best quality result with your projects without any faults that you may have experienced before because of touching your table unknowingly while working.
Melody 12 Pairs Anti-Static Gloves – Made of Soft Cotton
These washable Anti-static gloves are reusable, easy to maintain, and cuts down the cost of frequently purchasing gloves unnecessarily.
Further, they come in 12 pairs making them inexpensive gloves in the market.
Still, there are a lot to gain from these gloves, they include:
• These white cotton gloves are easy to wear on and off, and their thumbs are sewn separately for the best comfort fit and prevent them from coming off easily.
• They are lightweight, breathable, firm, and skin-friendly for maximum comfort experience when working.
• They are wear-resistant for durability and easy to maintain by simply hand washing and line dry them.
• They are long enough to cover your wrist thereby minimizing the contact of your skin with your devices or working surface for enhanced anti-static ability.
• These cotton gloves are slightly stretchable to fit most hands and unisex.
Practically don’t drive or operate machinery with gloves that will only protect your hands from blisters but ensure you stay protected from ESD by using these skin-friendly and long-lasting gloves.
Neewer ESD Safe Gloves – Camera Cleaning Kit
The electrostatic discharge also affects the sharpness and accuracy of the camera lenses.
Hence,
you should also wear gloves to preserve the focal strength of your camera and also protect other devices from getting damaged unnecessarily.
However, with NEEWER gloves you will reap the worth of your hard-earned money through the following benefits listed below.
• It comes with Anti-Static Gloves, Lens Brush, and Microfiber Cleaning Cloth for Canon Nikon Sony Panasonic Olympus Cameras and Camcorder Lens.
• The gloves are medium-sized but stretchable enough making them suitable for most people with different shapes.
• It features an elastic cuff edge for flexible wearing while preventing unraveling.
• They are non-slippery for firmness fitting to prevent static discharge while working with sensitive electronic static devices.
• The gloves are made from a microfiber material that is lightweight, skin-friendly, and friendly to all delicate surfaces like the camera lenses’.
These gloves are well-knitted and ergonomically designed for you and to offer protection to your delicate devices. Hence, it is the best choice for you!!!
Milcoast Carbon Fiber Electrostatic Discharge Anti-Static ESD Gloves – with Polyurethane Palm
Milcoast Carbon Fiber Anti-Static Gloves are perfect for working with delicate electronic equipment in cleanroom aerospace and automotive industries, and more.
Besides, it is premium crafted and engineered with comprehensive features such as:
• Non-slip grip and breathable material for enhanced comfort and utility.
• The palm and the fingers are coated with PU for extra protection against ESD while the interior features carbon lining for anti-static protection.
• The wrist is knitted to prevent dust and other particles from entering the gloves for comfort and minimal contact with the workstation.
• The palm and fingers are highly sensitive for a natural feel and enhanced flexibility.
• They come with 10 pairs of gloves thereby cutting the cost of frequently purchasing them.
These gloves are very comfortable for your palm and also you will be very surprised at the quality.
LUTEMA Latex Vinyl Gloves – Disposable Choice
LUTEMA are disposable plastic gloves designed for handling sensitive products, food processing sanitary food handling and packaging, and protect your hand from odor and dirt.
Hence, they help maintain hygiene at home and ideal for restaurant use.
Why are they ideal for restaurant use?
• They are engineered with premium materials that are not easy to break and puncture, hence, resistant to ESD.
• They are comfortable and soft to touch.
• They easily open and your hand slides easily giving you loose fit for maximum comfort.
• They are latex and vinyl free making them friendly to everyone.
ESD gloves are not only designed to offer protection to your devices, but you can also protect your loved ones from the kitchen to the table because germs and bacterial infection spread faster when electrostatic discharge is higher on our skin.
Kinetronics Anti-Static Gloves – Large Size
This is a soft synthetic fiber gloves that is conductive and effective in suppressing the dust to minimize ESD while handling sensitive products and devices that are prone to static energy.
What makes Kinetronics ESD Gloves Unique?
• Made with lint-free soft microfiber and conductive filament to suppress dust collection.
• They are soft; hence, suitable for handling static-sensitive materials.
• They are suitable for handling prints since they are soft and do not leave behind fingerprints.
• They are washable and dries easily under a warm setting.
• They are excellently engineered to eliminate arcing from excessive conductivity.
• They are highly resistive to prevent unintended shocks.
Working in a dusty environment is hard and can damage your devices not only by coating the internal cooling system but also increases the discharge of electrons to your body.
How Do ESD Gloves Work?
As mentioned above that electrostatic discharge is a result of two bodies that carry static energy coming into contact. Therefore, the aim of using ESD gloves is to break the channel/contact between these two objects coming into direct contact.
However, there is more to how ESD gloves work and this is by keeping oils, dust, and salt from human skin off the circuit board because ESD gloves feature soft conductive and synthetic fibers that help to prevent further contamination of the object that comes into contact with the human.
Why Need anti-Static Strap?
An anti-static strap is a wrist strap or a ground wristband that is used to disperse build-up electrostatic discharge from the human body to the ground.
Therefore, it is a safety ground conductor of electrostatic discharge.
The detailed reason why it is a necessity to wear an anti-static strap is because of the following reasons:
- To provide a safe way to dissipate static electricity to the ground without causing any sudden electrostatic damage to your devices.
- To create a safe environment at the workplace for increased efficiency and production.
- To save time and money that could have been wasted or spent to replace the damaged electronic devices.
- To protect the environment from further destruction resulted from the explosion of highly inflammable materials.
- To create awareness of the dangers of electrostatic energy to other staff members and your peers.
- To create resistance of any direct mistaken connection to prevent major electric shock from being obtained which could be hazardous.
- To protect yourself from in high voltage situation.
FAQs
1. Are Cotton Gloves Anti-Static?
Yes. Cotton is a natural fabric, meaning they have poor conductivity of electrons, heat resistant, skin-friendly and breathable, durable, affordable, reusable, and easy to maintain.
However, you should be very careful with them depending on the intended application because they are not resistant to oil, water, and grease which are good conductors of electrons making their application limited to handling highly flammable products like petrol.
2. Do Anti-static Gloves Help Avoiding ESD?
Yes, but their reliability is not that promising because the cellulose fiber used for making these gloves retains some level of moisture which creates conductivity of the ESD.
Hence, you will need extra resistance to reduce the level of current flowing from your charged body to the object/device.
Hence, this is where wrist strap essence comes in which helps to create extra resistance by connecting it through a safety resistor to the ground to disperse the electrostatic discharge.
Conclusion
When handling electronic devices could be a little bit difficult to notice the effects of ESD, but most of the damages that arise are mistaken from the high voltage of electricity but in a real sense they originate from your body.
Hence, while working with devices and other flammable devices, you should use ESD Gloves to prevent losses and damage to the surrounding environment.
