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Having gloves on your hands doesn’t just make life easier—it’s also safer.
If you’ve spent any time working on an old car, you’ll know the importance of wearing gloves. Go without them, and your hands will quickly become covered in dirt, grime, grease, and other nasty stuff that’s tough to remove and toxic for your skin. It’s also easier to hurt yourself while working in a tight engine bay full of sharp objects without gloves. That’s why whenever I dive into a DIY project, I have a box of disposable gloves or a pair of mechanic’s gloves by my side.
It’s not like you can’t work on your car without gloves—I’ve done it plenty of times when I’m in a pinch or otherwise don’t have access to a pair. But doing it all the time just isn’t healthy. In addition to protecting from physical abrasions caused by sharp objects, exposing your skin to all of that grime that comes with old engine bays and suspension components can damage your skin. In the long term, it can even lead to health effects such as cancer, according to Can Gard, a medical supplies website.
Working with gloves is also just way more convenient than going bare-handed. I’ve lost count of how many articles of clothing I’ve ruined by accidentally touching my hands to them right after working on a car without gloves. And every time I want to use my phone, I have to run to the nearest sink and scrub, lest I get nasty grease on my touchscreen. With gloves, all I have to do is pop them off to do anything. Same goes for handling interior bits or eating food.
Which type of gloves you use will depend on what you're doing and your personal preferences. For most jobs I like to use standard disposable industrial-level gloves simply because they’re the most comfortable. They’re also less cumbersome than reusable mechanic’s gloves. The downsides are they’re easily damaged, wasteful, and bad for the environment. I’ll usually switch to padded mechanic’s gloves if I’m working with heavy-duty parts where I might bust a knuckle if I’m not careful.
Gloves aren’t exactly complex tools, which means they’re affordable. You can grab a 100-count box of disposable, powder-free gloves from any auto parts store for under $30. Same goes for reusable mechanic’s gloves, if that’s your preference. If you’d rather have them delivered to your door, Amazon will kindly deliver them, with this box from Gloveworks priced at $25.00. When it comes to padded gloves, Gearwrench has a pair I like to keep in my car when I’m in a pinch. They’re yours for $19.99.