Do you wear gloves when cleaning firearms?

[Rule3]

After a day at the range and you have guns that need cleaning, do you wear gloves? I have tried the nitrile, heavy thick ones and just can't do it. I fumble around with patches, drop things or end up punching a hole in the fingers

I am not talking about cleaning a surplus firearm full of cosmolene. Then I will.

[OKFC05]

Nope. Just use hand cleaner after, like working on the car.

[kleinkaliber]

No. Although sometimes after not touching a gun for a few days, I swear I can still smell Hoppes on my hands. (Even after my biannual bath.)

[feralmerril]

Inappropriate response has been deleted..

[kennyb]

i dont use gloves to clean guns no...just have never seen a reason to...i clean mine after shooting for many reasons...sure beats "just tossing one aside" after its rusted or develops problems

[paladin42]

Of course I do. In our house, gun cleaning can be an all day event. By wearing gloves, I don't have to wash my hands everytime I want something to eat or to leave a leak, I just strip the gloves off and do a light rinse.

[Vulcan Bob]

After being a auto mechanic all my life I dont worry about gun solvents!

[Wheelgunner840]

Can't say I wear gloves anymore for anything except for keeping my hands warm in freezing weather. After a long career in the rescue business, and putting on and taking off those rubber gloves a bazillion times a day, I don't think that I will ever put them on again! Gunscrubber (brake cleaner) does burn a bit between the fingers where they meet the hand, but a quick rinse takes care of that.

Most of the solvents like Hoppes #9 and others don't bother me much at all.


WG840

[Hofstet]

I wear the throw away "surgical style" latex gloves.

[Wheelgunner840]

Hofstet;
I wear the throw away "surgical style" latex gloves.

You can usually find those in your doctors examining room waste basket free for the taking. Might be a little lube on one of the fingers, but what the heck, they're free.

[ladder13]

Wear gloves, yes. Don't trust those chemicals.

[sjmjax]

Yes, always. Also wear them when reloading.

I use the thin, blue nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight. Solvent resistant, fairly tough and still provide good dexterity.

Sorry, don't understand people that won't take easy, cheap and simple precautions to protect their long term health.

[bmcgilvray]

I don't use gloves. Probably should. I've marinated in Hoppe's No. 9 for so many years now that I think I'm growing a prehensile tail.

[calmex]

I didn't used to, and I don't mind the smell of Break Free. However, a local friend convinced me that the boxes of 100 surgical gloves are just so cheap (at least, down here) that I might as just well use them.

No more oily fingees.

[WaterburyBob]

Sometimes I wear gloves - it depends on what solvents I am using.

[bmcgilvray]

I've found that if one rinses his hands in rubbing alcohol after cleaning with Hoppe's No. 9 then the residual odor is much diminished.

[Sam McCord]

I wear gloves and Tyvek suit. Don't want to get my pink big boy pants dirty!

C'mon man!

[Wayne02]

I don't wear gloves for cleaning guns. It just doesn't seem right.

[rchance]

I wear heavy duty vinyl gloves. Their stronger than latex gloves, doesn't leave the latex smell, powder on your hands and their hard to rip.

[K.38]

Always do now. I figure what the heck it can't hurt.

[586L-Frame]

Most of the time I'll wear Nitrile Latex gloves when cleaning with gun solvents. Then I normally take them off when lubing.

586L-Frame

[Hyperion]

I use Cylinder and Slide's Dunk-Kit, so I always use the blue nitrile gloves.

[flagman1776]

NO. I just wash my hands after. Works for me.
Russ

[Rule3]

Guess most of us are gonna die from chemical exposure and those that cast their own bullets will go even sooner

[Vegetaman]

I don't wear gloves. Too much loss of control with all the small parts, namely.

Also, I enjoy the Hoppes No. 9 perfume.

[dondavis3]

I don't, but it's not a bad idea.

Old habits die hard.

[H Richard]

I do occasionally, when I have many guns to clean. I bought a box of inexpensive non-latex gloves (I think about $8 p/100) when I was doing a large staining project, (oak computer desk). and they worked so well that I don't have the aversion to gloves that I used to. Old habits are hard to break, so I don't use them when I have just one gun to clean.

[Krull]

Nope,even when I've got a gun covered in cosmoline I just go at it,been doing this since I was a kid at around ten.

Now I'm making knives..some kevlar gloves may be handy for all those times I get too close to the grinder!

[bmhiii]

Nope, don't wear them. It never occurred to me until I saw this thread. I figure my smoking activities will kill me way before Hoppes on my hands...

[FirebirdV8]

If any of you work in aviation like I do, Hoppes #9 is the least of my worries when it comes to chemical exposure. I do wear gloves when the stuff actually causes cancer by itself, which clp or hoppes doesn't fall into that category.

[CW Spook]

Gloves? I been cleanin' guns for over 60 years. I don' need no steenkin' gloves. ***.

[Rule3]

Originally Posted by FirebirdV8

If any of you work in aviation like I do, Hoppes #9 is the least of my worries when it comes to chemical exposure. I do wear gloves when the stuff actually causes cancer by itself, which clp or hoppes doesn't fall into that category.

Old #9 is a pretty potent solvent.Kinda like your Jet fuel I also use Eezox which contains Trichloroethylene

http://www.hoppes.com/msds/904_MSDS.pdf

http://www.eezox.info/msds.pdf

[Titan]

I use Nitrile gloves from CVS that are very thin and very manageable. No problems whatsoever.

I've seen too many folks made gravely ill by chemicals absorbed through the skin, and am aware of too many medications absorbed through the skin (nicotine patches, etc.) to go without gloves while using solvents.

.

[hberttmank]

I use them, no use getting chemicals and lead in my skin when I can avoid it by putting on some gloves.

[zeke]

started wearing the cheap latex gloves about 2 years ago. My hands were literally drying (very red , blistering) up, combination of solvents and washing off the solvents on a regular basis. Doesn't help being in a cold climate with forced air heat.

Am also the household chief dishwasher, and wear gloves for that also.

[roosterk]

Like a lot of people, I never really ever thought about wearing gloves for cleaning guns, but it's probably a good idea.
My older brother was an auto mechanic. In his late 50's he developed bladder cancer, which eventually spread, and finally took his life. When I did research about it, I found out that machinists and mechanics are more likely to develop this form of cancer, it is believed, due to exposure to solvents. Remember the warnings on the Safety-Kleen and other parts washers about wearing gloves? He was more careful than I was, but I never did it near as much. I don't know about gun solvents, but it's for sure something, for me at least, to think about.
roosterk

[Mickey D]

I'm like Madge, "You're soaking in it"!

YouTube - Palmolive commercial

[g26s239]

I don't use gloves but most stuff I use like Pro Shot One Step, Slip 2000, FP10 are non toxic. I use Hoppes #9 and Kroil about every 800 rounds for a thorough barrel cleaning and I use Fast Orange and then Hand soap prior to eating or drinking anything.

[browntown]

I never used to. I've gotten the chemical lecture from a few people that work in industrial jobs though. So I try to remember to put the nitrile gloves on. I try to when I'm working on the car too, but inevitably they end up tearing on some sharp piece of metal

[SteveG]

Thin, blue nitrile. Can't hurt, doesn't get in the way of the job.