Wallis42
Member
Just a quick question. Is it advisable to wear some sort of gloves when cleaning your gun? With all the concern about lead and the chemicals in the various solvents I was just wondering. I currently don't.
Gloves and cleaning?
- Thread starter Wallis42
- Start date
Life's too short to sweat the little stuff.
If we had lots of folks getting sick or dying from gun cleaning solvent exposure , I'd worry about gloves.
I haven't seen even one.
Just wash your hands after cleaning.
If we had lots of folks getting sick or dying from gun cleaning solvent exposure , I'd worry about gloves.
I haven't seen even one.
Just wash your hands after cleaning.
I don't,but absorbing that stuff can't be beneficial
photobiker
Member
If I'm doing a quick cleaning I don't usually use them. If I'm doing a through cleaning I use gloves. I prefer not to have that Hopps 9 smell on my hands for the next few hours. I use nitrile exam gloves. I think I picked them up at Sam's Club a few years back. These are latex and powder free, not that it really matters to me. It is just they had or I grabbed. They are pretty thin and I may use a couple of pair during a long cleaning session but they were inexpensive and there are 200 gloves in the box.
Yes, those are handy for a variety of tasks. They are available at virtually any drug store.
ChattanoogaPhil
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Yes. I use the light duty nitrile gloves sold at Harbor Freight. Hundred pair for less than $10. They hold up to Hoppes and the typical solvents that I use. I'll also put on a fresh pair when wiping down clean guns before putting up.
zzzippper
Member
We used to wash our hands with MEK and gasoline. If I'm going to get poisoned itvhas already happened.
Exposure to harsh chemicals is never good for you. Your skin can absorb that stuff. If you consider what something like Sweets will do to a barrel, inhaling fumes of it can't do you any good.
Last edited:
I use gloves anytime solvents are utilized.
I never wear gloves, but I do thoroughly wash my hands afterwards. Plus a little Hoppes behind the ears is a great cologne. 
Harkrader
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zzzippper: "wash our hands with MEK and gasoline"
OH Yeah! 115/130 avgas was purple and we used it to "dry clean" our uniforms in Vietnam. HAD to be poisonous.
Then, stateside, it seemed we nearly drank MEK for routine cleaning. Today I can't stand to get even a wiff of it.
I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I think.
OH Yeah! 115/130 avgas was purple and we used it to "dry clean" our uniforms in Vietnam. HAD to be poisonous.
Then, stateside, it seemed we nearly drank MEK for routine cleaning. Today I can't stand to get even a wiff of it.
I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I'm sure it didn't cause any damage. I think.
Cooter Brown
Member
Wear 'em.
I have a buddy who was having some health issues and went to the doc--they eventually tracked it down to the fact that he was tying so many weighted flies that he was suffering lead poisoning.
You've gotta die of something, true enough, but just like avoiding stepping in front of a bus wearing gloves when dealing with lead and solvents helps eliminate one of the easy ones.
I have a buddy who was having some health issues and went to the doc--they eventually tracked it down to the fact that he was tying so many weighted flies that he was suffering lead poisoning.
You've gotta die of something, true enough, but just like avoiding stepping in front of a bus wearing gloves when dealing with lead and solvents helps eliminate one of the easy ones.
Jessie
US Veteran
Hoppes#9? I'll sometimes use it as aftershave, I love that stuff!
Hack
Member
Nitrile gloves anytime I'm doing a deep cleaning. Especially when removing lead deposits. I also wear a small mask if I'm really scrubbing a dirty gun.
I figure over the years I have put my hands into and breathed in enough bad stuff, that it's only a matter of time before I reach 'that point' of total absorption. I'm trying to delay it as long as possible...
I figure over the years I have put my hands into and breathed in enough bad stuff, that it's only a matter of time before I reach 'that point' of total absorption. I'm trying to delay it as long as possible...
I love the smell of Hoppe's #9 in the morning! 
Big Cholla
Member
When I was living in Alaska, I actually used the mosquito repellent "DEET" as an aftershave every morning during mosquito season. Put me in the group that enjoys the smell of Hoppe's No. 9. Brings back great memories of times with my Dad and cleaning hunting rifles/shotguns. ........... Big Cholla
rog8732
US Veteran
I use gloves all the time; but it has nothing to do with protecting me.
It, for me, is to protect the gun from me.
Some of us have more; "acidity / Alkali" (?) in our system than others; (plus perhaps a touch of ACD )
I always wear gloves when doing anything with a firearm except shooting it.
If, and when, I have dis-assembled ; say a Colt N.M. G C, with all the 50 or so parts laid out, none of those parts get put back with my bare hands touching.
To the point of the thread, I have had a little "stinging" of the skin when some of the gun cleaning fluids get on me, but a trip to the faucet always is the fix.
It, for me, is to protect the gun from me.
Some of us have more; "acidity / Alkali" (?) in our system than others; (plus perhaps a touch of ACD )
I always wear gloves when doing anything with a firearm except shooting it.
If, and when, I have dis-assembled ; say a Colt N.M. G C, with all the 50 or so parts laid out, none of those parts get put back with my bare hands touching.
To the point of the thread, I have had a little "stinging" of the skin when some of the gun cleaning fluids get on me, but a trip to the faucet always is the fix.
Jessie
US Veteran
I learned that the hard way after showing a friend my Grandads Fox-Sterlingworth double.
I didn't know until the next day that he had held it by the muzzle end of the barrels.
I knew exactly where when I saw the rust.
Makes me ill to this day when I see the pitting.
With some people, its almost instantaneous when they touch metal.
I didn't know until the next day that he had held it by the muzzle end of the barrels.
I knew exactly where when I saw the rust.
Makes me ill to this day when I see the pitting.
With some people, its almost instantaneous when they touch metal.
I use vinyl stretch disposable gloves - the bulk kind you can buy in hardware store. Every liquid your skin comes in contact with gets absorbed to some degree and into your blood stream within seconds. I use gloves pretty religiously especially around bore solvents. Also makes cleaning your hands a snap - just pull off the gloves. Btw, the latex gloves get eaten up pretty quick by the solvents so go with vinyl.
Maddog 521
Member
Another one in the yes column. I buy the nitrile disposable from Home Depot. They seem to hold up better than the exam gloves. They are pretty good when painting also.
MEK is one of the baddest solvents around. As far as the lead. Just wash your hands and keep your dirty hands away from your mouth. Includes smoking with dirty hands. In the lead area of the local car factory we had no cases of lead causing health issues. Had some high blood lead cases but moved that person out of the lead area. After awhile their levels went back to normal. Worst one was an inspector who ate his lunch without washing his hands. We saw him doing that.
Another tip would be glasses. When the bore brush comes out, it flings tiny particles of solvent and fouling in every direction. Same goes for shooting. Lead, copper,and powder particles go everywhere. How precious is your sight?
I bought some of those white cotton inspection gloves off of
Ebay last year, and wear them whenever I pickup my Smith
& Wessons , Winchester rifles, and yes, even my 1928 Fox
Sterlingworth double bbl. shotgun. Keeps my babies looking
great!
Ebay last year, and wear them whenever I pickup my Smith
& Wessons , Winchester rifles, and yes, even my 1928 Fox
Sterlingworth double bbl. shotgun. Keeps my babies looking
great!
