According to the American Housing Survey, about 14 million people reported seeing cockroaches in their homes, while 14.8 million saw rodents.
Unfortunately, no matter how clean your home is, pests may come in and make themselves at home for many other reasons. Anything from cold weather to poor infrastructure could leave your home at risk.
If you're ready to drive the pests out of your home, you will need some chemicals and gloves! Different chemicals work for various pests, and different gloves work best with different chemicals.
Read on to find out which gloves are best for ridding your home of pests!
Find the Right Fit and Thickness
No matter what kind of gloves you use, it's crucial that you find a pair that fits properly.
If your gloves are too loose, they may not provide the proper protection and allow chemicals to seep in. Pest control chemicals can be particularly harsh and may irritate your skin to varying degrees.
Make sure to always refer to the proper sizing guide when you're buying your gloves.
Similarly, you should find suitably thick gloves for dealing with chemicals. Gloves that are too thin won't provide as much protection as gloves with more thickness.
Once you get your gloves, try them on and move your hands around. Try doing a few tasks to make sure they allow your hands to move correctly while protecting your skin.
Pest control companies will want to make sure they provide gloves that fit right and are properly thick for their employees too. Making sure your employees are safe is a top priority for every pest control job.
Black Rhino powder-free nitrile gloves are the right choice to keep employees safe on every job. This is great for any heavy-duty work and is also textured so employees can keep a tight grip on all tools and bottles.
Some jobs require more protection than others. Response ER gloves offer extra thickness for dealing with harsh chemicals and extended arm protection.
Check for Chemical Resistance
The next thing you will want to check for when choosing gloves is the kind of chemicals the gloves are best used with.
Not all disposable gloves are created equal. Some gloves that work wonderfully with nitric acid may work terribly with fertilizer or other chemicals.
It's essential to check a chemical resistance chart to ensure the gloves you're buying will work well with the chemicals in your pest control products.
Make sure to check the pest control product bottle so you know what ingredients you're working with. Make sure you check the entire ingredient list, if possible.
Checking a chemical-resistant chart will also be helpful when dealing with other harsh household chemicals. Knowing what gloves you can use for various tasks around your home will be good.
You can even use this kind of chart to figure out what gloves are best for dying your hair, working in a laboratory setting, and more. So it's always a good idea to keep a chart handy!
Pick the Right Materials for Pest Control
Lastly, it's always essential to ensure you're picking gloves made with a suitable material based on the chemicals you're working with.
Using the wrong material gloves can allow chemicals to seep through the materials, especially if the gloves are thin, and attack your skin or other body parts.
Choosing suitable gloves will better protect your hands from harsh chemicals and give you peace of mind when working with them.
Pest control chemicals are known for being strong and sometimes harsh. They can irritate your eyes and skin, and some can even cause a burning sensation if misused or come into contact with wounds on your hands.
For most pest control chemicals, you will want to try gloves made of nitrile or latex gloves. Check the active ingredient in the chemicals and your chemical resistance chart before you choose your material.
Nitrile is known for being durable and resistant to chemicals. They also come in various levels of thickness and can be found in different colors. You can also shop for options like powder-free, industrial-grade, and medical-grade.
Latex is another excellent option when working with chemicals. They're made with tough rubber, durable, and difficult to puncture.
It is not recommended that you use vinyl, poly, or hybrid gloves with pest control chemicals.
These gloves are all lightweight and made with thinner material. They may break easier and more often when used with harsh chemicals.
How to Dispose Gloves After Use
The wonderful thing about disposable gloves is that you get to throw them away once you're done with them and don't have to deal with them again.
However, this also means it's up to you to dispose of your gloves responsibly. This will ensure that the chemicals on the gloves don't come into contact with anyone else or any animals.
The most important thing about disposing of gloves is making sure they make it to a trash can; littering is always a bad idea.
With gloves that have harsh chemicals on them, you will also want to take a few extra steps before you throw them into a trash can.
Ensure you remove your gloves carefully so the chemicals don't come into contact with your bare skin.
Carefully peel off one glove, so it ends up inside out. Then, carefully place a finger from the gloveless hand into the opening of the other glove to peel that one off. You should end up with two inside-out gloves.
Place your gloves in a plastic bag and tie the bag shut. This will protect other people, like garbage collectors, from having to touch them. It will also stop animals from being able to nibble on contaminated gloves.
Pest Control Gloves and More
Now you know how to choose suitable gloves for all your pest control needs. Always check chemical bottle labels, refer to a chemical resistance chart, and make sure your gloves fit properly.
We carry all the kinds of gloves you'll need at Glove Nation. Make sure to check out our blog for even more helpful tips about different types of gloves and glove safety.