The Top 10 Cut Resistant Gloves for Easier Slicing and Dicing

Considerations When Purchasing Cut Resistant Gloves

While information on hand injuries in our homes might be difficult to discover, statistics on hand injuries in the workplace are terrifying. Around 70% of the million or so employees who wind up in the emergency department with hand injuries were not wearing gloves, and 30% were wearing either broken or the improper sort of gloves for the task!

In-Home Use of Cut Resistant Gloves

Cut resistant gloves are becoming more necessary in today’s household, particularly with the rising usage of gadgets such as mandoline slicers. While mandoline slicers have evolved since their introduction into residential kitchens, they still lack critical safety measures, and many of us find the holders difficult to use, so we leave them on one side and simply use our hands.

If you’re searching for gloves to use with a mandoline, a tightly woven glove with enough elasticity to enable you to move your fingers and better hold the food you’re slicing is preferable. They will also make it simple to replace mandoline blades.

A pair of cut resistant gloves is especially handy in the kitchen for cutting tricky delicacies like ginger root, as well as standard chicken, meat, and fish filleting and cutting.

Other occupations in which cut resistant gloves may lessen the risk of severe injury include crafting, DIY, and yard work.

How to Choose the Best Cut Resistant Gloves

When purchasing cut resistant gloves, make sure they fit properly since loose gloves are more difficult to wear because they not only slide but also do not give the same level of touch sensitivity. Gloves that are too loose increase the risk of injury, while gloves that are too tight are unpleasant to wear and may cause skin irritation.

Lower weight gloves are not only preferable for more flexible jobs, but they also contribute less to hand fatigue. If you need to wear gloves for an extended period of time, consider how breathable they are.

or FDA-approved. Gloves with coatings, such as latex or nitrile, are handy for wet or slippery jobs, such as filleting fish, but if these gloves are to be used for food preparation, they must be food safe.

Cut resistant gloves will not prevent you from getting cut; rather, they are designed to provide additional protection from direct contact with sharp edges where your hands are more likely to be cut, and you should never let the fact that you are wearing cut resistant gloves lull you into a false sense of security.

Most cut resistant glove makers will state that their gloves do not protect against the use of electrical equipment such as powered saws, despite the fact that the gloves have been tested for cut resistance with non-powered blades.

In fact, wearing gloves around powered equipment may increase the risk of harm since a moving blade can drag a glove into the mechanism.

Following usage, gloves should be thoroughly examined for indications of wear and tear and discarded if required.

How Cut Resistant Gloves Work

Gloves’ cut resistance is due to their strength, hardness, rolling motion, and lubricity. The rolling action of gloves refers to how well a sharp edge may roll over the top of the fabric without cutting it, and this can be increased by the lubricity, or slipperiness, of the fabric’s surface, which also helps the sharp edge to glide over the fabric without cutting it.

Gloves constructed from a variety of composite yarns often provide the best of these advantages since the producers have merged the distinct components to optimize the diverse qualities of the gloves.

Gloves made from a combination of materials may also have better temperature resistance, visibility, breathability, and dexterity.

It is vital to remember that puncture resistance is not the same as cut resistance and is assessed differently. Puncture resistance is assessed using a big nail placed into the taut cloth per EN388. The force required to puncture the cloth is then measured and graded.

Levels and Resistance Tests

Cut resistance may be tested using one of three defined methods:

• ASTM F1790
• ISO 13997
• EN388

Taking a closer look at each of these:

• ASTM F1790

In the United States, ASTM International establishes the most widely used standard for glove cut testing, whereas ANSI, or the American National Standards Institute, establishes the norm for reporting cut levels.

Confused? It just gets worse!

ISEA 105-2016. The ANSI rating system was modified in 2016, which means there are now two sets of ratings. ANSI is the current standard.

The first score of 1 to 5 includes cut resistance of items evaluated by the standard prior to 2016. Level 5 has the highest cut resistance. The new ratings system is used if a product has an ANSI rating between A1 and A9. Gloves rated ANSI 4 will now be A4 to A6, while gloves rated ANSI 5 will now be A7 to A9.

• ISO 13997

In addition to the ASTM F1790 standard, the International ISO 13997 standard is utilized for cutting resistance testing. Both of these standards use the Tomodynamometer (TDM) and Cut Protection Test (CPT), which entail a blade traveling in a straight line over the fabric of the glove being tested while measuring the total pressure applied to the blade for at least 0.8 inches.

The test findings determine the level of performance the cloth belongs to.

Gloves that fulfill ASTM and ISO standards contain the following features:

• EN388

The third cut resistance standard is the corresponding European rating of EN388, which is required by law in Europe but is also widely used in Asia, Australia, and South America. The test for this standard counts the number of cuts required by a circular blade moving over the cloth to cut through that portion of the fabric. This is often referred to as the Couptest approach.

Several manufacturers may sell their goods as EN388 approved, with a CE emblem followed by some digits.

Gloves that satisfy the EN388 standard must contain the following features:

All three standards have a level 5 rating (or A7 to A9 if ANSI certified after 2016), thus if you are searching for cut resistant gloves to give maximum protection when the likelihood of incurring cuts is greater, seek for ones with a level 5 rating, regardless of the standard they have been tested to.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that gloves with level 5 resistance will be heavier than lower rated gloves, which may present issues depending on the jobs you want to use them for.

It goes without saying that field testing your gloves’ cut resistance is never a good idea. These gloves have been rigorously tested in a laboratory to mimic real-world threats, and stabbing them with a pair of scissors or a knife would harm both the glove and your hand if you are wearing them at the same time!

Materials for Cut Resistant Gloves

The material you pick will be determined by the additional features you want your gloves to have, such as breathability, heat resistance, and ease of washing if they will be used for food preparation.

Kevlar is a cut-resistant material that can also withstand severe temperatures, whilst Dyneema fabric has better flexibility and may increase ventilation. Engineered materials often feature a combination of multiple fibers to boost their overall qualities, and these kinds of gloves may sometimes be quite thin while maintaining their excellent cut resistance capabilities.

Spectra fibers are extremely high molecular weight polyethylene fibers with excellent cut resistance even when wet. These fibers are up to 15 times stronger than steel per unit weight.

SuperFabric is a fabric base layer covered with strong plastic guard platelets. This permits the cloth to grip better.

String knit gloves are constructed with yarns that are measured in gauge or diameter. A thicker (7 to 13 gauge) glove will be more abrasion resistant than a thinner (15 to 21 gauge) glove, which is better suited to occupations that need greater dexterity, such as handling tiny components.

A metal mesh is often made of stainless steel, which is not only strong but also provides enhanced puncture protection. Stainless steel may also be used with yarn to form a fiber-metal hybrid.

Cut Resistant Gloves Cleaning

Many cut resistant gloves are machine washable and may even be dishwasher safe. This is due to the fact that the textiles they are constructed of are not harmed by laundry, and materials such as Kevlar keep their cut resistance even after many washings. Certain gloves may be acceptable for dry cleaning as well.

Nevertheless, it is essential to follow any manufacturer’s cleaning directions since certain materials are not appropriate for cleaning at higher temperatures and others must avoid chlorine chemicals.

The simplest approach to clean hand wash only gloves is to wear them, add some mild antibacterial soap or dish soap to them, and thoroughly wash them as you would your hands. The gloves may then be removed and allowed to dry before being reworn.

Conclusion

It is critical to understand that cut resistant gloves will not prevent you from being cut; rather, they will provide additional protection when your hands are at risk of being cut, in conjunction with proper equipment and knife use.

In addition to evaluating what the testing criteria truly imply when purchasing gloves, we have researched 10 of the top cut resistant gloves to assist you in selecting the ideal one for your cutting needs. We hope that the next time you’re ready to slice and dice or handle any other sharp activities around the house, you remember to grab for cut resistant gloves, as they might make the difference between a small wound and a trip to the ER!