Wearing and Disposing Vinyl Gloves
There is no doubt that a lot has changed for all of us over the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of us have gotten used to working at home, taking meetings in our pajamas, teaching our children, and much more.
Beyond that, if someone were to tell you a year and a half ago that you would be used to having to wear gloves and masks when going to the grocery store – or really anywhere in public – you might think that they were crazy.
However, with the one-year anniversary of the global COVID-19 pandemic upon us, there is little doubt that you have either worn vinyl gloves or have thought about wearing vinyl glove.
While there is no doubt that we have started to turn the corner in the COVID-19 pandemic thanks primarily to the development and roll-out of multiple highly effective vaccines, we are not out of the thick of it just yet.
In fact, there are growing concerns that some of the COVID-19 variants could end up stopping all of the ground we’ve made in its tracks. It’s a scary possibility for a number of reasons, which is why we all have to do our part to make sure that we continue taking the pandemic as seriously as we have been for the last year.
For that reason, you should definitely continue wearing vinyl gloves if that is something that you have been doing for much of the last year. You may even want to think about starting to wear vinyl gloves for the first time!
If you are wondering how to correctly wear gloves and subsequently dispose of them, then you have come to the right place! Let’s break down how to wear them safely and effectively to help protect yourself from COVID-19.
You should wash your hands first
It might seem somewhat strange to wash your hands before you put on a pair of vinyl gloves, there is no doubt that this is the first step of the process. If you do not wash your hands before putting on the gloves, you could end up contaminating the entire glove with your bare hands.
In order to properly put on gloves, follow these steps:
- Wet your hands under warm water and apply soap
- Lather your hands by rubbing them together with soap, and make sure to lather the back of your hands, the creases of your fingers and under your nails
- Scrub for 20 seconds to one minute
- Rinse your hands under clean water
- Dry your hands completely
Check for holes or tears
Once your hands are dry, you can put your gloves on. However, before that, you are going to want to make sure that the gloves themselves are not compromised. Simply do a quick check of each glove and look for holes, tears, or cracks. Once you have confirmed that there are no such structural issues, you can put your gloves on.
Wear the right size of gloves
A really good way to make sure that your gloves continue to protect you throughout the period of time in which you are wearing is to be sure that you are wearing the correct size just like your medical scrubs. It’s more than just risking your gloves not being as strong as they should be if they are too small or too big, but smaller gloves can also lead to hand fatigue, which can be quite painful if you are hoping to wear a pair of gloves for a longer period of time.
If you are not sure how a pair of gloves should fit, simply choose the size that fits your hands as snuggly as possible without feeling too tight. You want a comfortable, but close fit.
When to replace your gloves
One big question a lot of people have had has to do with when it is time to toss a pair of gloves and move onto a new pair. If you find that your gloves are starting to show any signs of degradation, it is time to switch out to a new pair of gloves.
While it does create a lot of waste – which is never a good thing – the typical rule of thumb is to use as many pairs as you can. Less is never more in the world of glove use and safety.
Don’t wash or reuse
In fact, you should never reuse a pair of gloves. Disposable gloves are made to be thrown away in the sense that they are meant for short-term use. If you put on a pair of gloves to go to the grocery store or to go shop for home goods, it would be best for you to throw your gloves away in the appropriate receptacle and then immediately wash your hands before touching anything else in your home.
How to throw away a pair of gloves
One of the hardest things about wearing gloves is to know how to appropriately take off and dispose of the gloves. In fact, if you take gloves off in an improper way, you can risk getting any germs on the surface of the gloves right on your hands.
Here are the steps to disposing of gloves:
- Grasp the outside of one glove at the wrist, do not touch your bare skin
- Peel the glove away from your body, pulling it inside out
- Hold the glove you removed with your still gloved hand
- Peel off the second glove by putting your bare hands inside the glove at the top of the wrist
- Turn the second glove inside out while pulling it away from your body, leaving the first glove inside the second
- Dispose of the gloves safely and do not reuse them
- Clean your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap
Conclusion
Hopefully, this breakdown has helped you better understand why and how to wear vinyl gloves. With this knowledge, you should have an easier time saying happy and safe for the remainder of the pandemic.
