I only use dish gloves for cleaning the dishes/kitchen after a meal and I have a pair for a quick clean up in the bathrooms if needed-in between when the cleaning lady is here. I happen to kind of freak out a little inside (LOL) when I am somewhere and help to do dishes without any dish gloves. I tough through it though without anyone knowing. I have always been that way about doing dishes-from the time I was a little girl. It never bothers me to use my bare hands to cut/clean chicken etc.

I use disposable gloves in the garden and my workshop. Here is a tip for those of you who use them often :

I have a small paint brush and a small container of flour next to the box of gloves . Each time before I put on the gloves, I use the brush to drop a tiny bit of flour inside the gloves. The gloves will be so much easier to put on and take off, especially tight fitting gloves.

dcarch

We bought a box during Covid and the only time I use one is when DH asks me to rub Bengay on his back. I wear kitchen gloves for dish washing but only because my hands tend to be dry and I don't need to make it worse with dish detergent.

I’m a farm girl too and this seems wasteful to me. The only time I have used them is when I spray paint something.

Soap and water (or Dawn and water if I’ve been pulling weeds) is good enough for me. My skin is quite washable.

Nope, no gloves here except for gardening and washing dishes to protect my hands. I use a small piece of paper towel to hold hot peppers when I cut them. I can't imagine using so many disposable gloves! Even re-using, which I appreciate you doing, seems like way too much trash. I just wash my hands really well and call it good.

I buy the Kirkland nitrile exam gloves at Costco too. Hot peppers, some garden work, painting (! -I have exterior window sills to sand and paint this week, not to mention my garage doors) - I can find all kinds of uses for them. I have to admit to not reusing them, and having small hands, cannot always get my size. I need the smalls which they don't always have in stock.

Still, I use my hands like tools. Expensive manicures would be a waste of money here.

If cleaning bathrooms, my kitchen (I hand wash only cookware and do that bare handed) I wash my hands well when finished. In fact, we've both become avid hand washers since beginning of Covid. I notice DH still stops at the laundry room sink and washes his hands every time he comes in from outdoors and outdoors is his favorite place to be.

Don't get me started discussing Costco paper towels. We use way more than any one household should. I keep a roll of paper towels and liquid soap at every sink. I have fresh hand towels out too - anyone hopefully feels free to use whichever they prefer - but I do admit to using more paper towels than makes goods sense when I have rags, many wash clothes not quite nice enough any longer to put out in a bathroom and a washer and dryer frequently running.

ETA but about a week ago I had a chore where I should have used the gloves and did not. I noticed the gasket on DH;s garage refrigerator door looked mil-dewy, unsanitary and he and his friends do eat things from that refrigerator. There is no sink on that side of the garage. I used a q-tip and liquid bleach bare handed and somehow burned the tips of all fingers on my right hand, I should have been wearing gloves and not exposing my skin to the liquid bleach.

No addiction here. I work outside frequently and was always forgetting to put on garden gloves. Then I read something about dirt on hands has a connection to good mood. So digging in the dirt with naked hands. I do like using gloves in the kitchen though for chicken and other raw meat. That's my own (gag) addiction. I frequently use a bowl of hydrogen peroxide to soak my fingernails in to brighten them up. Works better than bleach water.

i have a box of them above my kitchen sink. any time i'm doing something where my hands will get wet, i put one on my right hand. i have terrible arthritis in my right thumb and use voltaren gel a couple of times a day. i use the glove so i don't have to keep reapplying the gel.

I don't use them for housework or gardening, and certainly not for cooking. I have waterproof skin which is amenable to soap and water. But I do use them for painting. (Decorating, not art). They save a lot of scrubbing with white spirit after the job.

I don't like the sweaty hands or the waste and expense involved using them. I do have different soaps and a scrub brush to clean my hands finding shampoo works best for grease and oil. The only exception is when I work with dangerous chemicals.

I did know an office worker who wore two layers of gloves and then put on rubber finger tips over the gloves on all 10 digits for the entire day. When going to the bathroom he'd throw the gloves away and wash and disinfect his rubber finger tips to use again over new layers of gloves. He also lined his baseball cap with tinfoil because he said it would block the radiation coming from the florescent lights, but he did get his work done.

I have a box handy in the kitchen "and" garage. If I'm making meatballs or ground chicken burgers...I mix the burgers with gloves on. My leather gardening gloves have holes in the finger tips...I wear the plastic gloves underneath. The leather still protects my hands when using a shovel or trowel.

I'm with those who use gloves when chopping hot peppers,.

@ladypat1 what a great tip about peroxide!! I’ve been using bleach after digging in the dirt but it doesn’t always work well. I’ll try peroxide.

I feel like I should add that I don't generally use harsh chemicals. I have acetone and bleach for when they're really really needed (don't want to breathe them, either), but gentle cleaners, vinegar, etc., work just fine and don't hurt my skin or anything else. Touching some conventional products made for household use is painful for me. I'd rather use something I can touch than have to use gloves to protect myself from them. When I use gloves for handling food, besides keeping warm, it's to prevent cross contamination, as signals that my hands are unclean, and to keep the stuff out from under my fingernails. Meatballs (above) was a perfect example. I go through a box in several years and don't feel guilty. Same for paper towels. I have a dispenser on the counter for cotton "paper towels" which go in the laundry (though sometimes forget them and use a tea towel), and use disposable paper towels for stuff that's too icky or where paper just works better, and go through well less than one roll per month. I don't feel guilty. It would be less, but the minions like them. ;)

I'm not a gardener, but when I have to pot a plant or something, I wear cotton gardening gloves and wash them in the machine. I have leather gloves for heavy jobs and tools to protect my hands not keep them clean. But I also avoid VOC's, like in paint and painting products. For the Earth, sure, but I'm the coalmine canary--I'm massively allergic to breathing them.

Years ago, when I was a board member of the Florida Barbecue Association, we added a requirement for the cooks to wear gloves while prepping their competition meat. What a pain in the a$$. I cooked plenty of times and found wearing gloves made the prep much harder. Even after trying different sizes and brands, I still had trouble with knives, especially after they got slippery from fat. I no longer compete and I believe they've removed the glove requirement.

That having been said, I'm a fastidious hand washer. Because we bake several times a week, we go through lots of eggs. Each batch gets two and I wash my hands immediately after cracking them into the mixer. I wash before and after prepping ANY food item for a meal and Carol sanitizes the work surfaces with Thieves. In sixty plus years of cooking, no one has ever gotten sick from anything I've cooked, and I've never worn gloves, even during Covid.

Thank you all for your input. I'm aware of the environmental issue here. Im not proud of that, and that is why I try really hard to get the most out of a pair of gloves. I love HU-949's tip on using a pinch of flour for ease in donning and doffing. Im going to start doing that.

I would file this under obsessive compulsion instead of addiction. Ever watched Professor T, either the original Belgin one or the British remake. Same issue.

I dont often use gloves. DH will for messy oily jobs. I dont have a problem touching raw meat though I get why some people do. It would be more or less pointless to protect myself from my own Biome and certainly my DH is long sense inoculated. Guests have to take their chances. Cooked food is cooked germs so that isn't a problem. I keep my sink disinfected and scrub my cutting boards with salt and lemon juice. I wash my hands constantly in the kitchen. I always have a dishpan of soapy water . My sink is large enough to contain a cutting board and meat at the same time. I wash and rinse knives when used.

patricia

Well I think I also have a problem but I use a different brand inside for dog medications and such. I am completely addicted to the costco gloves outside. Funny enough I find washing dishes to be meditative but I attribute that to the feel of the water. I don’t think I have ever washed dishes with gloves.

To make you feel better. LOL

Patio gloves

Garage gloves get the treatment. 😂

“I love HU-949's tip on using a pinch of flour for ease in donning and doffing.”

If gloves are for germ prevention, I’d choose a powder without a ”don’t eat raw” warning on the label. Corn starch?

To me, this is irrational. I'm amazed to see others posting how much they use something that didn't even EXIST in a home setting only a few years ago.

Isn't it amazing how the world changes over time? Nitrile gloves have been available to the average joe for decades. I have kept a box of them in my shop for at least 25 years but rarely use them anymore. I went through a box staining the woodwork in my house when I built it in 2000.

" that didn't even EXIST in a home setting only a few years ago. "

Neither did the high rates of contaminated raw chicken that are so common these days.

I use food preparation gloves when handling chicken, just as pllog described above that she does.

If I can avoid handling it and use tongs instead, I sometimes do that. I avoid putting such utensils down directly on a counter when in use (I may rest them with the handles on a bowl or plate and the business end in the air) and wash them immediately when I've finished using them. I don't consider my practices to be driven by fear or phobia, more just good common sense.

Doing so has led to our using more simple preparations for chicken that we may have strayed away from. Using bone in, skin on pieces seasoned with salt and pepper and then cooked by oven roasting or BBQing. Frankly, I think this produces more tasty results than recipes intended to mask or supplement the flavor of what can be otherwise bland meat. Especially the skinless, boneless types.

Even when I was cooking professionally I didn't wear gloves. My issue with glove wearing in food prep is that without gloves I can feel if my hands are not clean, and I wash them very frequently. With gloves on, I could be touching all kinds of things and cross contaminating all over the place.

In the lab when I'm handling chemicals, of course I wear gloves.

We've never gotten sick from anything prepared at home. (There is *nothing* memorable about my cooking. ha-ha)

Like Elmer, we want bone-in, skin-on chicken. Who'd want 'fat free' beef?

All I can think of when I read OP's post is the environmental impact. I'm not going to say I never use nitrile gloves, but it's only for very specific chores and not very often. Wearing gloves every time one preps/cooks food DOES sound OCD IMO, there just isn't a need for that.

I don't even wear gloves when bleaching daughter's hair before she turns it blue or pink or whatever color she wants to. I hate gloves. I don't even wear them when it's cold. I put my hands in my pockets! Or slip my sleeves over them. I guess I'm the opposite. I have an aversion to gloves?

I always use them to handle raw chicken and gardening.

In the mid-70s I worked at a theme park, usher at a theater. We were pretty grossed out by what parents of babies and toddlers left behind (besides the notion that they would actually change a baby while seated in a theater, with people around them) when we cleaned the house after every show. One of use was in pharmacy school, so she had access to disposable gloves that she brought in so we could pick up the diapers. No, the park did not provide them. We also had to steal kitty litter from the ride operations department for (sorry) vomit cleanup.

I really use them only for cutting jalapeños, for polishing, and for some chemical claning jobs, if I don’t have proper gloves without holes. For the garden I have actual garden gloves that are stronger and more waterproof where it counts.

I use them for cleaning the bathrooms. It makes it a little less unpleasant

I use them for when I'm doing hand wash laundry, washing the litterbox or cleaning with any kind of harsh chemicals. If it's a job I can do one-handed, I'll only wear one glove. A box lasts me a long time. In fact, when I recently went to buy a new box, I couldn't remember if I liked vinyl or latex. Turned out vinyl works better for me, and I buy them a bit big so they are easy to slip on and off.

My "addiction" is paper towels. I use them to cover food in the microwave, as a makeshift plate when I don't feel like bothering with a real dish, as a placemat under the cat's bowl, every time I wash my hands in the kitchen and, of course, for cleaning. If I had a washer and dryer, I might be tempted to use kitchen towels more. But laundry where I live is expensive and inconvenient, so I just give in to my paper towel addiction.

I have a box of blue ones, but it takes me a while to go through them. Mostly for things like processing hot peppers, large amounts of raw meat, things that will heavily stain my hands, that sort of thing. Otherwise, I just wash my hands a lot. Don't use much paper towels either. But I for sure have a kitchen towel addiction, and swap out fresh ones daily, sometimes more often if I'm being messy in the kitchen.

I have a glove addiction for out in the yard though. Light kitchen to heavy silicone to best dig down into the tote bins. Standard ones for regular chores, leather ones for heavier work, lined leather gloves and mitts for winter work. Gets to be around this time of year, and I start eyeing the garden bins for gloves on clearance- for next year :)

I only use the disposable gloves for handling hot peppers. I learned the hard way that wearing contacts (taking them out / in) when you were handling hot peppers earlier in the day is a huge mistake even if you wash your hands. (Washing with dairy or olive oil can solve it in a pinch.)

I definitely do not wear them prepping food. I probably should wear dish washing gloves when I was dishes as my hands do get dry and split.

I only use for hot peppers. I never use for anything else, I just wash my hands.

I do use chemical gloves for refinishing furniture, but not painting.

I sympathize with the peppers vs. contacts. I don't generally go hotter than serrano, though, and usually do bare handed. Vinegar will neutralize (can't spell the c word) pepper-hot, acid vs. base, if needed. (Works internally too.)

I'm not trying to scold anybody or anything--just an alternative view of the bathrooms--teenage athletes aside, I don't find cleaning the bathroom that nasty. I do use product that's eco friendly and doesn't have a lot of scent, if any, (nothing caustic), but most importantly, my mother's opinion was that it's a heck of a lot easier to clean a bathroom before it looks dirty, and I try to live by that.

I don't find cleaning the bathroom that nasty, either -- get it clean then keep it clean, and you shouldn't have to break out the harsh chemicals.

Even if you do want to wear gloves when cleaning, they make rubber gloves -- you know, the old "dishwashing gloves". I have a pair I use when there's a need, and they're not uncomfortable. Just rinse off or soap off the outside of them when you're done, if you need to. They last a long time and are far, far less wasteful than disposables.

Link: The 2 Best Dishwashing Gloves, Tested & Reviewed

I don't get the need to wear gloves when handling raw chicken, or any other meat. I suppose if one has a sensitivity then yes, wear gloves, but otherwise - why? Just wash your hands thoroughly with warm, soapy water when you're done doing whatever it is you're doing with it.

I put on gloves at work as needed when interacting with patients. When I volunteer to clean someone’s place, my gloves are on. At home I only use them when dealing with harsh chemicals or in stained glass projects.

Like rob, I hate wearing gloves of any kind. And like Annie, I take care of horses and other animals. I just wash my hands.

I'm with marilyn_c, no gloves except thin leather driving gloves on cold winter mornings.

This thread reminded me that I have a box of those thin food prep gloves from GFS that I never use because they are GIGANTIC size large. I think Andre the Giant could have worn these things with room to spare...LOL! I got these out and am using them for when I mess with the honey so I'm not constantly having to wash my hands. At least I'll use these up because they are too huge to use for much of anything else.

Normally, I don't use gloves. I bought these gloves thinking I could use them for when I make stuff with hamburger meat such as meat balls so I didn't have to wash my hands 10 times. BUT, they are ridiculously huge, they just fall off my hands. I always buy size large, I'm not a petite woman. Normally large is fine. I seriously have to laugh at these each time I use them because they are so huge...HAHAHA!

So, let's really talk about gloves:

I have:

1. one pair of cut resistant gloves for the kitchen.

2. One pair of fire proof gloves for the BBQ grill.

3. 100 pair of elbow length disposable gloves and 50 pair of whole arm (length to shoulder) gloves for pulling garden poison ivy.

4. 10 pairs very thick gloves for handling sodium hydroxide (same compound as Liquid Plumber) that I use to dissolve all BBQ grill baked-on stuff.

5. ( A good tip for you) I have too many pairs of Home Depot work gloves. I spray pain all left-hand ones a different color.

6. I contacted a supply company for 1,000 disposable painter's gloves ($50) and 300 disposable raincoats ($50) and gave to a hospital during covid because everyone was running out of PPE medical supplies.

.

dcrch

dcarch, tell me about those glove for pulling poison ivy! I NEED THOSE! I didn't realize they made such a thing!!!!!

Arkansas girl, I am not an expert on poison ivy eradication, just from Googling. As I understand, it is important to avoid getting the offending poison substance on anything especially on your clothing.

For my hands, I got those long full arm length disposable gloves to protect from fingers to shoulder. The problem was those gloves are on the thin side and came only one size, large. So I put thicker disposable elbow length gloves on top.

dcarch

I don't wear disposable gloves but always wear gardening gloves and rubber gloves cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. It grosses me out to use my bare hands for any cleaning job, and I never do.

D c arch, you are a very good and smart guy. i like you a lot. westsider westy

I'm another believer that skin was designed to be washed and most of us are not fragile beings. I have a good sturdy pair of good old-fashioned rubber gloves for cleaning the loo. And a pair of gardening gloves. We're blessed in Europe by not having hideous things like poisoned ivy LOL. I think the planet would thank us for using fewer rubber gloves and paper towels. Of course if you don't have a washing machine, then paper towels are the way to go but most of us do.

::snicker:: We have bears and lions (pumas), too. Europe used to. Though we also have poison oak and poison sumac. And poisonous lizards (gila monsters).

Us eropeans have become wimps LOL My DIL jumped at a house spider the other day HAHAHa

Seriously though, we do re-have bears, wolves..... animals that were eradicated from much of europe which are slowly being re-introduced. It's not always an easy relationship with the farmers. Remember how small europe is compared to your place!

DIL = Daughter-in-law. The only thing being marginalized is multitudinous keystrokes.

Goodness, Islay, I had no idea about the reintroductions! Not that long ago, I checked on bears in Western Europe and what I found said that there were a tiny number in the Pyrenees, only, but I think they were native? We have the same uneasiness with the farmers with the wolves being protected and reintroduced in Yellowstone (link). The animals don't know park boundaries, and see domesticated livestock as the supermarket. But the black bears (the "small" ones, which come in brown too) will bring their cubs to backyards around here to play on the waterslides and swim in the pools, and the pumas stroll neighborhoods at night. AFAIK, the only Brown bear (i.e., grizzly bears) left in California are on the flags.

Late to this, so I kind of skimmed a lot of the comments. Disposable gloves have been around for more than few years, that's for sure. I had infection control training back in the 90s, where we were taught to wear and and remove them properly, and of course they weren't a new thing even then.

I try to protect my hands from harsh chemicals and germs as much as possible. It helps with grip and certainly makes cleaning less unpleasant too. I wear gardening gloves as well - especially after learning about the nasty things that can hide in soil.

I don't use disposables as much as I use these - they last a lot longer

And when we were cleaning up after the hurricanes, I made sure to keep my hands protected from cuts and the nasty things that are in floodwaters. I wore disposables under heavy duty work gloves for hours - never mind how sweaty they became. Better than contracting 'flesh eating' bacteria a.k.a. Vibrio vulnificus.