Thick or Thin? Choosing the Right Glove for the Job at Hand.
June 1, 2023
SafeSource Direct is the choice of healthcare and many other industries for dependable, American-made supplies of tested, high-quality PPE including nitrile gloves. Ensuring you have the tested, trusted gloves you need, when you need them, is our daily mission. All SafeSource Direct gloves are powder-free and fully tested to ASTM standards in both 5.9 and now 3.5 mil as well.
Which one is right for you?
The numbers above refer to the thicknesses of the gloves – the higher the number, the higher the level of protection afforded. In situations where potentially dangerous chemicals or hazardous substances are involved, thicker gloves are, of course, the right choice.
The increased protection provided by thicker gloves often comes at the expense of tactile sensitivity, especially in the fingers where the glove thicknesses are measured. SafeSource Direct offers thicker 5.9 mil gloves both for medical settings and Industrial Grade Food Grade gloves for food workers and others in settings such as nail salons and manufacturing facilities.
In many lower-risk settings, such as medical office exam rooms, 3.5 mil gloves are the right choice due to the increased “natural feel” afforded by the thinner material. These thinner gloves are well suited for frequent, quick patient exams. And they’re more cost-effective while protecting patients and practitioners without sacrificing “feel.”
Beyond an array of nitrile gloves for a range of purposes, SafeSource Direct also manufactures a full line of PPE, including Procedure Masks, Cup Respirators, Surgical Tie Masks, Shoe Covers, Isolation Gowns and Bouffant Head Covers.
100-percent American-owned and American-based, SafeSource Direct was founded to ensure our nation’s healthcare providers never again have to be at the mercy of foreign manufacturers for essential, high-quality PPE. Today, at our two state-of-the-art facilities in Broussard, Louisiana, we can produce up to 27,000 gloves per hour. Additional lines becoming operational this year will make us the largest manufacturer of nitrile gloves in the U.S.
SafeSource Direct’s ability to produce, warehouse, and ship PPE means that SafeSource is the only U.S. PPE manufacturer offering Guaranteed Access to 130% flex capacity of normal volume.
Ochsner Health, one of the nation’s leading health systems, is both an owner and a customer of SafeSource Direct. This makes SafeSource the only U.S. provider-owned PPE manufacturer with U.S. provider-owned quality control.
If you’d like to learn more about our products and how we can help ensure long-term supply resilience, contact us at general@safesourcedirect.com.