Thumbnail image for nitrile_gloves.jpgGloves are very essential to tattoo artists, by walking up to a store you are faced with several decisions to make latex or non-latex, powdered or non-powdered, medical or surgical? This article will give shed some light to these common questions and help you the next time you go around the tattoo supply shop.

Medical gloves are safety accessories that ensure sanitary conditions for both patients and health professionals not only in hospitals but also other in professions like tattoo businesses that exposes them to possible to infections and diseases through contact with bodily fluids. Among the two main types of medical gloves used, medical and surgical, the latter have more precise sizing (usually from 5.5 to 9 ) are made to higher specifications.

Traditional medical gloves are made of latex and powdered with cornstarch to lubricate the gloves but since studies show that cornstarch can sometimes delay healing of tissues during surgery, contemporary non-powdered gloves have been used more commonly. Also there are a number of cases were professionals as well as their clients and patients tend to develop allergies and reactions to latex. That’s why gloves made of non-latex materials such as vinyl and nitrile rubber have been manufactured. However, these gloves generally do not give as much sensitivity and control as latex gloves. Plus, high-grade non-latex gloves such as (nitrile gloves) are a bit more expensive than their latex counterparts.