Posted By Chris Packham Marigold have a glove specifically for hairdressers, called the PROTECH. The average vinyl glove is useless against many of the common chemicals found in hair dyes etc. Latex is slightly better, but again does not offer long term protection. (Incidentally, so long as you use unpowedered, low protein latex the risk of sensitisation is miniscule and can be ignored.) It does tend to catch in the hair, as you say. The PROTECH gloves has a special formulation to give better protection against shampoos, hairdyes etc. and has a textured surface so that it does not catch in the hair. However, even the PROTECH will not provide protection against some of the chemicals, such as nail polish remover. With the normal nail polish removers (i.e. the ones that contain acetone) permeation breakthrough is very quick. I use these gloves with the Permea-Tec pad to demonstrate permeation in my courses. The breakthrough occurs in less than 10 seconds! Hope this is of some help. Chris

Posted By Chris Packham With respect to the last posting, personal preference should never be allowed to override correct selection and use. I frequently see gloves being used that are totally unsuitable for the particular operation, although neither employer nor employee are aware of this. Often this occurs where choice of glove type is left to the individual, who simply does not possess the knowledge or training to choose an appropriate glove or to use it within its performance limits. Also, nitrile gloves are not free of sensitisation. In fact, not only is allergic contact dermatitis to the chemicals used in nitrile glove manufacture not uncommon, but there has also been at least one report of a type I, contact urticarial, reaction to a nitrile glove. Chris

Posted By Chris Pope Sorry I forgot to mention that snagging problems might be caused by very small pimples on gloves designed for lab use - they assist grip of glass test tubes etc - they are no good for hairdressing.

Posted By Diane Thomason MT's original question was about gloves for shampooing - he/she says they already have gloves for perming and colouring. Do hairdressers really need to wear gloves for shampooing? I realise that having the hands in water for a long period each day is not good, but could they not deal with this by restricting each person to doing no more than x shampoos a day, and making sure hands are rinsed and dried after each one? I'm not convinced (yet) that gloves are needed just for shampooing. Would be interested to hear the reasons that RA concludes gloves are needed not just the other measures.

Posted By Vernon Kay Can't clients just wash their own hair before they come to the hairdressers? Takes all the problems away.

Posted By Chris Packham Melanie Try this website: http://www.marigoldindustrial.com/GB/index.html Chris

Posted By Diane Thomason Melanie and Chris Thanks for explaining - I hadn't realised there is a definite causal between this and ICD. regards Diane

Posted By Tim Cowell My wife and I own a hairdressing salon and one of our Juniors has recently been diagnosed with dermatitis. Like everyone else in the salon she has always worn gloves when mixing and applying tints but only since the start of her dermatitis problem has she worn gloves for shampooing. And therein lies a problem. The gloves themselves seem to be causing more irritation still. She is using moisturiser after every shampoo and also a prescribed lotion at night, but we now believe that the talc in the gloves that she is using may be a cause of redness of her hands. I think everyone should be made aware of this potential problem that has only been eluded to earlier in this forum and others. It's only because we have experienced this and that we care, as well as being legally liable, that I have been surfing the net for the past few days. Talum powder is listed as one of the causes of dermatitis. The talc is only in the gloves to make it easier to get them off, so from now on she'll be using gloves without talc. But where to get the right ones is the subject of this forum, and I'm not sure that's been answered. The Pro-Tech gloves from Marigold are powder-free but latex and there seems to be some doubt as to whether or not latex can be a contributory factor to dermatitis. But I'm going to order some and give them a try if I can't locate anything that sounds better. That seems to be the only way. Good luck to everyone in this minefield. Tim

Posted By Tim Cowell Thanks for the chat Chris. A few thousand other hairdresser owners/managers need to hear what you told me which reinforced what you said above. The young lady I referred to as suffering from dermatitis had said, "they'd have to kill me before I give up hairdressing and even then it won't be easy to make me stop"! Hopefully now with the help of Marigold's Pro-Tech gloves and your advice on the use of moisturisers it won't come to that! Cheers Tim