+1 on everything.

I used to be the guy who washed his hands in carburetor cleaner. When I started to get tired of having ground in dirt for a week or so after working on the car, I started keeping a bucket of soapy water beside me when working on the car.

I started using gloves when my job started providing them several years ago. I was soon convinced, and when I discovered Harbor Freight had them cheap, I started keeping a box on hand at all times. Yes, they do tear quickly, but I just consider it the cost of keeping clean.

Gloves
 

The safety manager at my DuPont plant and I used to laugh over the fact that we used to wash our hands in alcohol, acetone, and whatever solvent removed the crud we got on our hands in the course of work. That has all changed, of course, driven not only by safety for the workers but cleanliness for the product.

In terms of auto maintenance, I see at least three factors in play. For the home mechanic, gloves are more available and less expensive and the home mechanic has more disposable income than he did in the 1960s.

For the shop that has to show a profit, it takes less time to put on and take off gloves than it does to wash hands. On an hourly basis, the shop owner would rather buy a few pairs of gloves per mechanic per day than to pay the mechanics their salary to wash their hands.

For all, the knowledge of the risks associated with day-in, day-out contact with various hydrocarbons suggests doing what one can to minimize exposure. The shop owner also doesn't want an insurance claim or lawsuit when an employee claims his cancer was due to not being provided PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) by the employer.

Jeremy

When I rebuilt my first engine ( 67 Chevelle SS, 396 .30 over large port heads )
I used acetone, lacquer thinner what ever I had on hand.
I know we have some members here that are also involved with Aviation. I know they can attest to the destructive power of Skydrol hydraulic fluid.
It ate the plastic handles on all my screw drivers and got it into the cracked skin on my knuckles ( over night Aircraft maintenance outside on apron of runway in Buffalo in the winter, wind howling etc) Ouch ! never again :eek:

I have strange patches on my skin from diesel wrenching. Prolly should wear gloves.

Remember materials safety training from my internship. Showed us a pic of someone's hand, all the fat had been dissolved out by the isopropyl alchohol they had cleaned parts with.

Gloves here. I see nothing feminine about it. I have a pair of thick fabric gloves that I wear for dry, less precise jobs. Albeit, I've gotten to be rather precise with having them on.

I hated wearing gloves, but when I saw how dirty these engine bays can be, I hated scrubbing that soot/oil out of my skin more.

I also keep the thinner, blue gloves around. There is nothing like getting done with a dirty ass job, pulling those gloves off, rinsing your hands in the sink, and being done. Great feeling.

yes I agree totally, these damn panzies, Real men DONT use plastic oil bottles. I stocked up on real cans decades ago,,, i just shove my fingers thru the tin top --like a ninga!

I don't wear gloves when working on any of my vehicles. I think the last time I wore gloves was rebuilding a set of injectors and the purpose of wearing the gloves was to keep the parts clean. I'm 25 years old if that matters. I fear sickness and death from many other things in the world before oil poisoning.

That's what buck teef are for!

You glove wearers are a bunch of pu****s, I spoz you wear helmets when ridding bicycles and motorcycles, and worry about eye protection when using a grinder.:D

They also probably cover their :vbac47679 when they are :ladysman:

Man up y'all!