Cleanrooms are rooms and areas where considerable steps are taken to minimize contamination and keep the area sterile. As you may have guessed, cleanroom gloves are used to help maintain that contaminant free environment.
How is a Cleanroom Glove Different?
You are probably thinking that any glove will do, but the truth is that cleanroom gloves are actually different from regular gloves in that they were in fact created in a sterile environment to begin with. It would be redundant to have gloves with possible built-in or packaged contaminants be used in a sterile environment. These contaminants could be simple things such as dust particles or lint. Clean room gloves are made and packaged in a sterile environment so that when they are introduced to a cleanroom, there are no new pollutants that can be brought into the room.
Gloves that are used in cleanrooms are also made of different materials and each has its own benefits and rewards. Available glove materials include nitrile, latex, vinyl and more. They are also found in a host of popular brands including Kimberly Clark, Ansell Gloves, CT International, Kimtech, Microflex Gloves and QRP Gloves.
There are gloves that are made specifically for use in procedures that are sensitive to electrostatic discharge and others that are made to withstand certain chemicals. Powder free gloves are common cleanroom additions because the powder that is normally used in regular gloves can be deemed as a contaminant when used in certain environments. Even though the gloves do not contain the powder that is generally added for easy wear, the no-powder gloves are still easy to wear with considerable stretch and flexibility as well as breathability for comfortable usage.
Not all workers in a cleanroom have the same job and they do not always wear the same glove type. This is another reason for the diversity in cleanroom gloves. However, even with the difference in dexterity, material and size; these gloves all serve the same purpose of reducing outside contaminants into an otherwise sterile environment.