Superior Glove Works Ltd.

Work Gloves 101 » Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms:

ANSI

American National Standards Institute – an agency that establishes standards for processes used by industry.

Antibacterial

Referring to an agent or treatment that prevents the growth of bacteria. Can be bacterial (kills) or bacteriostatic (inhibits growth). Therefore any product that is antimicrobial would have to be antibacterial, but a product antibacterial is not antimicrobial.

Antimicrobial

A generic term referring to a substance or treatment that inhibits the growth of micro-organisms.

Aramid Fibres

A class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armor fabric, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a shortened form of "aromatic polyamide". They are fibers in which the chain molecules are highly oriented along the fiber axis, so the strength of the chemical bond can be exploited.

ASTM

American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services.ASTM predates other standards organizations such as BSI (1901), DIN (1917) and AFNOR (1926), but differs from these in that it is not a national standards body, that role being taken in the USA by ANSI. However, ASTM has a dominant role among standards developers in the USA, and claims to be the world's largest developer of standards. Using a consensus process, ASTM supports thousands of volunteer technical committees, which draw their members from around the world and collectively develop and maintain more than 12,000 standards. The Annual Book of ASTM Standards consists of 77 volumes.

Band Tops

Refers to a band of material used as a cuff on gloves.

Binding

Narrow material used to bind the cuff on gloves such as drivers' styles and red-lined jerseys.

CFIA

Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Clute Style

A glove sewn with seams on the back of the glove at every finger and straight thumb.

CPPT

Cut Protection Performance Test (CPPT), determines cut resistance of a material by measuring its ability to resist the cutting action of a sharp blade under a load. Cut resistance is described as the reference load the load required to cut the material a distance of 25 mm.

CSA

Canadian Standards Association.

Cut and Sewn

Fabrics like canvas, jersey, or leather are cut using a pattern into components and sewn together to make a glove.

Dipped Gloves

Unsupported gloves are manufactured by dipping a ceramic mould directly into a polymer. Palm-coated gloves use a fabric ‘glove' stretched over a mould and then dipped into a polymer.

Drivers' Glove

A slip-on style, full leather glove.

Duck

Launderable single-ply cotton material used in gloves.

Dyneema®

DSM Dyneema® is the inventor and manufacturer of Dyneema®, the world's strongest fiber™. Dyneema® is a superstrong polyethylene fiber that offers maximum strength combined with minimum weight. It is up to 15 times stronger than quality steel and up to 40% stronger than aramid fibers, both on weight for weight basis. Dyneema® floats on water and is extremely durable and resistant to moisture, UV light and chemicals. The applications are therefore more or less unlimited.Dyneema® is an important component in ropes, cables and nets in the fishing, shipping and offshore industries. Dyneema® is also used in safety gloves for the metalworking industry and in fine yarns for applications in sporting goods and the medical sector. In addition, Dyneema® is also used in bullet resistant armor and clothing for police and military personnel.

Ergonomics

Most personal protection equipment being designed today takes into account some measure of ergonomics, which, simply stated, is matching the job to the worker and product to the user. Ergonomic hazards refer to workplace conditions that pose the risk of injury to the musculoskeletal system of the worker. Examples of musculoskeletal injuries include tennis elbow (an inflammation of a tendon in the elbow) and carpal tunnel syndrome (a condition affecting the hand and wrist). Ergonomic hazards include repetitive and forceful movements, vibration, temperature extremes, and awkward postures that arise from improper work methods and improperly designed workstations, tools, and equipment.

ESD

Electrostatic discharge or static buildup which can contaminate electronic components.

Fabric Weight

Usually expressed as ‘8-ounce', ‘24-ounce' or some other number. This is the weight of a full square yard of fabric that the glove is sewn from. So a square yard of fabric used to make an 8-ounce, brown-jersey glove weighs 8 ounces.

Finger Tips

An added leather protection and wear feature built into some leather-palm glove patterns.

Fire-retardent/Flame-resistant

A fire retardant is a substance that helps to delay or prevent combustion. Fire retardants are commonly used in fire fighting. Water is the most commonly used fire retardant, but the phrase typically refers to chemical retardants. It can also refer to a coating over an object, such as a spray retardant to prevent Christmas trees from burning. Our test to see if something is fire retardent or fire resistant involves exposing a glove to direct flame to get it to burn, then removing the flame source to see if it self extinguishes or continues to burn. If it self extinguishes it is fire resistant or fire retardent. The term fire-retardant refers more to the substance applied, whereas fire-resistant is the characteristic either inherent to or given to a glove after treatment with a flame-retardant substance.

Fleece Lining

Soft, cotton material used for additional warmth and to reduce abrasive chafing in leather gloves.

Foam Lining

Polyurethane layer, generally covered by fleece or flocked-lined with nylon. Provides a good glove lining for warmth.

Fourchette

The sidewall area between the top and bottom of glove fingers made by using additional material.

Full Lining

A ‘glove-within-a-glove'. The lining covers the entire interior surface of the glove.

Gauntlet Cuff

A 4 to 4 ½-inch-wide band of bonded material sewn to a glove as a cuff. Gauntlet-cuff gloves are designed to be removed quickly if required.

Gunn Pattern

A design that features fully wrapped leather index fingers and thumbs, leather fingertips, leather knuckle-straps, wing-thumb design, shirred-elastic back and continuous pull. Their open-cuff design allows the wearer easy on/off. These are usually very generously sized.

HAZMAT

Hazardous Material.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization.

Kevlar®

Kevlar® is the registered trademark for a light, strong para-aramid synthetic fibre, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965 by Stephanie Kwolek and Herbert Blades, it was first commercially used in the early 1970s. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components.

Keystone Thumb

Type of inset thumb on full-leather glove patterns. Provides additional wear and greater comfort.

Knit-wrist

A band of elasticized material sewn as a cuff on gloves. Holds the glove in place securely.

Knuckle Strap

A band of leather across the back of a glove, covering the knuckle area, to provide additional bump protection.

Lining

Inner materials to provide added warmth or comfort.

Nap

In fabric gloves, the loose ends of woven fibres that appear fluffy. Nap-out on chore gloves, nap-in on cotton-flannel styles. In leather-palm gloves, a "nappy" appearance is the loose ends of leather fibres, which usually indicates poor quality.

Neoprene

Neoprene is the DuPont Performance Elastomers trade name for a family of synthetic rubbers based on polychloroprene (polymer form of Chloroprene). It is used in a wide variety of environments, such as in wetsuits, laptop sleeves, electrical insulation, and car fan belts.

NIOSH

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (USA).

Nomex®

Nomex® is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967. The original use was for parachutes in the space program.It can be considered an aromatic nylon, the meta variant of the para-aramid Kevlar. It is sold in both fiber and sheet forms and is used as a fabric wherever resistance from heat and flame is required.

Out-seam Sewn

Stitching and seams on the outside surface. Seldom used on work gloves because of vulnerability of seams to abrasion.

Pile Lining

Bulky, acrylic material used for extra warmth in gloves.

Plasticized Cuff

Waterproof adhesive laminated between two layers of fabric.

Polymer

A material that can be liquefied to be used as a coating on gloves, such as PVC, vinyl, neoprene, nitrile, or rubber.

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment, for example, gloves.

Reversible

Reversible gloves are almost always made from a jersey material. A single seam is used around the entire periphery of the glove and a separate cuff is sewn on as the last step. Reversible styling enables the wearer to wear the glove on either hand.

Rhoyvl

Rhovyl® fibre possesses a very high level of thermal insulation for protection against cold. It's structure wicks moisture because of the high capillarity characteristic, for dry comfort. Naturally non-flamable, does not melt or form molten droplets. Resists mildew and other destructive biological agents and is easy care - machine washable and quick drying.

Roper's Glove

A modified drivers' style, usually a clute pattern of thin deer, goat or elk top grain leather. Keystone thumbs or English inset thumbs are common.

Rubberized

A term used to describe the bonding of material layers in a glove cuff by the use of rubber cement.

Safety Cuff

A 2 to 2 ½-inch-wide band of bonded material sewn to a glove as a cuff. Safety-cuff gloves are designed to be removed quickly if required.

Shoulder Split

Suede leather taken from the side of the cow, noted for its strength and durability.

Shirred Wrist

An elastic band sewn into the wrist area on the back of a glove to snug the fit.

Side Split

Suede leather taken from the side of the cow. Usually more durable and thick than shoulder split.

Slip-on Style

A glove with no cuff. Drivers gloves are examples of slip-on styling.

Straight Thumb

 A glove thumb that normally lies straight with the index finger. Common to most fabric gloves and drivers' gloves.

String Knits

Fabric gloves or sleeves fabricated using a machine to knit the product in one piece rather than sewing pieces of material together.

Supported Gloves

Chemical-resistant gloves manufactured using a shell or lining.

Thermal

Refers to lining. A material woven to trap air and insulate against cold.

3/4 Back

Used to describe a leather-palm-style glove when the back is leather 3/4 of the way from the finger tips to the wrist.

Thumb Shield

An extra piece of leather sewn in the thumb-to-palm seam to improve wear in this high-abrasion area. Found in some drivers' and leather-palm styles.

Top Grain

The outside layer of animal hide with the hair having been chemically removed.

Unsupported

Gloves manufactured without a fabric lining.

Welder's Glove

 Gloves specially made to repel and resist welding sparks. Lined to protect against heat. Usually full leather with gauntlet-type cuff, which may also be leather.

Welt

Narrow leather strips added to seam areas in stress, heat or abrasion sensitive area. Prolongs wear and adds protection.

Wing Thumb

Glove construction that angles the thumb diagonally across the palm. Frequently found in leather-palm gloves. Improves comfort similar to inset thumb designs.