Choosing the best materials for protective gloves is a real challenge for designers.

Between the standards and requirements to be respected and the very large choice of materials, it is a question of finding the most effective compositions to protect your hands.

At Rostaing, we are committed to working hand in hand with users to design all our ranges and thus choose the most appropriate materials.

So what materials are used in the design of the gloves? Why do we attach so much importance to this? And finally, what are our core competencies as designers?

What materials are used to produce protective gloves?

Today, we present the materials most commonly used in the design of our protective gloves.

Textiles

Textiles generally provide comfort, resistance (e.g. to cut) and some thermal insulation to protective gloves. There are textiles made of synthetic fibres:

• Polyamide: soft, comfortable, strong, abrasion resistant.
• Polyester: flexible, hydrophobic, less resistant.
• HPPE: high resistance to abrasion and cut.
  
• Inox: metal fibre, anti-cut.
• Acrylic: soft touch, light, insulating, very hygienic.
  
• Elastane: high elasticity.
  
• Polypropylene: good thermal insulation against cold, softness, good mechanical resistance.
• Aramide : meta and para aramide: excellent heat resistance. Para-aramid is also cut resistant.

And also composed of natural fibres:

• Cotton: good thermal insulation, softness, comfort, absorbs moisture.
  
• Wool: good thermal insulation, softness, elasticity, slows the spread of fire.
• Silk: light, flexible, good insulating properties.
  
• Bamboo: soft and pleasant touch, low thermal resistance.
  

Leathers

Leathers are highly appreciated for their resistance and durability:

• Cow split leather: velvety appearance, excellent grip and very good abrasion and puncture resistance.
  
• Cowhide grain leather: noble part of the leather, smooth, flexible and elastic.
  
• Goat grain leather: more resistant to abrasion than cow grain leather.
  

At Rostaing, we obviously use leather since we are originally tanners.

We also favour high performance and labelled materials such as para-aramid, silicone, bamboo fibre, polypropylene, polyurethane, cotton, etc.

Coatings

These materials provide additional protection and resistance and are particularly suitable for protection against chemical risks:

• Polyurethane : flexible, resistant, breathable. 
• Nitrile : abrasion resistant, suitable for oily environments. 
• Latex : waterproof, flexible and comfortable.
• Silicone : heat resistant up to 500 °C, non-stick.
  
• Chloroprene : absorbs vibrations.
• PVC : waterproof. 

What risks do you run with poor protection?

Poor hand protection (unsuitable gloves or lack of gloves) exposes you to several significant risks.

Intermediate risks: cuts, burns, abrasion.

Our category II gloves are adapted to these risks, which are linked to prolonged exposure to certain hazards and can have long-lasting consequences on health.

Potentially fatal risks.

Our category III gloves protect you from these deadly or incapacitating risks.

Indeed, these PPE are designed to prevent irreversible damage to health. They are generally intended for firefighters, foundries, employees in the chemical industry, etc.

We remind you that hands are work tools in their own right and are therefore particularly exposed to accidents at work (1 every 22 seconds in France). 

Our priority: favour the right material(s) for the right risk.

For example, cow split leather will be more suitable for anti-puncture gloves thanks to their resistance and thickness, whereas polyethylene will be chosen for cut protection.

What are our skills as designers?

Our job as technical designers is to design gloves adapted to the uses and risks associated with them.

The idea is to find the best combination of materials to give maximum protection to our users. All this, of course, without compromising dexterity and comfort

Thanks to RETEX (Feedback), our teams are able to design products corresponding to the needs of our specialist users.

After validating the needs collected in the field and selecting the most relevant technologies to protect against risk, we validate our compositions thanks to tests carried out for each design.

In addition, our gloves may be made of a single material. Our reference EPS25A (leather only) is a perfect example of this.

Nevertheless, most of our technical gloves are made from several materials. With 9 different materials, our reference ATTACK6PEOM-BSC
is the firefighter’s glove par excellence. The ROSTAING leather gloves dedicated to the fire brigade have made the success of our brand. Their unequalled suppleness gives the wearer optimum comfort for his action.

Would you like to know more about our technical product ranges?

Consult our brand new 2021 catalogue and discover all our ranges.