[michael papworth]

I've been wearing rubber gloves whilst working to protect my delicate little hands. (I may decide to change trades and become a brain surgeon one day.)

I've tried chemical handling gloves and they were dangerous as they gave no grip when wet. The ones I've found are industrial ones (from Countrywide)and quite lightweight - maybe double the thickness of washing up gloves. They grip well and are thin enough to be able to manipulate things OK.

What do other people use? Or do people work bare-handed?

[windowwashers]

I use bare hands as I am yet to find the right gloves, that are water proof and not to bulky and also give good grip.

I have loads of pairs and non are upto what I need, even unger ones are poor IMO

[[GQC] Tim]

Bare hands for anything except bitter cold, in the evening use Neutrogena Norwegian formula. Even if your hands are cracked and bleeding, that heals it in one night. Best cream I've used.

[frames to panes]

Bareback for me, has to be VERY cold before i get my cheapo Lidel neoprene gloves out.

[Alex Gardiner]

GUL summer weight full fingered sailing gloves. I use these all year round apart from very cold weather and then I either use their winter version or if it is very wet and cold a pair of Glacier Gloves.

[alan andrewswestsi]

gul scuba diving gloves 4mm thick , completely waterproof , superb grip and i,ve had them a month and no sign of any wear at all , i,ve tried loads including sealskinz , ungers etc etc and these are by far the best , i bought mine in the gul shop in falmouth when i was on a break but i expect if you look on ebay you,ll find some , really worth investing in £20.00 regards alan

[Tosh]

I suffered with eczema as a kid, but as I got older it gradually disapeared, however during my first six months of window cleaning, trad, my hands 'fell apart'.  They cracked really badly; looked terrible; felt worse; they were like claws.

They were so bad I went to see the doc, who gave me a top emolument, and a strong steriod cream and advised me to wear cotton inners with a rubber glove, which I did; even though it was Summer.

Cotton inners you can get from Boots, rubber gloves from a hardware shop; don't get pink ones, you can get them in black.

Over time, my hands have 'toughened up' to being wet and in contact with detergent; but I still look after them with emolument creams; the big softy I am.

[suds window service]

week and a half and my hands are falling apart i,am using aloe propolis cream for the hands and drinking beer for the pain.

[Londoner]

I have yet to find a pair of gloves that I like. Tried several types and they have all been rubbish. Price is not any sort of guarantee of quality.

Now I use rubber surgical gloves to protect my hands and several pairs of cheap work gloves from a garden centre to protect the rubber gloves. I have found this system works best for me.

The work gloves are not water proof but I carry several pairs and change them if they get wet. They are cheap enough to do that.

[matt]

gul scuba diving gloves 4mm thick , completely waterproof , superb grip and i,ve had them a month and no sign of any wear at all ,

i use gul 5 mm scuba gloves

ive had mine 4 years now, they still look like new, i only wear them if i do commercail very early or its very cold

i paid 15 quid for mine ( 10 plus 5 postage ) well worth it

[JRH]

I have found that using suntan cream, the waterproof type, putting it on a few times a day is good. When you get home and you wash your hands the dirt and ali from the ladder comes off much easier that without. worked well for me. Give it a go and see how you get on. My hands suffer and find things a bit happier now i'm using wfp. Jase

[MARKT]

You could try ULTRANE 551 gloves have used while pressure washing and very comfortable fit with rubberized palm for a good grip. They are not waterproof but dry out very quickly or use some nitrile exam gloves as a liner.

http://www.hughcrane.com/product_subcat.php?cat=chem&subcat=gloves

[Tosh]

week and a half and my hands are falling apart i,am using aloe propolis cream for the hands and drinking beer for the pain.

Once they go past a certain stage, they're really tough to make 'em better.

The guys here have given good advice, but if they're that bad, go to the docs to get some quality steroid cream and a big tub of emolument.

You'll also need a 100% waterproof barrier between your hands and your detergent, so...

Go to boots and buy about five pairs of cotton inners.  Then go to a hardware shop and get some tough extra large Marigolds; get a few pairs; not pink.

When you're working, keep changing the cotton inners when they get damp from your sweat.  Dry the wet ones on your vehicle dashboard.  At the end of the day, wash 'em with your scrims.

Wearing gloves feels awkward to begin with, but like anything, you get used to it.

[NWH]

The new sealskinz that have a longer sleeve part are totally waterproof,they look like ski gloves and are really comfortable much better than the old ones.There about £30 and are better than all the others you can buy,warm lining your hands don`t sweat and like i say are totally waterproof.There not the ones with suede type pads on the palm bit,the palm part of the glove has a black rubber type of material.