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Gloves thickness can be measured at both the fingertip, palm and the cuff. Glove thickness is commonly reported in mil (which is the Imperial system and 1/1000 of an inch), or in millimeters (mm and is the metric system). In the United States, mil is typically used to report glove thickness, whereas millimeter is used in most other countries around the world.
Gloves are manufactured by dipping hand shaped formers into a liquid formulation. The hand formers then go through an upside down drying process to solidify the liquid formulation. Since the gloves dry up-side down, excess formulation may drip down towards the fingertips making them slightly thicker than the rest of the glove.
No, there is not an industry standard for listing palm or finger thickness which can cause confusion and make it difficult to compare. No glove has the same ratio between palm and finger so there can be gloves that have a fairly similar palm and finger thickness; and other gloves which may have variances of more than 2 mil..
Since there is no industry standard, different manufacturers take different approaches to the way they list mil thickness. Some
manufactures list palm, some list finger and some provide a number in between the palm and finger. The palm and finger thickness are often more precise and include a decimal place, while the number in between the palm and finger is typical simplified and provided as a whole number. The cuff thickness can also be provided, but it typically will not be the primary thickness that is reported.
Please note that since some manufacturers only list the finger thickness, it may give impression that it is a thicker glove. If you are comparing two thicknesses, you will need to make sure that you are comparing the same area of both gloves.
Bids will often specify the palm and finger thicknesses needed. Other times only one number will be provided and there is not any indication as to what area of the glove is needed. If it is not specifically included in the bid, then either the palm or finger thickness would meet the specification requested.
When testing for tensile strength or chemical resistance in accordance with ASTM or EN standards, the sample of the glove is taken from the palm.
Ansell has always provided both the finger and palm thickness on the Product Data Sheet (PDS), This way customers have the most information, to select the best glove for them. Many customers require that level of detail, however we do realize that many customers prefer a more simplified approach with just one whole number. For this reason, Ansell will also be providing a whole number thickness.
Ansell will be providing a whole number between the palm and finger thickness to capture the overall thickness of the glove. We will still provide the specific palm and finger thicknesses on the PDS, but we believe the whole number thickness can be used as an approximation of the overall profile of the glove. For example, a glove with a palm thickness of 2.8 mil and finger thickness of 4.3 mil will have a nominal thickness of 3 mil.
Please see the list of whole number thicknesses here.
