Vinyl, Latex VS Nitrile Gloves: Which to Choose?

The three most popular glove materials on the market today are nitrile, latex and vinyl. We've seen the popularity of nitrile gloves in recent years, but what's the difference? What type should you use? In this article, we'll explore these glove types so you can make an informed decision about which type is best for your lab.

Nitrile Gloves

Nitrile is a durable synthetic rubber, technically known as acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, developed for a number of reasons, namely due to common allergy problems to latex gloves and lack of protection from the solvents provided by latex. The gloves were first introduced in the mid-1990s and were intended for medical applications, but have since become popular with laboratory and industrial customers.
Nitrile gloves are latex-free and have a very low allergy rate (less than 1% of users). They are the most popular type of glove today, largely due to their versatility (they can be used in almost every industry), very low allergy rates, and price. Traditionally, nitrile gloves were much more expensive than latex gloves, but as they have become more popular, we have seen prices drop in recent years to be comparable to, or even lower than, those of latex gloves.

Nitrile has excellent chemical resistance compared to latex. This is one of the main advantages of nitrile gloves and is important when the user is exposed to hazardous substances.

Latex Gloves

Latex gloves are more traditional gloves, made of rubber, that have been in use for many years. Although latex gloves have allergy problems, they are sometimes more popular with users than nitrile gloves because of their comfort and strength. In general, latex gloves are more comfortable, more sensitive and provide better grip, although modern advances in nitrile glove manufacturing have made nitrile gloves more comfortable, thinner and more dexterous.
Latex gloves offer superior physical barrier properties similar to nitrile rubber, but they do not offer any real solvent protection, which is another disadvantage of latex materials. If chemical resistance is important, nitrile would be a better choice.

Vinyl Gloves

Vinyl gloves are also a popular type of glove, but are only used in certain environments. Vinyl gloves are latex-free and are usually the least expensive option of the three materials.

Vinyl gloves have a low tolerance for many chemicals and should not be used in any environment where hazardous substances are handled. Typically, we find vinyl gloves used in the food and beverage industry for low-risk tasks where gloves are used for only a short time.
Allergic reactions to vinyl gloves are almost non-existent and reports of allergic reactions are rare. While people do complain about allergic reactions to wearing vinyl gloves, the problem is actually lack of ventilation while wearing gloves that causes skin irritation. When gloves trap heat and sweat inside the glove, hands can sweat and irritate the skin.

In recent years, nitrile rubber has become the most popular glove choice for most industries. Their synthetic material eliminates the allergy factor commonly found in latex materials, and nitrile has excellent chemical resistance.