Hand injuries are the second most frequent injury in the restaurant industry after slips, trips, and falls. OSHA estimates that hand injuries cost the foodservice industry around $300 million a year in workers' compensation and lost work time! Think about the cost of medical care, food waste from contamination, prep work that's interrupted when others stop to help, and the overall distraction to other employees and guests. Such injuries can be limited by equipping your workers with the proper gloves and educating them so that they get used, instead of the closest towel. Our gloves are broken down into three categories: oven mitts and gloves, dishwashing and heavy duty gloves, and cut resistant gloves.
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The primary function of oven mitts and gloves is to protect hands from some of the extreme heat encountered in a commercial kitchen when reaching into a hot oven, carrying scalding hot sheet pans directly removed from that oven, or even dropping a freshly cut potato into a fryer tank of bubbling oil. For added versatility, some of these are flame retardant to provide added safety when dealing with open flames in an oven, grill, or barbecue pit. Others are designed to offer steam protection when working with steamers and combis, while some even offer basic cold protection so you can comfortably transport pans from freezer to oven and then remove them for exceptional versatility.
Featuring SafeMitt and Choice mitts, this oven mitt guide breaks down key features and considerations to help you choose the perfect mitt for your application.
Style: Oven mitts and gloves are available in 3 styles.
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Puppet Mitts | Gloves |
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![]() Shaped like a puppet, with the thumb located under the fingers for a firm grip of heavier items. |
![]() Completely separated fingers for the most flexible dexterity possible. |
Tolerance: There isn't a glove on the market that will let you hold a hot pan that's fresh out of the oven forever, but different gloves will have different tolerances, so it's important to look into the individual specs of a glove to ensure it meets your needs. Mitts like our Choice silicone cloth oven mitts, for example, are capable of withstanding up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for a couple of seconds, offering solid performance at an incredible price. But if you need something more heavy-duty than that, there are options that can withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 seconds.
Sizing: All of our oven mitts and gloves are one-size-fits-most, but many are available in different lengths for varying degrees of arm protection. As you get into longer options, they may become a bit clunkier to handle, but they will also help protect your forearms when reaching into deep ovens. Or, as an alternative to the longer mits, you might consider an oven sleeve for greater flexibility.
Other Considerations:
Cut resistant gloves are gloves that, as their name oh-so-intuitively implies, are resistant to cuts. An excellent solution when dealing with sharp objects in any application from cutting fruit to rigorous butcher work, some of these gloves even offer protection against high heat and puncturing.
Tolerance: Cut resistant gloves are designed with a unique tolerance to give you the perfect level of protection for your specific application, so the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed a rating system that makes it simple to contextualize these differences. In order to understand the ANSI performance levels, you must know that cut resistance is determined by how much weight (in grams) is needed to cut through a given material with 20mm of blade travel. Put simply: The greater the level, the higher the resistance.
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Weight Needed to Cut Through Material at 20mm of Blade Travel |
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0 | Less than 200 grams |
A1 | 200 - 499 grams |
A2 | 500 - 999 grams |
A3 | 1,000 - 1,499 grams |
A4 | 1,500 - 2,199 grams |
A5 | 2,200 - 2,999 grams |
A6 | 3,000 - 3,999 grams |
A7 | 4,000 - 4,999 grams |
A8 | 5,000 - 5,999 grams |
A9 | Greater than 6,000 grams |
Material: We offer cut resistant gloves in four primary materials, each with their own benefits.
Material | Performance Level | Benefits |
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A1 - A7 |
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A3 |
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A4 - A7 |
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A5 + |
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Other Considerations:
For more in-depth information, be sure to check out our cut-resistant gloves guide!
The main function of dishwashing and heavy duty gloves is to protect hands from the moisture, heat, and chemicals present not only in warewashing applications, but other housekeeping, cleaning, and maintenance tasks as well. Whether you need protection against the water and harsh chemicals, hot dishes and flatware coming directly out of the dishmachine, or even lengthy exposure to cold temperatures during walk-in restocking, these impressive gloves offer a little something for everyone!
Application: Perhaps even more so than any of the previous categories, this smorgasbord of gloves makes considering the glove's function and your application absolutely critical. They will all offer some degree of chemical protection, but is it the protection you need? Our affordable neoprene and latex, for example, are impermeable to gases, vapor, and moisture, making them an excellent choice for light dishwashing or cleaning with gentle detergents and cleaners. Be sure to read the product descriptions to be sure you're getting exactly what you need!
Other Considerations: