Types of Gloves for Hand Safety

Oven Mitts and Gloves

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.

Purchasing Considerations

Style: Oven mitts and gloves are available in 3 styles.

Conventional Mitts	Puppet Mitts	Gloves
The thumb is separate to the side, like mittens worn in winter, providing excellent flexibility in motion for easy handling of various products.	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:

• Fabric construction with neoprene or rubber added for an improved grip?
• Loop or embedded magnet for easy hanging?
• Machine washable or dishwasher safe for easy cleaning?
• CE or NSF Listed for added safety assurance?
• Color-coded to help prevent cross contamination?
• Sold individually or in pairs?
• Ambidextrous? (This will apply to most of our mitts / gloves that are sold individually)

Cut Resistant Gloves

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.

Purchasing Considerations

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.

Material: We offer cut resistant gloves in four primary materials, each with their own benefits.

Material	Performance Level	Benefits
Spectra	A1 - A7	Generally lightweight for excellent dexterity and mobility Great for light kitchen prep like cutting fruits and veggies
Kevlar®	A3	Perform well in high heat and flame environments Great for heavier kitchen prep like cutting meats and cheeses
Dyneema	A4 - A7	Ultra high protection and even some chemical resistance Great for intense kitchen prep like slicing and dicing
Metal Mesh	A5 +	Interlocking metal construction provides puncture resistance in addition to cut resistance Great for butcher shops

Other Considerations:

• Size? (Available in everything from one-size-fits-most to extra small - extra large)
• Fabric mitts with rubber added for an improved grip?
• Machine washable or dishwasher safe for easy cleaning?
• Color-coded to help prevent cross contamination?
• Sold individually or in pairs?
• Ambidextrous? (This will apply to most of our gloves that are sold individually)

For more in-depth information, be sure to check out our cut-resistant gloves guide!