Glove Manufacturers Are Changing the Way They Measure Glove Quality and Durability.

Until now, most companies have used “mils” (one-thousandth of an inch) to measure glove thickness. Now they’re switching to a weight measurement ⁠⁠— grams ⁠— which offers better accuracy, consistency, and reliability. Below we’ll talk about why the shift is taking place and how it affects distributors and end customers.

Why Mils Is an Inaccurate Measurement Method

At first glance, using thickness as a measure of glove quality makes sense. Thin gloves snap and tear, while thick gloves hold up to prolonged use. Thicker typically equals better quality.

In practice, it’s hard to measure glove thickness with any level of consistency. Gloves are incredibly thin, so you need specialized, expensive equipment for accurate measurements. Plus, the way gloves are manufactured causes variations in thickness from wrist to fingertip. Typically gloves are thicker towards the fingertip, and thinner near the wrist.

To combat this, glove industry leaders have established a standard that says all gloves should be measured at the palm. But even this method is still inaccurate, for two main reasons:

1. Differences in material, temperature, glove mold shape, and more, can cause thickness variations even in the palms of different gloves.
2. Every company uses slightly different measuring equipment, some significantly more accurate (and expensive) than others. Proper calibration and training is typically required for the use of accurate equipment.

Overall, even the existing system has enough drawbacks to require a change.

In response, manufacturers are starting to use a more accurate measurement system. One that reduces variation and leads to a better, more consistent end product. One that measures the material used throughout a glove, not just at one point in the palm.

Why Grams Is a Better Measurement System for Gloves

To measure how much material is used throughout an entire glove, manufacturers essentially have two choices:

1. Measure thickness at hundreds of points on each glove
2. Measure the total weight of the glove

The first option is technically ideal because it helps measure thickness and uniformity. It’ll tell you how much thicker the fingers of the glove are and by exactly how much. But it’s also time-consuming and would drive up prices, while providing almost no benefits for end-users. Plus, it still doesn’t solve the problems of tools and training ⁠— each company would still measure mils a slightly different way.

The better option is to just use grams to measure weight. Doing so still tells you exactly how much material was used in each glove, plus:

• Anyone can measure grams accurately using a simple gram scale
• It’s hard to game the system and use less material because the entire glove is being measured
• Scales require only occasional calibration, if at all

Overall, measuring using grams makes standardization easier and corner-cutting more difficult.

The only downside of using grams is that it doesn’t measure uniformity. Gloves may become slightly thicker from one finger to another or from one side of the palm to the other. But there’s no incentive for glove manufacturers to make their gloves less uniform; they’d still have to use the same amount of material in the each glove.

The most likely scenario is that the small irregularities that exist today will continue to exist, but overall glove quality and reliability will increase substantially.

Moving Forward: How to Use Grams Instead of Mils

So how will this change affect distributors and end customers in the near future?

First, note that this will be a gradual change. Mil thicknesses will continue to act as a guide to what the end user expects in the performance of a glove for its given application. It is likely that honest manufacturers will begin printing individual gram weight information alongside the mil thickness designation.

Second, it’s a great idea to get used to gram measurements now. Familiarize yourself with mils-to-grams conversion tables. Keep one on hand for your next glove order. In the meantime, we recommend reaching out to your glove vendor with any questions.

If you need help or are considering switching vendors, reach out to our sales team at sales@handcaregloves.com. We’re happy to help wherever we can!