Gloves and Eczema

Wearing gloves to protect yourself from water, soap and other chemicals as well as from the drying effects of things like dusting and folding clothes is important.  I know so many people with terrible eczema on their hands that still immerse their hands in soapy water when washing things.  Even plain water is drying on the skin.

The problem I encountered is that rubber, vinyl and nitrile gloves irritated my skin and made them burn and itch, and cotton gloves just absorbed the moisture out of my skin.  I found that the very cheap, disposable, thin, clear, plastic gloves didn't hurt my skin.  I used the ones with little breathing holes in them when I did dry work so the hands wouldn't sweat too much; and, for wet work I used them under other gloves to protect the skin.  I got them from my local grocery store.  They use them in the bakery and the deli.  I asked them if I could buy them, but they just give them to me for free.

Using cotton gloves under latex, vinyl or nitrile gloves when doing dishes really helps prevent the dish gloves from hurting. Now that I managed to get rid of the eczema on my hands (see the Bacteria Web Page), I can use any kind of gloves without bother. I don't even use gloves sometimes anymore ...