h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is it worthwhile mentioning the fact that the rubber gloves you speak of are often referred to as 'Marigolds'?

Thanks for the co-writer bit, it is appreciated, but it's really your work, so should be your solo entry..

Your decision though.

Another bit of useless information I seem to remember from years gone by, again when doing up bikes:

After thoroughly cleaning the rubber gloves and removing any solvents or suchlike, smear the gloves with a light coat of vaseline to prevent the rubber perishing. Remove the gloves so that they are inside out and drape in a cool, dark place to ensure a long life and then to reuse, pull back cuffs, sqeeze lightly and blow through the hole to inflate, pushing out the fingers and smooth onto the hands as previously mentioned.
CAUTION: Do not use petroleum jelly or equivalents as they will speed up the perishing process.



And looking good.

MMF

I think I'll leave this bit out as most people chuck the gloves away when they've finished with them.

Matt: I could mention the name for them, but this might be construed as promoting a brand and so would get removed from the final entry anyhow.

Any chance of getting footnote 4 worked into the entry? It's just so large...

Very thorough!

I know how to use rubber gloves, but I rarely do. I know I should. I just hate the way they feel. I try to use handled scrubbers or brushes to avoid contact. And fortunately I've never had to mess with nit cream or flea bath.

Hmmm - one more thing springs to mind, and that's laying out a bowl with a mild cleaning solution in it and a rag of some sort *before* you put on the gloves, for dealing with any spills - you want to touch as little as possible while wearing the "contaminated" gloves, including cabinet doors and taps (and the oven door, open that first - the oven cleaner might dissolve plastic handles)

And perhaps if you're dealing with an acid to keep a lye handy and vice versa, for neutralising spills quickly? I know that goes beyond the scope of merely using the gloves, but it might be useful to keep in mind

Is this the best place to mention that when I worked in a pizza place I saw someone cleaning up the sink and other surfaces, wearing rubber gloves, and then filling up the pizza toppings pots - wearing the rubber gloves.

So perhaps a mention of the point at which they should be removed needs to be mentioned. Just for girls like the unnamed girl.

I've seen that from my dentist, too they keep their gloves on when they're typing at the computer at the reception desk, and I doubt they change them between patients. Which is why I'm changing dentists

I'll work these suggestions in when I have some time. Another point I *really* ought to make is that if there's one circumstance when rubbers gloves *must* be worn it's in cleaning up cat and dog muck. Toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis are *not* nice diseases to catch.

No, toxoplasmosis is probably why I've been lumpy for the last five months

"Another point I *really* ought to make is that if there's one circumstance when rubbers gloves *must* be worn it's in cleaning up cat and dog muck".

Well, I clear ours up with a small plastic shovel and a stick, and put it straight into the -waste digester A11998461. Hence, it doesn't come into contact wth my hands/skin at all.

If we're in the park etc, then we use a gy waste bag and place it inside out over the turd, then place it more or less immediately into the waste bins that are usually in evidence where we walk the . If we're careless, then there's sometimes a chance that we'll befoul ourselves during this process.

If you get some carried into the house, and trodden into the carpet, then getting down on your hands and knees with a scrubbing brush is unavoidable. That's more the kind of 'cleaning up' I had in mind, and affects people who don't have dogs..

Yes I'd forgotten about that. It's happened to me too ,

Made some minor changes: any other comments?

One other application cropped up on the news yesterday w.r.t. (mercury-containing) low energy lightbulbs.

They recommended that people werar gloves when clearing up a broken one.

A

I think I've put plenty of examples where they should be worn already. It's not the specific circumstances of their use that is of value here: the article is dull enough already as it is without getting mired in trivia. I just wanted to share with others a means of using them so that they could protect themselves better generally.

Yes, I agree. Just thought I'd mention it , though

I like that you've worked in how to avoid cross-contamination. Maybe expand the "two different sets" to say that they should be of different colours (like sponges, and cutting boards, if you prepare meat) so that it's clear which pair is which? Or label them with a permanent marker, though certain cleaning agents will take that right off.

Also, it's often advised in the kinds of homemaker magazines that my doctor has lying around in her waiting room that you extend the life of gloves by a simple trick - the right one usually breaks first°, so if you have two "lefts" left, you can turn one inside-out and wear it on the right hand. DON'T DO THIS WITH "CONTAMINATED" GLOVES! Many substances are still caustic when dried, and they'll just get moist again from your hands. The whole reason you're going through this procedure is because you can't be sure you've got all the hazardous substance off the glove, no matter how well it's been washed.



°If you're right-handed, that is

Hey, very good

One thing I'm not quite following is about the cuff-business.
>>Then you roll the turn-ups over the cuffs of your shirt/blouse/overall sleeves.<<
Does this mean that the rubber glove is now completely unrolled up the forearm with all of the inside-in and the outside-out?
Then
>>Now, take off the left glove by grasping the cuff with your gloved right thumb and forefinger and stripping it off your left hand, turning it inside out as you do so<<
So, does this mean that you did leave the ends of the gloves turned over after all?

That's it from me - excellent footnotes, btw

"Does this mean that the rubber glove is now completely unrolled up the forearm with all of the inside-in and the outside-out?"

Yes.

"So, does this mean that you did leave the ends of the gloves turned over after all?"

No: you simply grip the outer surface between thumb and forefinger and pull.

Re. the previous suggestions: I appreciate the contributions but this entry was intended to be simple and to address the main stumbling block that people encounter when using gloves. Any more detail and it will end up diverging from this point so much that it won't be read - by anyone.

fair enough