Tom Seversike - Writer
Latex gloves are honestly underrated; they provide a cheap, sanitary way to do things from scrubbing a toilet to performing a surgery. They came into use in 1883 by request of a doctor named William Stewart Halsted. He asked the Goodyear Tire Company if they’d make a glove that would be dipped in carbolic acid. However, the gloves were not widely used until 1884 because the gloves were so hard to put on. To remedy the issue, they added a mixture of lycopodium spores and talcum powder. This, however, turned out to be harmful to the people that came in contact with the gloves during an operation. In modern day, we use corn flour, which came into popularity in 1975. Latex gloves are also made differently nowadays. First, the rubber is harvested from the rubber tree. This is done in early morning so the heat doesn’t make the rubber flow sluggish. The rubber stops flowing after about 6 hours, draining a gallon of rubber from the tree. Then the rubber is mixed with minerals such as sulfur and zinc oxide. Next, the factory’s plastic molds of hands are bathed in chlorine and bleach to prepare for the rubber coating. If even a little dirt gets in the rubber, it would cause a gaping hole in the glove. After the rubber coating has dried on the molds, they are tested for strength and holes. A person stretches and inflates the gloves. If they pass these tests, they are sent off for purchase. Before researching this topic, I had no idea the time and materials necessary to make something as simple and underrated as a latex glove.
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