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Hi Steven,
You're absolutely right that there's no general concensus on gloves, no gloves or gloves sometimes! I've been working with collections for 7 years across 9 different museums and attitudes have ranged from "don't bother with gloves" to "wear gloves all the time". It depends on the collection but as a rule of thumb I would say always wear nitrile (purple) gloves when handling metal objects, as metal tarnishes through repeated handling with bare hands. I can't really comment on cotton gloves as I haven't been involved with any museums that use them but from what I gather, nitrile gloves are preferred. Cotton ones may be more appropriate for some objects but generally nitrile gloves provide a better grip, are less likely to snag and are less likely to transfer dirt to objects. I'd say the only situations where you'd ditch gloves altogether would be if gloved hands would either put the object in jeopardy or you were lifting something very big and heavy and/or complex (normally best left to contractors!) and gloves could make it more likely you'd drop the object. I hope that helps.
Best,
Jack
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From: Social History Curators Group email list [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Stephen [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 March 2019 16:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Gloves and Hands
This is an email sent via the SHCG List. If you reply to this message, your message will be sent to all the people on the list, not just the author of this message. ------------------------------- Regarding handling items in the collection.
Being a little new to this area, I've observed quite a stark contrast between the use of purple gloves, cloth gloves and non-gloves wherever I've found myself. Some use gloves somewhat religiously whereas others don't even consider them.
For someone new in the area, this is all rather confusing and contradictory.
My observations seem to lead me to the conclusion that everywhere is different.
Is there any official advice or standards governing accredited museums that make it quite black and white when it comes to handling objects and the use of gloves? Obviously somewhere it'll say to take care of your objects with regards to handling but does anywhere conclusively tell one what they must use for what?
Thanks
Stephen.
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The SHCG list is provided for members of Social History Curators Group to discuss subjects relevant to social history in museums. To join SHCG visit www.shcg.org.uk . Opinions expressed in this email are the responsibility of the author and are not necessarily shared by SHCG. To leave the list do not reply to this message but send an email to [log in to unmask] with a blank subject line and these words as the body of the email: SIGNOFF SHCG-LIST