Choosing Gloves For Milking

Many (but not all) of the prostate milking/massage articles I’ve read on the net advise some kind of glove use during milking. Glove advice can vary enormously from article to article, or even within the same article. I find that conflicting, wildly diverging advice can simply render all advice incomprehensible and useless. How do you know which to trust?

Whilst reading as much drivel as possible and then averaging it out might be one method to find out what’s best, I think a much better idea is to go to the experts and see what they have to say about it. In this case, I thought the World Health Organization (WHO) was a good place to start.

Glove use pyramid from the World Health Organization

Appropriate glove use pyramid diagram from the World Health Organisation

WHO have published (amongst other things) a hand hygiene brochure with a pretty pyramid diagram on the last page. The pyramid illustrates which conditions are appropriate for either sterile glove use (a few), clean disposable glove use (a great many more), and no glove use (most situations). From what I know about milking conditions, they fit perfectly within the explicit and specific WHO guidelines detailing when to use clean gloves (and not sterile gloves):

CLEAN GLOVES INDICATED […] Potential for touching blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions […]

As far as I’m concerned, that pretty much describes the physical milking conditions to the letter (without any of the fun stuff).

So, now that it’s clear that single use disposable gloves are the hand covering of choice for this seasons’s fashionable milker-in-the-know, how will you know which kind to choose?

I appreciate that some gloves are just so last-season, and it would be such a shame to turn up using last season’s gloves. I mean, there goes your credibility, all shot to hell.

Within the single-use-disposable-glove world, there are essentially three material categories to choose from – latex, vinyl, and nitrile.

And within each glove material category, there are some subdivisions, such as powdered or unpowdered, different grades, thicknesses, textures, sizes, colours, brands and so on.

I’ll address the subcategories first.

Powdered Or Not Powdered?

Powder (most often corn starch) is added in the manufacturing process, and is used primarily as a lubricant to assist in getting gloves on and off. Particles of the powder tend to puff out into the environment and get inhaled by innocent passers-by.

It used to be more expensive to produce powder-free gloves, because the powder removal added some costly steps to the manufacturing process. Because of the most recent, modern methods of single use disposable glove manufacture, powder is no longer quite so necessary as it used to be for easing glove use.

Besides which, for milking purposes, it’s not like we’re going to be using these gloves all day, every day, all over the place. As milkers, we are going to use these gloves once a week, plus any other unexpected incidental uses which you’re bound to find for disposable gloves, I mean, everybody does. :)

So, let’s say a few times a week, maximum, for glove usage.

And according to what I read here about powder particles getting inhaled around the place, I would strongly recommend against using powdered gloves.

So, unpowdered it is, then. :)

How Do I Know What Grade Of Glove To Look For?

There are a bewildering number of manufacturing standards for all sorts of stuff out there.

CEN EN 455 is the European standard for single use disposable medical gloves. This standard covers all latex and synthetic glove materials, as well as sizing, strength, latex protein levels (where applicable), sterility (where applicable) and also material integrity (holes).

The standard is in three parts:

Requirements and testing for freedom from holes
Requirements and testing for physical properties (including Corrigendum 1996)
Requirements and testing for biological evaluation

The gloves I have are (according to the box) “Class 1 Medical Device” and “Grade 1 Manufactured to BS-EN 455 Parts 1 & 2” (BS-EN 455 is the name given in the UK for their adoption of the European standard) There are also a whole bunch of other standards quoted there in incredibly small print.

Essentially, I feel that parts 1 & 2 are enough. If your submissive is really that much of a biological hazard that you feel you need the extra protection of part 3, then perhaps he should be quarantined instead of milked.

About thickness

Textures? Glove Textures? What Is That?

I think most of us are familiar with the smooth disposable gloves used in all kinds of places, from the blood donor place, to airport security, to the people who make your tuna sandwich to order when you’re in a hurry.

And then you might have seen those washing up gloves. You know, they’re usually thick and yellow, have a flocked lining and long cuffs, and you can use them to wash dishes in. Those ones usually have some kind of textured surfaces on the fingers and/or palms. Mostly, the textured surface is for improving grip in slippery conditions (like, so you don’t drop that glass you’re washing and break it).

You might not know that nowadays, what with all the new manufacturing processes going on and stuff, it is now possible to make selected parts of medical gloves with a textured surface, such as the fingertips and palms.

My gloves have got textured fingertips. It’s a very subtle texturing, but I’ve found it useful. The textured surfaces on the fingertips certainly didn’t interfere with anything I was doing in any rectums which might have happened to be around.

My personal verdict is that both textured and non-textured (smooth) gloves are both perfectly suitable for milking.

So, texture doesn’t really matter very much. You decide. :)

How Do I Figure Out What Glove Size I Need?

There are two basic ways you can find out what glove size you need.

Measuring

This is a good method and my personal choice for determining correct size. Take into account that sizing varies between different manufacturers and types of glove.

If you have a tape measure, you can use that. Otherwise, you can use a piece of string, tie a knot, draw a line, or otherwise mark the end you need, and then measure it with a ruler.

Measure the circumference around the widest part of your palm. The number you get will be the closest to your actual glove size. In cases such as single use disposable medical examination gloves, the general sizes (small, medium, large) have some equivalence with the numerical sizes.

Palm circumference measure equivalents:

6-7in 15-17.5cm Size XS
7-8in 17.5-20.5cm Size S
8-9in 20.5-23cm Size M
9-10in 23-25.5cm Size L
11in 28cm Size XL

Experimenting With Gloves

If you’re unlucky enough to have found yourself in a casualty ward or emergency room in hospital, or you happen to be in a tattoo artist’s studio, or anywhere else they regularly use medical grade single use disposable gloves, you might notice boxes of single use examination gloves in dispensers. Try on one or two different glove sizes until you get an idea of what size you are.

Please Note: If you are in premises owned by an individual (instead of some place like a hospital), then I would strongly recommend and advise you to ask the owner/manager first, before helping yourself to their equipment to try on.

Either way, I recommend measuring as well.

Size Considerations

If having a skin tight fit is important to you, then you may consider ordering a size smaller. Just keep the properties of your chosen material in mind. Latex is very elastic, nitrile less so, and vinyl is very much less so. So vinyl gloves will not work well as a skin tight glove.
If you get a size smaller, the glove fingers might be too short. I know that my hand and finger movements are restricted if the glove fingers are short enough to create webbing in between my fingers. So keeping that in mind might be good. :)

What Colour Gloves Should I Choose?

This is really up to you, and the glove fashion trends in your area. Check out what all the local dominants are wearing this season to milk their submissives.

Actually, that’s rubbish. Don’t do that, I take it back. Most people don’t have a fucking clue when it comes to safety and hygiene at the best of times, let alone during milking. So don’t follow anybody else’s example, because chances are, they haven’t the foggiest notion what they’re doing.

I think you’ll find anyhow, that really knowing what you’re doing (whatever it is) is one of the most attractive and compelling features a human being can have. Well, it is for me, anyhow.

So don’t follow the local trends on this one. Be the one to set the trends. Have an idea what you’re doing, and do it right. The others will follow.

For me, I chose black gloves, cos I just think they’re so cool. :)

White Or Pale Gloves Are Not Sexy, They Just Aren’t

Medical Associations

I don’t know about you, but white medical gloves always make me feel kind of icky. They look all scary, and I can usually be pretty sure that nothing good or sexy is going to happen once some professional puts them on.

Food Industry Associations
It’s the same with the clear ones. I can’t feel that it’s in any way sexy to watch some stranger put on clear gloves and make a sandwich. I mean, sure, having a sandwich made for me (and indeed sandwich making in general) is totally sexy (for me), but having a stranger do it in those clear or translucent blue or clear food industry gloves just make me feel kind of yucky.

Unpleasant Associations = Poorer Training results
So I think that white, clear, pale blue or translucent blue examination gloves are to be avoided for milking. Your submissive will already have unpleasant associations with them in his mind, and those will be difficult if not impossible to undo. I think it’s much better to have gloves of a different colour, which he may not have seen before.

Creating Positive Associations
You will get much better results from your submissive’s milking training if everything he associates with the milking is positive and sexy and safe.

I was getting a tattoo one time when I was abroad on holiday, and the tattoo artists in the studio had these really cool black gloves to do their tattooing in. That was the first time I ever saw black single use disposable medical gloves, and I just thought they were the coolest thing ever. :)

(plus, I got a really cracking tattoo out of it as well)

So now I have a really pleasant association with black single use disposable medical gloves, because I have this great tattoo, and tattoo artists are cool. So it didn’t take that much to create the association. But if I wanted to undo it, that would be much harder.

You know how much harder it is to undo bad habits than it is to avoid acquiring them in the first place, right?

My personal recommendation is to start from scratch and only use gloves with bold, deep, vivid colours, because your submissive is unlikely to have any pre-existing unpleasant associations with them. You’ll be able to create your own associations. :)

I’ve seen dark purple, deep blue, and black gloves, so I recommend that you make your choice from amongst those colours.

What Brand Of Glove Is Best?

There are really quite a lot of manufacturers making disposable single use medical examination gloves.

My advice:

Decide which glove features are important to you
Search the internet for gloves which have the features you require
Ensure the gloves you find are manufactured to the official CEN EN 455 1 & 2 standard
Search the internet for retail suppliers online who sell and ship those gloves to your area
Compare suppliers to find out which suppliers and brands are the cheapest (most suppliers sell different brands)
You might want to try buying in small quantities first, one box of 100 gloves at a time, until you work out which ones fit best and otherwise work for you just as you like. When you find the perfect gloves, you can then go ahead and buy a case of 10 boxes of 100 gloves each, because long term it’s much cheaper to do it that way.

Glove Material – What Kind Should I Choose?

Before I go into that, here’s just a little bit of important information about latex.

Some Stuff About Latex

As I found out by reading this article and this document about latex allergy, many human beings are sensitive to latex, especially if they have been exposed to it over time. The effect is cumulative – the more exposure a person has to latex, the more sensitive they are likely to become to it.

Inhaling the powder from latex gloves and aerosol latex products can cause and aggravate latex sensitivity. Some fruits contain proteins which resemble some of those in latex, and those fruits have been shown to induce symptoms in latex sensitised people.

Sensitivity to latex can lead to allergic responses to these fruits, and a sensitivity to these fruits can lead to a latex allergy.

Bananas, chestnuts, kiwi fruit, avocado, and tomato are most commonly identified with latex allergy, but allergic symptoms to apples, celery, figs, melons, papayas and potatoes; as well as pitted fruits like cherries and peaches, have also been linked to allergic responses to latex.

Symptoms of latex allergy can include local as well as generalised skin problems, respiratory disorders, and anaphylactic shock.

Sensitisation may not happen immediately after exposure to latex, nor will symptoms necessarily appear immediately once a sensitised individual is exposed to latex. So it isn’t always possible to know immediately if one specific box of gloves is problematic until much later on.

Symptoms in sensitised individuals may be triggered simply be being near a person who is wearing latex gloves.

Avoiding latex is the easiest and most effective way for anybody to deal with their latex allergy, but that cannot be done if, as in many cases, existing symptoms have not been linked to a latex allergy.

In short: Avoid latex gloves.

How Do I Choose Between Latex, Vinyl, And Nitrile Gloves?

Well, I can make this easier for you by simply reminding you:

Latex gloves are not an option.

So now all you need is to compare the relative merits of vinyl and nitrile.

Features To Consider: Vinyl

Good barrier protection
Inexpensive
Latex Free
Translucent
Looks a bit lame
Small risk of harmful phthalate content.

Features To Consider: Nitrile

Superiour barrier protection
A bit pricier, but not a critical issue in personal milking quantities
Latex free
Opaque
Funky cool colours available
Latex sensitivity may or may not be aggravated by nitrile gloves if manufactured using mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT).

My boxes of nitrile gloves have “PRO” on them as the brand name. There is no other company information about them either on the glove box, nor on the big cardboard case which contained the other glove boxes. There is no company address, no country of manufacture, just a lot number, batch number, and a use by date. I was unable to find any information about the manufacturer from searching the internet.

If you have identified specific gloves which have the features you want at a price you like, and you wanted to find out if any specific nitrile gloves were manufactured using MBT, or what phthalates any specific vinyl gloves contain, then I’d recommend writing to your glove supplier and asking them.

One Noteworthy Item: Wearing Rubbery Gloves
Our skin has evolved to function as a barrier to protect our bodies from the sometimes hostile world outside. Our skin was not designed to have any foreign material closely covering it for any length of time. And the manufacture of single use disposable medical examination gloves includes many chemicals hostile to human beings. So any rubbery glove you wear for any length of time will at the very least cause some very mild discomfort, and at worst, anaphylaxis.

In the case of dominants milking submissives (like us), I think the sensible thing is to put the glove on at the very last minute after washing your hands but before going to your submissive to milk him. And then take the glove off as soon as possible afterwards. This should minimise exposure and discomfort, as well as reducing the possibility of sensitisation.