Marigold Featherweight G31H

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tigga76
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Marigold Featherweight G31H

Post by tigga76 »

I had the gloves on my wish list for a while now. By the report about the upcoming product change and the price reduction at Amazon.de I finally ordered the gloves.

On the Amazon product images the gloves looked classic yellow, but in the description I have read that they are more transparent (similar to Biogel Gloves).

I am very surprised by the gloves. The name featherweight is indeed accurate, the gloves are very light. Naturally also thin, they are a good mix of surgical gloves and sturdy household gloves. Actually similar to the Marigold Red Lightweight G01R of the material thickness.

The gloves are as one of the few in Europe not coated inside!

I find the look and comfort very similar to Vileda "Der Feine", which has a thin cotton coating. In contrast, the Vileda Professional LightWeight has no coating and comes very close to the Marigold Featherweight G31H.

A visually appealing gloves for those who still want to see something of the hands and, of course, for sensitive activities.

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Re: Marigold Featherweight G31H

Post by majkic »

Hi, thanks for posting these lovely photos and raising awareness of what I agree is an absolutely wonderful glove!

It's been a while since I bought any of these - actually I stocked up a few years back and bought 12 pairs each of medium and large size <3, in case the manufacturer discontinued them! (So many great gloves have disappeared or been ruined IMHO by addition of polymer inner coatings, for example Matador hairdressers and Regent surgeons gloves (now "Biogel").

I wanted to add a comment, though, that in my experience the inner surface of these gloves, although incredibly smooth, can sometimes be slightly "sticky" because the rubber has not been heavily chlorinated. This is absolutely not a problem if you use lube or silicone on the gloves, but for me does spoil the otherwise great pleasure of using them "dry". I therefore always chlorinate a new pair of these at home. The process needs care and should be done outside, but one pair can easily be processed inside a 1 litre plastic milk bottle or similar HDPE container. I push the gloves in through the bottle top, add some water and household bleach, and then squash the bottle to expel much of the air before finally adding either some hydrochloric acid ("spirits of salts", obtainable from most hardware stores) or even just ordinary acid toilet cleaner. I then put the top on QUICKLY and shake to get the chemistry going. With only small amounts of liquid chemicals inside and most of the air previously expelled, the container only swells to a modest degree (no risk of explosion) and I can get the gloves chlorinated thoroughly by a few minutes of shaking. Again I should stress this should NEVER be done inside the house, only outside and preferably working up-wind of the bottle in case of leakage. After a few minutes the process will be complete, and the bottle can be CAREFULLY opened and the liquid poured straight down an outside drain. Absolutely do not breathe the fumes at this point!!! Water from an outside tap or hose pipe can then be added and the chlorine water emptied and rinsed away before trying to retrieve the gloves from the bottle. Give them a further thorough wash outside, and then after drying them let them air off in a well ventilated space for a few days.

This may sound like a lot of trouble but it's actually quite easy, and can be quite safe provided you do the job outside and take great care. The reward is a pair of UNBELIEVABLY smooth G31H gloves (or gloves of any other brand that suffer from rubber stickiness) - the results can be so smooth you'll never want un-chlorinated rubber again

It may be that some rubber clothing vendors (may of whom offer chlorination as an option for the rubberwear they sell) will be willing to do the chlorination for you for a fee. If so, then this of course is even safer. Does anyone know where such services can be obtained, for gloves we may already own?
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Re: Marigold Featherweight G31H

Post by katertjekat »

I'm quite interested in the quantities of chlorine and acid you are using, as well as how much water you add. Are you talking spoons, quarter of a glass, more...?
As we have a swimming pool, we continuously have all the necessary products at hand, and I've been thinking about (very carefully) chlorinating some rubber gloves indeed.
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Re: Marigold Featherweight G31H

Post by majkic »

Not very scientifically monitored, I'm afraid! Generally I use about 25ml each of dilute hydrochloric acid and household bleach (of which the active ingredient is sodium hypochlorite), with (I estimate) about 250ml of water in a clean one-litre or (preferably) two-litre HDPE milk container. I've no idea whether the chemical mix is optimum or not, but it does generally seem to work; and of course it will vary depending on the strength of the acid and how much hypochlorite is contained in the "bleach" formulation. I've also used ordinary vinegar (dilute ethanoic or acetic acid, in chemical terms) and this seems to work equally well; however it takes a long time for the gloves to lose the smell of vinegar. Even the chlorine smell takes a while to disappear - do keep the gloves somewhere well-ventilated until this fully dissipates.

I always mix the bleach and water first (together with the gloves in the bottle, gloves turned inside-out so the smooth inside gets most treatment -- assuming of course this is what you want). I then squash the bottle somewhat so there's space for the chlorine gas you're about to make, and then add the acid before VERY quickly screwing on the plastic cap and only then shaking the bottle thoroughly. If the pressure builds up too much (not a problem I've generally had) then of course you should release some of the gas, but ONLY in a way that ensures you (or anyone else) will not be exposed to it. Always work outdoors and always orient yourself up-wind of the container. For the avoidance of confusion, the sort of container I'm speaking of looks like the larger ones shown here:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/hdpe-plastic-bottles
There's lots more detailed information out there, including two very useful PDF's at the end of this thread: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?5421

The used chemicals should be diluted and washed straight down an outside drain followed by plenty of clean water.

The main point of care is to absolutely *never* do this inside the house (apart from the very real hazards, it stinks!), always use a striong bottle that won't crack (I would never risk one of the clear plastic PET bottles) and never place yourself at risk of breathing or being exposed to the chlorine fumes that will escape if and when you open the bottle.

Going back to the delicious G31H gloves, I notice that Ansell (who bought the Marigold name some time ago) re-branded these as Ansell Alphatec 87-137, which gave me some hope they were not going to be discontinued. However, I also notice this glove isn't now listed on their EU web site, so i think stocking up was wise. I fear the same fate for some of their other older products like the Duzmor Plus 87-600 which is another long standing favourite of mine. Long term it seems for the future of unlined natural rubber (as opposed to, for me horrible, nitrile) we may be dependent on the Asian manufacturers and especially China where they seem to like unlined gloves and where health and safety fever has not yet caused them to phase out proper rubber!
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Re: Marigold Featherweight G31H

Post by katertjekat »

Many thanks!!
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