ESD gloves help manage charge generation and electrical behaviour at the hand-to-product interface. They must be assessed within the personnel-grounding system and the handling task. A conductive fibre, a dark colour or the word “antistatic” does not by itself establish suitable protection for a sensitive component.
Choose the contact surface first
A knitted glove with fingertip coating may support fine dry handling, while a full barrier glove addresses different contamination and liquid-contact needs. SHOWA's antistatic glove information separates conductive fibres, filament construction and fingertip coating. Those features solve different aspects of the task and should be compared separately.
Inspect whether the coating contacts the component, whether seams or fibres can touch exposed surfaces and whether the glove transfers unwanted residue. A general assembly glove is not automatically suitable for an exposed cleanroom product, even if its electrical properties are acceptable.
Evaluate the worn arrangement
Define the electrical measurements and test conditions required by the site's ESD programme. Resistance through a glove material is different from the complete path through the wearer and the grounding arrangement. Fit, humidity, wear and cleaning can affect the result; a catalogue number without a method is difficult to interpret.
Gloves do not replace a required wrist strap or other validated personnel-grounding method. They are also not electrical-insulating protection for contact with energized equipment. The electrical-safety assessment must remain separate from product ESD protection.
Trial grip and retirement criteria together
Use representative small parts and normal movement to assess grip, fingertip control and fatigue. For reusable gloves, establish permitted cleaning and withdrawal criteria using the selected product's instructions. A glove that remains comfortable may have a damaged coating or altered performance.
For disposable cleanroom options, specify barrier material, cleanliness and sterile status independently of ESD requirements. Avoid a substitution that improves one property while losing another critical function.
Review ESD cleanroom gloves. Send shengtongjh the handled component, grounding arrangement and contact requirements to compare glove constructions on a consistent basis.