Best disposable workshop gloves 2026
Hand protection is a vital part of anyone’s toolkit. Which gloves win?
Getting dirt under your nails used to be an inevitable part of doing work on your car, but nowadays any professional will tell you that you need to take care of your hands. Apart from the time you’ll need to spend cleaning after a spanner session, the chemicals in cleaners and used engine oils will dry out your skin, and have been linked to disease.
Using disposable gloves means you can protect your hands, by simply peeling them off when you’re done. Having an extra layer to protect against scrapes and cuts is welcome, too.
We tested eight brands, focusing on those made of nitrile, which gives better protection against chemicals than the more supple and elastic latex.
How we tested them
Disposable gloves should be flexible enough to be comfortable and sufficiently grippy to hold fasteners, even covered in oil. It’s also important that they offer decent feel, which is vital when handling smaller components.
To test toughness, we filled the gloves with water and dropped them from 15cm on to a screw to see if they split or punctured. Then we checked their resistance to common automotive chemicals: petrol, carburettor cleaner, oil and a wheel cleaner. Points were also awarded for value and comfort.
Verdict
The Ansell TouchNTuff gloves are comfortable, decent value and offer good protection. Second are the bright Site gloves, which are great in slippery conditions but are pricier. Third goes to Toolstation’s product, which is good value but can’t offer the same resistance.
Ansell TouchNTuff
- Price: around £15
- Price per glove: around 15p
- Rating: 5 stars
- Contact: amazon.co.uk
Used - available now
2016 Volkswagen
Beetle
54,060 milesAutomaticDiesel2.0L
Cash £9,899
2023 Hyundai
Tucson
59,500 milesManualPetrol1.6L
Cash £16,450
2018 Mazda
CX-3
46,346 milesManualPetrol2.0L
Cash £10,950
2022 MG
HS
18,368 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £14,870The stretchy material of the Ansell gloves means they are easy to put on and the most comfortable to wear, while the snug fit enables you to feel your way around an engine bay without any difficulty.
Despite the thin feel of the gloves, the TouchNTuff lived up to its name, passing the nail-drop task and shrugging off all the chemicals. Only the acetone-based carb cleaner looked threatening, but it didn’t penetrate within our 60-second test time. Add in decent value, and the Ansell TouchNTuff is the winner, hands down.
Site Nitrile Powder-Free Disposable Grip Gloves
- Price: around £11
- Price per glove: around 22p
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Contact: screwfix.com
If you work with a lot of wet or slippery chemicals, you might consider that the Site gloves are worth the extra expense over the smooth-faced Ansell ones. The hi-vis orange gloves have raised dots on the surface, which make it easier to keep hold of tools and parts.
They also passed all the chemical-resistance tests and the nail-drop trial. However, they are not as comfortable as our winner, with less stretch in the material. Moving up a size ensures they aren’t quite as much of a struggle to put on, but also reduces the sensitivity.
Toolstation Disposable Blue Gloves
- Price: around £13
- Price per glove: around 13p
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Contact: toolstation.com
If you get through a lot of gloves and want to keep down the cost, then Toolstation’s Disposable Blue Gloves look great value, offering virtually the same protection and comfort as our winner for only 13p per glove.
They have a reasonable amount of stretchiness and offer good sensitivity, which makes them comfortable to wear and easier to put on than some competitors here. There was no issue with any of the chemicals during our test, but the nail-drop test did create a small hole. They tend to be slippery when wet, as well.
Sealey Premium Disposable Nitrile Gloves
- Price: around £7.50
- Price per glove: around 7.5p
- Rating: 4 stars
- Contact: sealey.co.uk
The Sealey Premium gloves were actually the cheapest on test by some margin. They feel a little on the thin side, which has advantages for sensitivity and flexibility, but means they are not the hardiest gloves here. The nail test caused a split, and the carb cleaner quickly weakened the material, but if you need protection for other tasks, the Sealey’s good value makes them very tempting indeed.
Xtremegrip
- Price: around £12
- Price per glove: around 24p
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Contact: amazon.co.uk
We tried to find a difference between the similar-looking Xtremegrip and Site gloves, but couldn’t.
This was borne out in the tests, too, where the Xtremegrips had the same impressive results. But there is no reason to spend more on these than the identical Site gloves, unless you like the jazzier box.
Tough Glove Gator Gripz
- Price: around £16.50
- Price per glove: around 33p
- Rating: 3 stars
- Contact: amazon.co.uk
Here’s another product that appears to be identical to both the Xtremegrip and Site gloves. There are a couple of reasons it loses points, however. The first is the price – at 33p per glove it is the most expensive in this test. The second is a strange fit on our samples, with an unusually baggy index finger.
Boa Pro Disposable Nitrile Gloves
- Price: around £15
- Price per glove: around 15p
- Rating: 3 stars
- Contact: diy.com
We liked the stretchy material of the Boa Pro, which made it easy to feel delicate components. The glove gripped well, too, even when wet. On the downside, they’re smaller than you’d expect, and a bit restrictive. A bigger issue is toughness, with the gloves compromised by the nail test and dissolved by the car cleaner, too.
Spontex Handy Tough Disposable Gloves
- Price: around £5
- Price per glove: around 25p
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Contact: tesco.com
For more occasional users, the Spontex gloves have the distinct advantage of being easily available from Tesco in smaller boxes of 20, which won’t take up much room in anyone’s toolbox. This does push up the price per glove, though.
They are comfortable to wear, with decent stretch, making them easier to put on, while delivering good sensitivity. Unfortunately, they failed the nail test and were quickly dissolved by the carb cleaner.
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