Best Work Gloves Reviewed for 2024

best work gloves for 2021

When I realized that, in all my years of writing, I never tackled the question of who makes the best work gloves, well…something had to be done. I quickly assembled the Pro Tool Reviews team and we discussed what made one pair of work gloves better than another. I also wanted to cover every key jobsite application. The best gloves for the trades. The best gloves for the money. Leather gloves for landscaping. Gloves for using electronics. Honestly, this article took a long time to write.


Of course, I had to start with my favorite—what I consider the best work gloves overall. After much deliberation amongst our office staff, there could be only one choice…

…and it may surprise you.

Best Work Gloves Overall

Firm Grip Nitrile Coated Gloves (15-Pack)

best work gloves Firm Grip Nitrile Coated

What?! Yes, after having tried every kind of work gloves imaginable, I came to a simple conclusion: Fancy, padded work gloves wear out just as quickly as cheap gloves. Plus, they often increase the bulk on your hands while removing the dexterity found in simple fabric nitrile-dipped gloves. For every day jobsite work, the best work gloves turn out to be a pair of lightweight coated fabric gloves that you can buy in bulk.

I buy the Firm Grip Nitrile Coated Gloves in a 15-pack for about $10. I keep a couple boxes in my work truck—a clean box and a dirty box. When I get to a jobsite, I grab a clean pair. At the end of the day, when they get dirty, they go into the dirty box. At the end of the week, I take the dirty box, toss any ripped or torn pairs, and put the rest in the washing machine.

Pros

  • Super-inexpensive
  • Washable

Cons

  • Only minimal cut protection

Not only do these gloves provide ample basic protection, but they also let you pick up stuff like screws. They also work really well with touchscreen devices like your smartphone. Other companies add this as a feature. These cheap gloves do it right out of the box…um, literally. And they do it for less than $1/pair.

Trust me, you won’t go back. I have more picks, but they have to do with other applications that might require more than basic protection—so please keep reading!

Best Gloves for Cut Protection

Milwaukee Cut Level 3 High Dexterity

milwaukee gloves cut level 3 high-dexterity

If you handle sheet metal or work with metal ducts, you know the importance of cut protection. The real question comes down to how much dexterity you want to retain in a trade-off for additional cut protection. The ANSI cut protection levels increase as a factor of pressure more than simple cut resistance for incidental contact. I recommend A3 as a sweet spot for people regularly handling sheet metal or similar materials. A4 offers better cut protection but begins the tipping point for a loss in dexterity.

I particularly like the Milwaukee Cut Level 3 (A3) gloves as they offer excellent protection for light-duty cut resistance while retaining a lot of dexterity. I don these every time I cut up boxes in the shop—which is a weekly occurrence. If the proof is in the pudding, the fact that I put these on each time is a testimony to their convenience. They only cost around $12/pair.

Pros

  • Reasonably priced
  • Washable

Cons

  • None at this price

Grab the A4 high dexterity gloves if you feel you need a bit more protection. They make gloves all the way up to Level 9—so you have some options!

Best Work Gloves for Hot Weather

Ironclad EXOT Tactical Operator Impact Glove

Ironclad EXOT Tactical Operator Impact Glove

I picked the Ironclad EXOT Series Tactical Operator Impact gloves as the best work gloves for hot weather for a number of reasons. Clearly, you can go with thinner, breathable materials for summer gloves if you don’t need much protection. However, if I want protective work gloves that breathe—Ironclad Tactical Operator gloves make a lot of sense.

These gloves incorporate a breathable back that lets air flow where needed (and evacuates heat). You also get a handy terry cloth sweat wipe on the back of the thumb. The synthetic leather doesn’t shrink, so you can toss these gloves in the wash when needed. Finally, they offer this glove in a version with touchscreen capacitance capability so you can use your smartphone.

Pros

  • Breathable
  • Excellent protection

Cons

  • Less dexterity than some other gloves for fine manipulation

And these tactical gloves also just look plain cool—plus they come in either black, green, or brown and cost about $20.

Best Work Gloves for Winter

Milwaukee Winter Performance Gloves

Milwaukee Winter Performance work gloves

Milwaukee Winter Performance Gloves put their focus on general protection and warmth. They include a reinforced layer between the thumb and index finger as well as a nylon pull loop for easy removal. With 60g of insulation, these gloves handle the cold better than most.

More than that, they acknowledge that, when you work, you also tend to sweat—even when the outside temps are low. For that, Milwaukee includes their terry cloth sweat wipe on the thumb. You also get a handy SmartSwipe section on the knuckle that lets you access your phone or tablet without having to take off your gloves.

Pros

  • Excellent warmth
  • Integrated terry cloth wipe
  • Washable

Cons

  • Tad pricey

These gloves run about $31 per pair.

Best Work Gloves for Electricians

Youngstown FR Fire-rated Leather Gloves

Youngstown FR Fire-rated Leather Gloves

When it comes to picking the best work gloves for electricians, a couple of things come to mind. First off—I’m not recommending insulated gloves for linemen. Those are very specialized and rarely do you have much choice on those.

Instead, I focused on the residential and commercial electrician running lines in homes, warehouses, and other industrial applications.

youngstown fr leather kevlar gloves

Electricians need gloves that aren’t too thick and which can still pick up screws. You want protection, but not at the expense of being able to get your hands around tools and do the job. Real leather gloves also perform well when pulling cable, stripping wires, or simply using the hand tools of the trade. For that reason, I like the Youngstown FR Fire-rated Leather Gloves with Kevlar cut protection. Wait—leather and Kevlar? Yes, please.

Pros

  • Durable design
  • Excellent dexterity
  • Soft!

Cons

  • Very pricey

As an all-around glove, these provide everything from basic arc flash protection to cut resistance and general durability when working with cables and wire. A pair runs you about $50, but they seem to hold up well.

Best Work Gloves for Handling Wood

Firm Grip Nitrile Coated Gloves

Firm Grip Nitrile Coated Gloves best for wood

The best work gloves for handling wood should be good for splinters without losing the tactile feel needed for tools and fasteners. I again go back to my Firm Grip Nitrile Coated Gloves. They do a great job covering most general construction work. That includes handling lumber and most of the power and hand tools I use.

Pros

  • Super-inexpensive
  • Washable

Cons

  • Only minimal cut protection

Am I overdoing it by including these twice in our list? Nope. Once you jump on board with inexpensive nitrile-coated gloves I think you’ll get hooked. At $10 for the 15-pack, I sure did.

Editor’s Note: Don’t wear gloves when operating table and miter saws. Gloves can get snagged in a blade since they extend further than your hand. Once snagged, they can pull your hand into the blade and cause serious injury. It’s much better to operate these tools with your bare hands. Similarly, you also want to avoid wearing loose-fitting gloves while running circular saws.

Best Work Gloves for Landscaping

Milwaukee Leather Performance Gloves

Milwaukee Leather Performance Gloves

For landscaping, nothing beats a nice pair of leather gloves. You want something that can handle thorns—at least I do when working around my holly bushes. And don’t get me started about bougainvilleas! For this, I would normally recommend a standard gardening goatskin glove from any number of suppliers. They usually cost about $24. But then Milwaukee leather performance gloves came out. And, well, I’m a tool guy—so why not have a glove that does double duty at the same price?

Some of the toughest leather (for gloves) comes from goats. Consequently, I love goatskin leather gloves. They maintain a less porous surface than most, and they resist abrasions and punctures. That makes them perfect for most gardening and landscaping.

Pros

  • Great value for leather
  • Excellent dexterity
  • Integrated terry cloth wipe

Cons

  • None at this price

These gloves really let you feel what you’re working on. You also get built-in SmartSwipe touchscreen-compatible knuckles and a built-in terry cloth sweat wipe. When these Milwaukee Leather gloves came out, I thought they’d cost a whole lot more. At around $26/pair, you really can’t go wrong.

Best Work Gloves for Using Smart Devices

GRX Palmwick Nitrile Coated Gloves

GRX Palmwick 733 A3 work gloves

GRX Palwick 733 gloves from Lowes offer above-average performance when using screens. They also deliver ANSI A3 cut protection—which is a nice perk. Even when I messed up these gloves with dirt and sawdust, they continued to let me answer my iPhone and even send short text messages without major issues.

Pros

  • Perfect blend of dexterity and cut-protection
  • Great value

Cons

  • None at this price

These $11 gloves have performed better than some gloves that claim, specifically, to work well with touchscreens and smart devices!

Best Work Gloves for the Money

Klein Tools 60188 Leather Work Gloves

Klein Tools 60188 Leather Work Gloves

While I clearly favor nitrile work gloves overall, I have to butt in and talk about another pair of gloves I really enjoy. While I definitely lean toward disposable gloves for saving money, the Klein Tools 60188 Leather Work Gloves fit really well and have become a favorite. I also love the goatskin leather combined with the breathable back and padded palm. You can also access your smartphone to take a call or navigate a website—even though Klein doesn’t advertise this as a feature.

Pros

  • Excellent value (duh!)
  • Very breathable for all-day use
  • Surprisingly good touchscreen performance

Cons

  • None

At less than $26/pair, they aren’t the cheapest gloves you can buy, but mine have lasted for months. I love the fit and feel, and they function as my go-to gloves when I just want a bit more protection than my nitrile gloves provide.

What to Look for in the Best Work Gloves

When shopping for the best work gloves you need to look at several key areas. We always start with the big ones and work our way down.

Why Wear Work Gloves?

Before you pick a pair of work gloves, figure out why you want them. It may be a job requirement, or it may be for protection. Then you have to figure out what you need protection from. Impacts? Cuts? What material are you handling? Do you need several pairs for different applications or a glove that serves multiple purposes?

Asking these questions helps set up the right work gloves for you. You can’t simply take someone’s recommendation. A glove that protects your palm from being crushed but lets your fingers get sliced by sheet metal does you no good! Consequently, cut protection on its own may not “cut it” either (pun intended).

Work Glove Material

We love the fact that work gloves now come in various materials. To include everything would require its own article. For now, realize that gloves come in various leathers, synthetic blends, woven fabrics, and other materials that include rubber, nitrile, latex, and vinyl. Some combine these materials to achieve various goals.

The material only natters insofar as it serves to provide the grip, protection, and feel that you need. Doctors don’t operate with leather gloves! In the same manner, you need a material that provides cut protection when handling certain materials. Nitrile (alone) doesn’t stop the sharp metal edge of AC ductwork from cutting you.

A great example is gardening. Leather rules the day here, but synthetic products now exist that offer similar puncture, tear, and cut protections that didn’t exist even 10 years ago. These bring a potential for more breathable gloves for when you need to work in hotter climates (like Florida!)

Cut Protection

If you haven’t already, check out our article on ANSI cut ratings for an explanation on cut protection levels. When handling sheet metal, HVAC duct, roofing metals, or similar items, you need a glove that provides cut protection. Just how much depends on the job or the kind of work you do.

Newer gloves combine materials like Kevlar and similar products into woven fabrics to provide cut protection alongside breathability. We also see those gloves getting the nitrile-coating treatment so they deliver even more protection and grip.

Impact Protection

One thing our top recommendation for the best work glove doesn’t provide is much impact resistance. For that, you need to go with something that has PVD-reinforced padding on the back of the work glove. The best padded work gloves also tend to include reinforcements for the thumb and palm. These gloves work well when you need to deal with heavier items that might crush or otherwise impact your hand or fingers while working.

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