Handling Guidelines: Gloves

What type of gloves should be used for handling paper records?

A Preservation Programs specialist works with clean, dry hands (photo: NARA, St. Louis Preservation Branch 2012)

We advise against cotton or plastic gloves for accessing paper records. Instead, our guidelines request that researchers and others handling our records have clean and dry hands. Research and long practice show that paper records are actually damaged by gloved hands. Gloves catch and tear paper, transfer dirt more quickly, and make handling paper records awkward. 

What about photographs?

A Preservation Programs conservator works with nitrile gloves when handling photographs (photo: NARA, Conservation Branch 2019)

Photographs, whether they are prints or negatives, must be accessed with nitrile gloves (a type of plastic glove that we supply in our research rooms), unless the photos are already encapsulated in polyester (clear plastic) sleeves, which protect the photos. 

What about artifacts?

At NARA the “artifacts” category comprises a wide array of object types (e.g., objects, sculpture, paintings, textiles, furniture) and media (e.g., metals, wood, paints, coatings, textile fibers, plastics). Consideration of the object type impacts glove selection. Gloves are always worn when handling metal artifacts, because oils from our hands can damage metal surfaces. Nitrile gloves are recommended for all metals, objects, and paintings. For heavy, oversize artifacts, work gloves may be suitable, because having a good grip is important in these cases. Gloves are not advised for handling textiles; clean hands are recommended instead.  

Gloves are Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Conservators and scientists use gloves to protect their skin, as much as the gloves may be used to protect artifacts and objects from oils or dirt from hands. A guide for Personal Protective Equipment is available on the AIC Wiki, which is sponsored by the American Institute for Conservation. This guide provides a background on when to select the right PPE for the situation. If you have allergies to nitrile gloves, the guide also provides alternatives that are safe for you and for the object.