Wed 9 April 2008 - How many men?
The 2006 Census tells us that in Australia, there are 6,863,624 men above the age of 15.
Of these some 616,033 are in defacto relationships, including same-sex relationships. 3,547,331 are married. 2,700,260 are neither.
The Census doesn’t tell us how many men wash the dishes. But let’s assume for a moment that 30% of those married or in defacto relationships do the dishes at least sometimes. Hopefully it’s higher. And let’s assume all of those who are single do the dishes. Let’s also assume that men aged 75 and over have it done for them. That gives a total of 3,726,455.
So around Australia, over three and a half million men wash the dishes. Maybe not every day (I do it every 2-3 days; the dishwasher takes care of the rest).
My question then is…
Why the hell can’t rubber glove manufacturers make gloves that fit mens’ hands?
I don’t have the biggest hands in the world, but all too often I’ll buy a rubber gloves, supposedly size Large — and there’s none bigger in the supermarket, at least not in the brand that I otherwise like — get them home and find they’re tight on me. Frequently they’re small enough that I can only just squeeze them on and off my hands, and I can feel the bloodflow being constricted as I wash my saucepans.
Or is there a brand/type in XL somewhere that I need to switch to?
April 10th, 2008 at 12:09am
How come I am always first. I feel like a stalker. I did some bleaching of tile grout today. God, how I struggled to get the rubber glove on and off. It was large size, but too small. I thought I had piano player fingers. Clearly not.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:19am
>> Why the hell can’t rubber glove manufacturers make gloves that fit mens’ hands?
Yay, I thought I was the only one forever pondering this…
April 10th, 2008 at 7:46am
You may have to resort to industrial gloves from a homecenter. I find the supermarket variety tight too. I seldom wear gloves to clean or wash dishes. I use them when handling something harmful like oven cleaner or furniture stripper. The disposible latex or vinyl gloves for medcal or foodservice use do fit well however and I often wore them at work but they are not long enough to wash dishes and keep your hands dry. I have yet to try out Australian gloves.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:03am
This is perhaps the finest piece of reasoning I have witnessed in some time.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:51am
The Spouse prefers dishpan hands to rubber gloves that rip every last hair out of the back of his hands.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:22pm
I bet if we protested about this to China they would take notice.
April 11th, 2008 at 12:14am
>> I bet if we protested about this to China they would take notice.
Ah, is that where they are made? Explains it then… they’ve got small hands…
April 12th, 2008 at 11:10am
Men don’t wear gloves.
Only kidding!
You’re clearly looking in the wrong place. The local supermarket that assumes that most shopping is done by wives that also wash up is not the place to buy mens gloves.
Mens gloves are usually made and marketed to protect workers from dangerous acids and chemicals and you’ll find them at industrial saftey places.
Like this place!
http://www.safetyequipment.net.au/site/877992/page/385492
April 15th, 2008 at 3:42pm
I have been able to pick up some XL gloves of the Ansell pink rubber type from my local Safeway. But I have had trouble in the past - and found the large just doesn’t allow minor things like bloodflow through to the fingers.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:07pm
I don’t use gloves for washing dishes - I have a lightning-snatch technique that minimises water contact, but I do use them for caustics etc.
The large Ansell Super Gloves fit my hands nicely - I didn’t realise mine are below average :-), but the trick is to wear vinyl disposables underneath, and to re-powder the rubber gloves after use, then they glide on and off.
I use the vinyl (not latex) for working on the car etc - best invention since sliced bread.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:29am
Seriously, why would you wear gloves to wash dishes. Full grown man afraid of a little dishwater? sad really.