Disposable Glove Shortage: What's Going On?

How much do you know about disposable gloves? Most people weren’t very familiar with the product or the industry 7 months ago, but many have learned a lot about them very quickly. With the impact of COVID-19 we have seen a shortage of all types of products from the expected things like PPE, to even recreational items like bicycles and gardening equipment. The biggest shortage we are feeling now is that of the disposable glove, and more specifically, nitrile gloves.

If you are a professional in a field that used disposable gloves before the pandemic, you likely know all about how useful and important they are. From largescale to at-home healthcare, from tattoo artists to restaurants, disposable gloves are vital to many industries in our country.

So, what’s happening with gloves right now?

As demand has skyrocketed for disposable gloves in the face of the pandemic, and factories have shut down to avoid spreading COVID, we have reached a point where demand is more than 50% higher already than previous yearly totals, leaving the industry in more than a billion-glove deficit. This has been compounded by the fact that there are currently very few domestic manufacturers of disposable gloves.

Thankfully, Brands like  Ammex, MCR, Cordova, and Global Glove have all been working incredibly hard to keep their stocks of disposable gloves up and make sure their customers have access to some form of disposable glove protection. You can check out those brands by following their links, or see our availability on disposable gloves  here.

Unlike the mask shortage we all experienced earlier this year, the barriers to entry when producing disposable gloves with Nitrile or Latex are incredibly high, both because of the cost of machinery and costs associated with sourcing the materials. Because of this we won’t be seeing factories spin on a dime to stop normal production and start producing gloves. We also won’t be seeing small businesses and Etsy shops pumping out homemade disposable gloves.

The results of this increase in demand and fall out of production capabilities means that we are seeing restrictions on the number of gloves available to suppliers, and continually rising costs with no end in sight.

What does this mean for the consumer?

If you are someone who works in an industry that requires medical-grade disposable gloves such as those made with Nitrile or Latex, expect to have a hard time finding them, and when you do, expect them to be expensive. Its going to take a while yet for the supply chain to catch up. If you are an every day consumer that is just trying to take precautions, I would recommend focusing your search on other glove materials such as Vinyl or TPE (thermoplastic extruded). These types of gloves will still be difficult to find as many businesses have started to use them as a stand in so they have at least some gloves on hand. However, these are not as vital to many industries, but still provide the protection you as a consumer are looking for.