Natural rubber latex gloves are made from the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis, which originated from Brazil. The seeds of the tree were exported to England in 1876 and germinated at Kew Gardens in London. It was named "rubber" by the British chemist Joseph Priestly, who noticed that it could be used to rub away pencil marks.

The rubber plant only thrives in hot, damp regions near the equator. Brazil, no longer plays any significant part in the world natural rubber trade. Currently, 90 percent of true rubber production takes place in the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. In recent years, Indonesia's production has dropped and new plantations have been started in Africa.

Production of Latex Gloves
The process of creating latex gloves begins in a very manual way with the "tapping" of the Hevea rubber tree. A tapper uses a sharp knife to shave off a thin section of the bark to allow the natural latex to flow into a collection cups. What happens next depends on the requirements of the final product.

If solid rubber is needed, the cup lump and other remains of the latex flow are collected together and processed. The mixture is heated intensely, which destroys most of the proteins, and solid rubber is formed. Depending on the processing method and purity of the material, the final product is referred to as "sheet" or "technically specified" rubber.

When latex is required—which covers about 10 percent of all natural rubber produced—the collected material is delivered to a processing station to be strained and concentrated. At no stage in this process is the latex heated, which means most of the proteins remain intact.

More stabilizer is added, and the latex goes into a centrifuge to remove some of the water, and increase the rubber content. Ultimately, latex concentrate is formed. This concentrate—which contains about 60 percent solid rubber and 40 percent water, proteins and other contents—is used in the dipping process when making latex gloves.

Gloves are made by dipping hand-shaped molds into vats of liquid latex and chemicals. The latex glove material then hardens on the mold and rinsed to filter out protein and residual chemicals. The finished product is stripped off the mold and packaged.

Natural Rubber Latex Gloves
Natural rubber latex gloves are ideal for protecting workers’ hands from most water solutions of acids, alkalis, salts, and ketones. They’re often used to protect against contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. However, they’re not recommended for working with non-water solution hazardous chemicals.

Latex gloves also aren’t recommended for people with sensitivity to latex. The protein in latex gloves causes irritations and allergic reactions in a significant number of people. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, between 5 percent and 15 percent of workers who use latex gloves develop latex allergies. This includes health care workers (physicians, nurses, aides, dentists, dental hygienists, and housekeeping personnel), laboratory researchers, and technicians.

Possible alternatives for people with latex glove allergy include wearing glove liners and powderless latex gloves. Glove liners can help keep the skin from coming into direct contact with the latex material. Powder-free gloves minimize exposure to latex protein, lowering the risk of latex allergy reaction.

DonTheGlove.com sells two varieties of latex gloves, lightly powdered and powder-free.