IRONCLAD PERFORMANCE GRIP TESTING

IRONCLAD PERFORMANCE GRIP TESTING

Posted by IRONCLAD PERFORMANCE WEAR on Feb 3rd 2022

Anyone who puts on a pair of work gloves can tell you about the vital importance of having the right grip; yet until now, no one has been able to evaluate, quantify, and communicate a value for the grip of a particular pair of work gloves. To further complicate the issue, glove grip can vary widely based on the environment and the surface being contacted. Is the surface wet or dry? Cardboard or metal? Smooth or rough? It’s a difficult, slippery subject - excuse the pun.

Fortunately, several tests exist that accurately measure the friction force between two surfaces. In this case, we can leverage existing PPE testing standards that measures the Coefficient of Friction for shoe soles on walking surfaces, under varied circumstances. There are two such standards - ISO 13287 and ASTM F2913. Each uses the same automated test equipment to evaluate Footwear Slip Resistance.

Ironclad’s engineering team leveraged the test equipment and testing standards, and created a new test method which evaluates the friction force between a work glove palm and a specified testing surface. The surface can be dry, or purposely coated with water or oil to simulate real world hazards. Thanks to this breakthrough, glove palms can be evaluated with a consistent test methodology across a variety of surfaces, and the Coefficient of Friction can be accurately measured and quantified for each combination of work glove palm and surface.

Our team evaluated hundreds of glove grip tests and coefficient of friction data points. We utilized the following factors to determine the Grip Performance Rating for each glove style:

  1. Coefficient of Friction data generated from testing the specific glove palm
  2. Coefficient of Friction data for multiple palm fabrics (if applicable)
  3. Palm treatments and palm layers
  4. Saturation effects

From the testing results, a ‘5-Star’ grip rating system was created for Dry, Wet, and Oily conditions, with 5 stars denoting excellent grip performance for the corresponding condition. Look for the Grip Performance Rating symbol below for each of our task specific work gloves to find the one that fits the needs of your next job.