West Chester

West Chester work gloves cover the hand jobs a contractor, farmer or serious do-it-yourselfer runs into in a week: leather drivers for handling material and running machines, disposables for paint and chemical cleanup, and thin coated gloves for fine work. The brand has a glove type for each hazard, so you match the glove to the task.

West Chester Protective Gear is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has provided safety and performance products for workers since 1978. It is now part of Protective Industrial Products (PIP), a hand-protection company that Joe Milot and Wellson Tao started in a 400-square-foot space in Albany, New York, selling cotton lisle gloves for inspecting and handling small parts. PIP designs its hand protection to meet current ANSI and EN standards. West Chester develops and markets gloves, PPE, workwear and rainwear, and its glove line covers dipped and coated, cut-resistant, leather, cotton, chemical-resistant, welding and disposable styles.

Leather drivers gloves for material, machines and livestock

West Chester’s top grain cowhide drivers glove is made for construction, machine operation, utility work, farming, roping and light-duty welding. Top grain is the upper layer of the hide and the better grade. The split layer under it is thinner and more pliable. Top grain cowhide stands up to abrasion and breathes, and the smooth leather leaves you enough dexterity to set a fence staple or work a tailgate latch.

The thumb decides the job. A straight thumb makes closed-fist work more comfortable, so take it for a shovel handle, a steering wheel or a lead rope you’ll hold all day. A keystone thumb is sewn in as its own piece, which lets it move more freely when you’re pinching and picking up small parts.

Buy them snug. Top grain gives and shapes to your hand over the first few days, so a glove that feels roomy at the counter ends up bunching at the fingertips. The hems are color-coded by size, so you can pull the right pair from a mixed pile without reading a tag. The Premium Grade leather meets the content requirements for Chromium VI-free leather. Pick that grade if chrome-tanned gloves have left your hands red and itchy.

Light-duty welding is as far as a drivers glove goes. For a full afternoon of stick welding and spatter, use West Chester’s welding gloves. For washdown, mud or chemicals, switch to a liquid- or chemical-resistant glove, because leather soaks up water and dries stiff.

Disposable and coated gloves for stain, solvent and fine work

PIP builds its general-use gloves for liquid and chemical resistance, and its unlined gloves favor dexterity and clean hands. That’s the work a disposable glove is for: staining a deck, cleaning brushes in thinner, wiping down a sprayer. Change them the moment one tears, and put on a fresh pair for each solvent job instead of rinsing and reusing.

The PU-coated breathable glove is for work where feel matters. A PU coating goes on very thin, so you keep the dexterity to run screws, sort small fasteners or pull wire. Keep it for dry work, and put on leather for rough lumber and rock.

Rain gear, cotton gloves and hearing protection

West Chester’s rainwear comes in two kinds worth knowing apart. The heavy 20-mil PVC two-piece suit is for washdown, barn and field work, where you kneel in wet and the suit gets dragged over rough surfaces; it doesn’t breathe, so it runs hot on hard work. The three-piece high-visibility yellow suit is for road and site work where you need to be seen in the rain. Buy one size up so the suit goes over a coat and you can reach overhead without the jacket riding up. Its cotton gloves include jersey lined gloves for cold-morning chores that don’t need leather.

For loud tools, PIP makes ear plugs and ear muffs. The muffs come in headband, cap-mounted and neckband styles. The cap-mounted version fits most cap-style hard hats with universal slots. A level-dependent version has a microphone on each ear cup and keeps all sound through the speakers at a safe level, so you can still talk with the crew. Match the protection to the noise, because too much protection keeps you from hearing a backup alarm.

Drivers glove specs

Premium Grade top grain cowhide drivers glove

Feature	Detail
Leather	Top grain cowhide
Thumb	Straight
Cuff	Slip-on
Closure	Elastic sewn inside the glove
Stitching	Nylon
Sizes	S, M, L, XL
Color	Natural
Made in	India

Other grades in the drivers glove family

Grade	Construction	Thumb
Economy	Top grain cowhide	Straight
Regular	Top grain leather, split cowhide back, Kevlar stitching	Keystone
Superior	Top grain cowhide, pull-strap closure	Straight
Superior	Top grain cowhide	Keystone

Frequently Asked Questions

What gloves are in the West Chester glove catalog besides the leather drivers?

The West Chester catalog also includes a Women’s Durable Leather Glove with AquaArmor and a Jersey with Gripping Dots glove. PIP’s coated gloves come with coating on the palm and fingers, on the palm, fingers and knuckles, or over the whole hand, so go with full coverage when your knuckles are in the wet or the grease. On knit gloves, a higher gauge number means a thinner, less bulky glove with more dexterity, and a lower gauge gives you more cushion for rough handling.