Cotton and general-purpose gloves: a bulk buying guide for distributors and high-volume users

Cotton and general-purpose gloves are bought for four different reasons that get one name: keeping hands comfortable on a long shift, keeping product clean from hands, adding grip to smooth cartons, or providing light protection from rough surfaces. Each reason points to a different construction, and the fourth one — protection — is where buyers most often issue a cotton glove into a task that needed a leather one.

Walk the roles that will receive the glove. A packing line, an inspection bench and a yard hand unloading strapped pallets should not share one SKU. Where the task involves sharp edges, heavy or abrasive material, or machinery, the honest answer is a different category — see the rigger vs driver guide — with EN 388 levels specified. A cotton glove that is cheap per pair is expensive per injury.

Put in the RFQ: the roles receiving the glove, the primary purpose per role (comfort / hygiene / grip / light protection), and any task with mechanical risk that has been moved to a proper work glove.

Knitted cotton gloves are sold on adjectives — light, standard, heavy — and no two suppliers agree on them. What can be compared is the weight per pair or per dozen in grams, the knit gauge (typically 7, 10 or 13 gauge for string-knits), and the yarn: pure cotton, poly-cotton at a stated ratio, or recycled blends. Price differences between quotes are usually weight differences in disguise.

For sewn cotton gloves, the same logic applies to fabric weight (GSM) and construction — interlock or plain weave, hemmed or overlocked cuff. For dotted styles, add the dot material and coverage pattern. If you cannot name these, send a reference sample of the glove that works today and ask the supplier to state what it is; partner factories can match a named construction far more reliably than an adjective.

Put in the RFQ: weight per pair/dozen in grams, gauge or fabric GSM, yarn blend with ratio, cuff type, colour — or a reference sample plus the changes you want.

Light cotton gloves sit at an awkward line: many are sold as minimal-risk hand covering, others are marketed as work gloves with a mechanical-protection claim. In the EU/UK framework, the first can be placed on the market with a manufacturer's declaration; the second is expected to carry EN 388 marking backed by a test report. Which one you are buying changes the documentation, the marking on the glove and the supplier's obligations — so decide it first.

Whatever you decide, ask every supplier — True Port Global included — for product-specific evidence for the exact model quoted: the declaration or the test report, the issuing body, the date and the marking that will appear on the glove and packaging. A category-wide 'CE' or 'EN 388' in a price list is not evidence. Where a destination market has its own requirement, state the market and let the supplier answer for it.

Put in the RFQ: minimal-risk or mechanical-protection glove, the destination market, and the documents required with the shipment.

Plain knitted cotton slides on shrink-wrap, glossy cartons and plastic totes; that is why PVC dots exist. But dots wear, shed and stiffen, and a dotted palm on a task that never needed grip is money spent on an annoyance. Go the other way where it is justified: for genuinely repetitive grip work, a palm-coated glove (latex, nitrile or PU on a knit liner) usually outlasts dots several times over and may cost less per month of service.

Trial the shortlisted style on the real surface — the carton, the tote, the wrapped pallet. Paid samples exist for exactly this, and a sample trial is cheaper than a container of the wrong palm. Note that the grip material also changes wash behaviour: if you plan to launder and reissue, say so, because dots and coatings respond very differently to a wash cycle.

Put in the RFQ: the handled surfaces, plain / dotted / coated preference, and whether gloves will be laundered and reissued.

Knitted cotton stretches, so suppliers offer fewer sizes and buyers accept 'one size' or 'M/L assorted'. Then the small-handed half of a workforce gets gloves that bunch at the fingertips and slide off, and the box sits in a locker. Inspection and hygiene roles with fine-motor tasks are the least tolerant of a poor fit and the most likely to be wearing a poorly-sized cotton glove.

Pull the size mix from issue records or a quick hand-size sample, then state it as percentages per size. For ladies' or mixed workforces, ask specifically whether the smaller sizes are made to a different pattern or simply the same knit under a different label — both exist. Sizing against a reference sample, confirmed per order, avoids the 'their M is our S' problem.

Put in the order: the size run with mix percentages, and a sizing reference sample the shipment will be checked against.

Cotton gloves are a packaging-heavy product: twelve pairs to a polybag or bundle, a set number of dozens to an inner, inners to a master carton. Whether pairs are banded, bagged or loose, whether each dozen carries a header card, and whether the carton is printed or plain all change unit cost and — more importantly — how your warehouse and your customers receive the product.

Specify the pack hierarchy in the RFQ rather than accepting 'standard export packing', and state the carton markings you need: your item code, size, quantity, origin, and any barcode. For private-label programs, each branding element (printed cuff, header card, polybag insert, carton print) can carry its own practical minimum above the 100-unit order start — send the artwork with the inquiry so the quote is real. The private-label page covers what can be branded.

Put in the RFQ: pairs per polybag or bundle, dozens per inner, inners per master, carton dimensions/weight limits, carton marking, barcode, and branding artwork.

This is the cheapest glove in the catalogue, which is exactly why cost discipline slips: buyers compare pair prices to the cent and ignore that a lighter knit is replaced twice as often. Work out the issue rate per worker per week for each role, multiply by the wear life you observed in the sample trial, and compare quotes on cost per worker per month. A heavier glove at a higher unit price frequently wins.

Because volumes are high and the product is a commodity, the usual commercial mechanics matter more here, not less: a quote that restates your specification line by line, an Incoterm with a named place, and a lead time treated as indicative until confirmed against the actual order. Orders start at 100 units, so a first order can validate weight, size and packing before the standing volume is committed. The commercial detail is covered line by line in the RFQ checklist and the copy-ready RFQ template.

Put in the RFQ: expected issue rate and target wear life per role, sample terms, Incoterm and named place, and a line-by-line spec restatement requirement.

Knitted goods drift: a run that starts at the approved weight can finish light if yarn lots change, dots can be applied at lower coverage, and colour and cuff finish vary between batches. Because the unit value is low, nobody inspects — and a full container of under-weight gloves arrives with no recourse. The defence is a defined check against the approved sample before dispatch.

Agree the sample basis, the weight tolerance per pair or per dozen, the dot-coverage and adhesion check, the size check against the reference, and the pack-count and carton-marking check — and agree who inspects and what evidence (photos, weigh sheet, pack list) comes with the shipment. The copy-ready pre-shipment QC checklist is written for exactly this and applies unchanged to cotton and general-purpose styles.

Put in the order: the approved sample as the reference, weight and count tolerances, the inspection sample basis, and the evidence pack required before dispatch.