Wearing Gloves?

I have been toying with the idea of getting a box of these. They are latex-free gloves from an online nail/beauty supply place.
http://allurenailsupply.com/product-category/218/details/11924/all-pro-latex-powder-free-gloves-medium.aspx

I try to always use hand sanitizer frequently between faces but do forget at times. Plus I seem to always get paint on my fingers when sponging.

Last month I did face painting at my son's 4th birthday party. He is an oncology patient (leukemia) and at times can have a lower immune system. I had a box of blue medical grade gloves I use when he gets his chemo so I decided to use them at his party to try to keep germ spreading to a minimum. It was pretty great, imo. I would just take off the gloves after each face and then while a new kid sat down and told me what they wanted, I would put on new gloves. It felt great having "fresh" hands with every face.

My only concern is what the general public would think of the gloves. I worry that the gloves will just make parents THINK MORE ABOUT germs than give them piece of mind.

Any thoughts?

It could prove to cost quite a lot if you're using a new set of gloves per child... And I don't think people are overly bothered by the sight of paint on your hands, you're painting faces, it's to be expected.

And I think you're right, I think it would make parents worry. They might wonder what is so wrong with the paint that you need to protect your own skin from it...

I would say no, but in the case of your son's party it seems appropriate.

We use them for some airbrush tattoos, when you need to hold the stencil to get fine detail, and when cleaning the guns and blast caps, but I don't for face painting. The special circumstancese you speak of would be differnet, and the brushes and paints would be just as suspect. There is a thread about painting in hospitals on the forum too and how to protect the children.

If someone is immune compromised or you're painting for a hospital:
+new brush
+new sponge
+new paints (paints only for this purpose)
+no double dipping or reloading
+non-latex gloves
That said, it's still higher risk activity for an immune compromised person. They (or their parents, doctors, etc) have to be the ultimate judge of whether or not it's an okay activity for them.

In general, there is a low risk of transmission of bacteria, viruses, and fungi for the public as long as we're not painting on broken skin. I'm not sure if the benefits outweigh the costs of using non-latex gloves for PPF or hourly gigs.

Attn all: our paints are NOT anti-bacterial - so please stop repeating this myth. They do contain some skin-grade and/or food-grade preservatives which mildly inhibit or reduce the growth of bacteria & fungi, but they certainly do not KILL bacteria on their own, especially when our concern is pathogenic bacteria like staph or fecal coliform bacteria and they have zero impact on virus transmission.
I haven't seen this mentioned on this particular thread, but I've heard it repeated in public and seen this myth perpetuated on other threads.

Thanks everyone.
I am going to stick to NOT wearing gloves in regular circumstances.
My son's counts (immunity) were really good at the time (like a "normal" persons counts at the time) that's why we included face painting and had a party at all. It worked out with great timing in his chemo treatment...just a few weeks later and he couldn't have had a party to begin with.

I dont plan to ever paint in a hospital setting but the info/input was much appreciated.

TheGildedCat wrote:
Attn all: our paints are NOT anti-bacterial - so please stop repeating this myth. They do contain some skin-grade and/or food-grade preservatives which mildly inhibit or reduce the growth of bacteria & fungi, but they certainly do not KILL bacteria on their own, especially when our concern is pathogenic bacteria like staph or fecal coliform bacteria and they have zero impact on virus transmission.
I haven't seen this mentioned on this particular thread, but I've heard it repeated in public and seen this myth perpetuated on other threads.

Forgive my ignorance, but, I've started to spritz my kit with rubbing alcohol as part of my clean up when I get home. Is this a complete waste of time? It makes me feel better about the whole clean up process with germs n all, but happy to loose a step in the clean up drilll, lol. What you think?

I'd be more worried about adding things to my paint, remember that paint will go on kids faces near their eyes... Is it really a good idea to add alcohol?

I think you are better off to wipe your paints with baby wipes, and take off the top layer instead of spaying them and basically adding an ingredient to the mix. I may be wrong, but that is the way I learned to clean my kit. I wipe them down at the end of a gig and let them dry, you waste a little paint, but get rid of any ickies that my have made it in and if it is dry before you close it up, the bacteria has a less favorable place to grow. I am a one sponge, per kid, and sanitize the brush between kids kind of painter, so I am comfortable with that. I suppose you could wipe them down with alcohol swabs instead of baby wipes though.