Ease of donning surgical gloves: an important consideration in glove selection.

It is a commonly held belief among physicians that powder free surgical gloves are more difficult to don than cornstarch powdered gloves. This difficulty is supposedly enhanced when the physician's hands are wet, a situation commonly encountered when regloving during surgical procedures. This investigation dispels these beliefs by demonstrating that the forces required to don powder free gloves do not differ significantly from those required to don gloves coated in cornstarch lubricant. Moreover, Biogel, a new powder free glove with an inner hydrogel lining, is shown to don easily and safely without ripping, even with wet hands, a circumstance not encountered with other gloves.