ELLIE CHANEY. Gloves for careful handling.

Here is a link to Ellie's latest blog post describing her work for Soft Drive. 
She has been looking at the way archives and artefacts are accessed, and the measures used to protect them including gloves and masks, and the creation of safe environments.

 Many things look very different from the way they did before the Pandemic, lockdown  and the search for information on how to be safe and thoughtful when negotiating familiar spaces and routines.   Gloves and masks will occupy a similar space in our memory of these time as do wartime artefacts for our parents and grandparents. We will struggle to preserve some of these; but objects intended to be functional but ephemeral will take their place alongside  Gasmask boxes, and ARP helmets either in drawers and vitrines, or in  memory and anecdote.

Ellie is following that line of enquiry..

https://www.eleanorchaney.com/blog/2020/7/8/developing-designs-for-glove-making-gloves-in-the-past-and-present

Here's a note from The Museum Of London on using gloves to handle artefacts

The skin secretes oils and metabolic wastes, including various salts and urea, and these react aggressively with some materials causing irreversible damage. For example, fingerprints can cause corrosion on metal.

To protect the objects from these secretions, gloves should be worn when handling most objects. A range of gloves is available, and the type of gloves chosen will depend on the type of object being handled (and on personal preference).

• Disposable vinyl, nitrile or latex gloves are non-absorbent, making them good for objects that are dusty or dirty, that have a rough surface (which might catch on cotton fibres) or that have a very smooth surface (which could be slippery). Some organisations do not use latex gloves because some people are allergic to them.
• Cotton gloves are good for clean, dry objects that are not very rough or very smooth. However, many conservators do not recommend their use – as they find their thickness and seams can restrict feeling. Furthermore, cotton gloves do not completely protect against sweat, so some moisture may still be transferred onto the object.