Photos help confirm style, colour direction and logo position, but they do not control yarn, knit gauge, coating chemistry, coating pickup, cuff length, tolerances, test targets, AQL level or export packing. A written work glove specification is the control document that keeps the approved sample, bulk production and repeat orders aligned.
A Photo Shows Styling, Not The Work Glove Specification
A buyer often sends three phone photos and one short message: please copy this glove, best price. The image may show a grey liner, black palm and knit wrist, but it does not tell us whether the shell is 13G polyester, 15G nylon, HPPE with glass fibre, recycled PET, acrylic terry, or a cotton-polyester blend. It also does not show coating chemistry. A black palm can be PU, smooth nitrile, foam nitrile, sandy nitrile, latex crinkle or PVC. Two gloves can look almost identical on a white table and still differ by 20 to 40 percent in factory cost because yarn count, coating solids, dip depth, curing time and packing labour are different. For a dipped work glove, the commercial specification starts with shell yarn, knit gauge, coating type, coating coverage, cuff construction, size range, logo method, packing and target standard. A 13G polyester liner with black smooth nitrile palm is not the same product as a 15G nylon liner with black micro-foam nitrile palm. The first is normally a lower-cost general handling glove. The second is better for assembly, warehouse picking and light oily parts where dexterity under EN ISO 21420 and fingertip feel matter. We do not treat a photo as a controlled production document. A useful assumption line is specific: 13G grey polyester, black smooth nitrile palm dip, breathable back, ribbed knit wrist, sizes 7 to 11, overlock colour by size, 12 pairs per polybag, 120 pairs per 5-ply export carton, FOB Ningbo.
The Expensive Error Appears In The First Bulk Shipment
A hand sample is cheap compared with a wrong first shipment. For a knitted and dipped glove using available yarn and standard coating, first samples usually take 7 to 12 days after the specification is agreed. The real risk starts when the order moves to 3,000, 10,000 or 30,000 pairs and the RFQ never fixed coating weight, cuff length, size ratio, carton packing or inspection level. Production will follow the interpretation behind the quoted price. That may be honest factory work and still be the wrong glove for the importer. Coating thickness is a frequent failure point. Sandy nitrile can be dipped lighter for flexibility or heavier for abrasion and wet grip. The photo difference is small. The bulk result is not. A heavier double nitrile coat increases stiffness, adds drying load and can slow the curing line. A lighter palm may feel good during sample review but wear faster on pallet timber, stamped steel edges or rough castings. EN 388:2016 plus A1:2018 abrasion and tear results are affected by the full glove construction, not only by the black coating colour. The container maths makes the mistake expensive. A typical 13G nitrile palm glove packed 120 pairs per carton may load about 55,000 to 70,000 pairs in a 20 ft container, depending on carton size, glove weight and compression. A 40 ft high cube may take roughly 130,000 to 160,000 pairs for compact industrial packing, but palletising, header cards, inner boxes and heavier double-dip coating reduce the count. If the buyer discovers after arrival that the cuff is 10 mm shorter than the approved sample or the palm slips on light oil, the dispute is no longer about an USD 80 couriered sample. It becomes credit notes, relabelling, customer claims or replacement stock.
Lock The Liner Before Negotiating The Coating
The liner is where many photo-based sourcing errors hide. Polyester is the usual low-cost shell for general handling. Nylon gives a smoother hand feel and is common in 13G and 15G assembly gloves. HPPE is used where cut resistance is needed, often blended with glass fibre, steel fibre, basalt fibre or polyester depending on the target EN 388 blade cut and ISO 13997 TDM level. Para-aramid is different again. It has better heat behaviour than HPPE in some applications, but it is not a direct substitute when price, colour, wash stability and cut level are considered. Gauge changes the glove more than many buyers expect. A 10G liner feels thicker and more open, often used for cushion, cold-touch handling or lower-cost work. A 13G liner is the mainstream dipped work glove baseline. A 15G liner gives better fingertip feel for picking, scanner work and light assembly. An 18G liner is possible for fine work, but knitting speed is slower and yarn quality needs tighter control, so MOQ and lead time can increase. If the old glove was 15G nylon and the buyer only asks for a cheaper version from a photo, many factories will quote 13G polyester because it is the fastest low-price route. We do not promise a cut level from a photograph. Yarn blend, liner weight, coating coverage, washing, oil residue and silicone contamination can all change lab results.
Name The Coating, Coverage And Finish In Factory Language
Black coated glove is not a production specification. The coating chemistry should be named: PU, smooth nitrile, foam nitrile, sandy nitrile, latex crinkle, PVC dots or PVC full dip. Coverage should also be fixed: palm coated, knuckle coated, three-quarter coated, fully coated or double coated. A three-quarter nitrile dip gives more liquid splash protection on the back of the hand than a palm dip, but it reduces breathability and can bring complaints in hot warehouses, agriculture and summer construction work. The finish decides how the glove behaves on site. Smooth nitrile is durable for dry abrasion and general handling. Foam nitrile is widely used for light oil because the porous surface helps break the oil film, but it is not waterproof. Sandy nitrile gives stronger wet and oily grip and is common on double-dipped styles, but it can feel rougher and hold dirt. PU gives clean dry grip and good dexterity, especially on 13G or 15G nylon liners, but it is not our first recommendation for wet timber, oily stamping parts or sharp metal edges. Latex crinkle grips masonry, waste bags and concrete blocks well, but natural latex allergy and cold-weather stiffness must be considered. A proper RFQ line reads like a production instruction: 15G nylon liner, black micro-foam nitrile palm coating, breathable back, knit wrist, EN 388 target 4121X, sizes 7 to 11, 12 pairs per polybag, 120 pairs per carton. At GloveMark, knitted and dipped work gloves are a core route. We do not manufacture sterile medical examination gloves, cleanroom nitrile disposable gloves or IEC 60903 electrical insulating rubber gloves in-house.
Agree Tolerances Before The Pre-Production Sample Is Signed
A useful work glove specification allows normal factory variation without giving either side room to argue later. Total length, palm width, cuff length, coating edge height, weight per pair and logo position need tolerances. For many knitted gloves, total length tolerance may be plus or minus 5 mm and palm width may be plus or minus 3 to 5 mm, depending on size, yarn recovery and steam setting. Cuff length might be controlled at plus or minus 5 mm. Weight should be controlled by size and material. One gram tolerance across sizes 7 to 11 is not practical because a size 11 glove uses more yarn and coating than a size 7. Without tolerances, the dispute starts after inspection. The buyer says the cuff is shorter than the approved sample. The factory says the liner changed after steam setting, dipping and curing, which can be true. The cleaner method is to measure the approved pre-production sample by size, record the main dimensions and sign a tolerance sheet before bulk knitting. We normally check dimensions after knitting, after dipping and during final packing because coating tension and curing heat can move the glove slightly. Inspection terms should be agreed before goods are packed. Many B2B glove orders use ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 or ISO 2859-1 sampling plans. A typical AQL agreement may be critical 0, major 2.5 and minor 4.0, but the buyer must confirm it in the purchase order. Major defects can include holes in the liner, coating delamination, wrong size in a polybag, heavy colour variation, unreadable barcode labels or missing country-of-origin marking. Critical defects are uncommon in basic handling gloves, but they must be defined for cut, chemical, heat or impact claims.
Packing Is Part Of The Product, Not An Export Afterthought
Loose glove photos almost never show the packing system. For a distributor, wrong packing can create more cost than a small cosmetic difference. A common industrial pack is 12 pairs per polybag and 120 pairs per export carton. Retail, vending and MRO channels may need 1 pair per header card, 6 pairs per inner bag, hang holes, EAN or UPC barcodes, size stickers, SKU labels, PO number, country of origin and carton marks. Each step adds labour, material cost and carton cube. Carton strength matters when goods move by sea and then through a regional warehouse. A weak carton may look acceptable at factory loading but crush after 30 to 45 days in transit and several warehouse touches. If the buyer requires Amazon FBA labels, supermarket distribution centre labels or VMI bin labels, that is a separate workflow. It should be checked on a packing mock-up before production, not corrected during final inspection. Decoration also needs limits. Heat transfer, screen print, woven label, rubber patch and embroidery all behave differently. Cuff printing on a knit wrist is usually easier than printing across a rough sandy nitrile palm. Pantone references help, but coating colour can shift after high-temperature curing.
A One-Page RFQ Prevents Most Photo-Based Disputes
The fix is not complicated, but it is often skipped. Send a physical sample if available and write a one-page RFQ covering use case, target market, shell yarn, gauge, coating chemistry, coverage, finish, size range, test standard, logo, packing, Incoterms, annual volume and first order quantity. If the glove is for the EU, state EN ISO 21420 and EN 388 requirements. If it is for the US industrial market, mention ANSI/ISEA 105 cut, puncture or abrasion requirements where relevant. If chemical exposure is involved, EN ISO 374 needs real permeation data for named chemicals, not a loose nitrile claim. For a new OEM dipped glove, a realistic path is 7 to 12 days for first samples after spec confirmation, 3 to 7 days for buyer review and usually 4 to 7 weeks for bulk production depending on yarn availability, coating line load, lab testing and packing complexity. Custom yarn, special coating colour, moulded rubber patches, retail header cards or third-party testing can push MOQ higher because yarn mills, label suppliers and coating suppliers have their own batching rules. A useful supplier response to a photo-only enquiry is not just a low price. It should list assumptions and missing details: 13G or 15G, polyester or nylon, nitrile or PU, palm dip or three-quarter dip, EN 388 target, 12-pair or 120-pair packing, FOB Ningbo, FCA warehouse or EXW Yiwu. If a factory quotes immediately without asking these questions, the buyer should slow down. A controlled work glove specification is less exciting than a clean sample photo, but it is what keeps the second and third production runs matching the first approved shipment.
Confirm the specification in writing
Use this article as a starting point. Ask GloveMark for written, project-specific confirmation of materials, MOQ, pricing, sample policy, certification scope and lead time before placing an order.
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