How to overcome discoloration of gloves?

Manufacturer:We are medical gloves manufacturer from India. We are being hit by a perennial problem which refuses to go away. And this problem is the discoloration and staining of the gloves. Can you help?

JohnWoon:A localized or sometimes complete yellowing and browning of the gloves could be due to copper (and other free metals) contamination. Identify the source or sources of this contamination should be your first priority. This could be from the water used for latex diluting, coagulant mix and leaching, detack powder, fillers used in the latex compound, slurry tank, etc.

Try as far as practically possible to control the level of copper level in the water. Once it is confirmed that the discoloration is due to copper, you have to bear in mind that you might have another more serious problem, namely the possible premature failure of your gloves during storage due to oxidation as a result of the catalytic action of copper in the oxidation chemical reaction. Reformulation of your compound recipe might be advisable.

There are of course other causative factors of glove discoloration which you must also look into. These include dirty formers, exposure to direct or diffused sunlight and fluorescent lighting, insufficient drying of gloves, packing of hot gloves, hot storage ambient condition and wrong choice of compounding ingredients.

Please contact me again for more details and in-depth strategically designed remedial actions to this problem.

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