OP, the cause is the plumbers putty used around your sink as caulk instead of non reactive silicone caulk. Plumbers putty melts plastics and rubbers and is meant to be used on the inside of the drain not around the sink edge.
You've just saved me from god-knows how many more pairs of gloves. I had never put 2+2 together, but sure enough I just checked and my gloves have only ever melted like that when they're sitting on the edge of my sink.
I’ve been trying to figure this out, too, and this explanation seems plausible. I’m going to do some tests to see if I can get a glove to break down from contact with the sealant. Hopefully this will be the end of the awful melting plague.
At least you’ve helped several other people here so your time & energy were not wasted. OP seems like a moron, frankly, and you can’t help morons who refuse to listen to reason because they have already decided upon using a particular (usually wrong) narrative for their issue. OP really wants the gloves to be the problem for some reason, it seems.
I am very appreciative of the information you provided. I work on my house all the time, and I wouldn’t have a clue this is an issue. I usually get my plumbing done professionally, but who knows what I might come up with.
Thanks you just cleared up a similar mystery with the inside-the-drain mention. Thought I had somehow touched spilled GoofOff or GooBeGone, but putty in drain disposal unit lines up well with my cleaning neurosis and tendency to not use a strainer.
The fact that you know this just from a photo is genuinely so impressive. I thought for sure they had a dangerously placed crystal ball magnifying the suns rays... but this makes more sense.
Someone said to OP
"OP, the cause is the plumbers putty used around your sink as caulk instead of non reactive silicone caulk. Plumbers putty melts plastics and rubbers and is meant to be used on the inside of the drain not around the sink edge."
OP, the cause is the plumbers putty used around your sink as caulk instead of non reactive silicone caulk. Plumbers putty melts plastics and rubbers and is meant to be used on the inside of the drain not around the sink edge.
No, the water shouldn't make a difference. Adhesives can be formulated to react with a variety of different materials in a variety of different ways to accomplish their intended adhesion. Some formulations of adhesives just happen to react poorly with unintended materials, as a side effect. You need to use the right adhesive for the job. This plumber did not.
since you're disposing of these anyways (i hope), you may as well cut them up and do your own solvent compatibility test or something. put a square of glove material in a few bowls. cover them with common fluids you encounter when you wash dishes (dish soap? fat drippings? vinegar? hydrofluoric acid?) come back in 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes and record results
Before all that, get better gloves. (nitrile is pretty standard in chemistry labs. shouldn't be expensive.)
There's chemistry going on with your gloves, you need different chemicals or different gloves. I use regular ass black nitrile gloves with hydrochloric acid and I don't melt the fingertips off.
I was JUST being mad about this yesterday at my own sink! I use the Kroger brand gloves, same issue. Dawn soap, or Kroger brand. I've used dish gloves for ages but it just started being a problem a few months ago.
My college roommates and I abandoned our apartment in the early days of COVID and when I came back a couple months later to clean out the apartment our dishwashing gloves had "melted" into our sink. They were left completely alone in a temperature controlled environment so not heat related in our case. I thought it was just that they weren't going through the daily rinsing as normal and something on them ate away at them
Something similar happened to me. I left a pair of used dish gloves in my basement because i took them off down there & forgot about them. A few months later I noticed them while cleaning & they were melted & stuck to the cooler I had left them on.
Not to nitrile. I worked in a lab for years. That said, I don’t know what dish gloves are made from. It would have to be left submerged in acetone for a while to warp the gloves
This happened to me! They were from dollar tree though. Only ever for washing dishes with dish soap. And any other product it would be exposed to is "septic safe"
I vaguely remember another post similar to this one a while back and the answer was corrosive sweat, or something like that? Might be worth looking into
Something in your sweat can react with the materials of the glove. Like mine can make some plastics and rubber become greasy after use. I wash my hands constantly and a clean person.
That's pretty common, just dependent on the person in terms of severity. it's a large reason why the grips on game controllers erode down to the plastic over time
Last year or so, there was a pair of 3M scissors which a Reddit poster said spontaneously combusted on his table. There were some folks who suggested it might have been an incompatibility in the materials. But the redditor replied back some time later that 3M was unable to replicate the failure mode nor determine the root cause. Some people stipulated it was a hoax, but I remember the thread. It didn't seem like a hoax to me. I have seen some weird exothermic reactions in my day.
I don't recall either. A google search (for what it's worth these days) didn't really return anything besides that set of reddit posts, and some random other posts and videos talking about it.
I’ve never heard of this but I’ll assume it was an issue with the plastic heating up because of the friction of both ends of the handle rubbing together, causing it to ignite. That’s crazy
Not back in the day and not from friction either. Would happen while the scissors were left alone.
Like 2 years ago 3m sold a package of multiple scissors and one of them had clear plastic.
Per some reddit posts about it, some people were working on chemistry related theories, but the handles were clear plastic and so there is also the chance that it was magnifying light.
Sounds more like some kind of unstable plastic, probably chemical reaction fire. I've had cheap plastic cups, some clear acrylic deal from Walmart, that melted when in contact with my cabinet liners, so scissor handles reacting to something wouldn't surprise me
Ive been having the same issues! It happened anytime it sat in standing water behind my sink. I had to switch to gloves I hate because of how many pairs have disintegrated
We had a cupboard in the bathroom that stored various cleaning fluids. the hinges for that door rusted so much faster (like 6 months to get really crusty) than the other doors in the unit, despite having "sealed" lids on all the bottles. We moved the cleaners to a ventilated area in the garage, as who knows what else the fumes were doing.
Chlorine/ Bleach containers often have "vented" caps that let pressure escape. Slightly leaking gas is much better than a permanent hold or explody container.
That's a really good point! Something in there is definitely strong enough to melt rubber.. especially when it doesn't seem like they've touched anything that could have melted them
Hey geniuses who feel like being condescending without thinking it through. What they're saying is they are physically touching something with their fingertips as opposed to it being the soap or water, or sweat or sunlight or a cleaning agent. Otherwise it would be on other parts, not just the tips (giggity)
So stop being know it alls, because you're just making yourself look bad.
This reply is meant for all the sarcastic people thinking they're smart. The clue of just being melted in the fingertips is actually a great catch
If you are already prone to dry skin then yes. My partner’s fingers crack in the winter because of dryness in the air and always touching water or a wet rag at work. So she needs all the help she can get. If you haven’t needed it so far then you good.
If you're young with a strong skin barrier, you probably wont notice it. But washing dishes bare handed can strip away the protective oils of your hands, and dry them out. Depending on how severe, it can lead to rashes or eczema.
Yes. When hand washing dishes I like to use water that would be uncomfortable for my bare hands. Gloves solve that problem, and also keep the detergent from drying out your hands.
Hey OP, do you keep buying the same exact brand and/or... Model(I know that this isn't the exact right word. English is my first language, so feel free to bully me) glove every time?
It must be chemically reacting with something. My guess is maybe a silicone lining around the sink, or maybe some kind of rubbery handle on a pot lid. My wife once put a few "adult toys" in a bag together and they all melted into goop because they were different materials and were touching each other. Not all silicone/silicone adjacent materials can come into contact without melting each other.
I work in production on /those/ types of silicone toys- always ALWAYS ensure the silicone is PLATINUM SET/PLATINUM CURE silicone. It's the ONLY body-safe, completely chemically inert silicone
This is it. I use my gloves to clean my dishes and bathrooms. I don't use bleach product. My husband, on the other hand uses all kinds of different products. If he uses my gloves, he doesn't rinse them well and I find them melted. It's some kind of solvent, but i don't know which.
Why are there comments more concerned about the concept of dish washing gloves? "I only saw this in movies" okay so theres no purpose for them but as a movie prop? Use your head my guy. All that soap and water dries out your hands if theres alot of dishes to wash, and usually apartments/houses/workplaces either have freezing cold or scalding hot water. People don't only use them for sensory reasons, but also functionally because dermatitis exists.
I know a guy who has a particularly weird body chemistry-- his sweat is acidic enough to etch and melt rubber. He used to go through a lot of bike handgrips because they wouldn't last long.
Where are you storing them? Do they sit under your sink or something? Some kind of chemical could be getting on them from cleaners or something under your sink. Or absorbed into the shelf or something like that.
Are these from Walmart? I had pink ones that look just yours that also did this. It would also transfer the pink dye onto my dishes. It's been months since I stopped using them and all of the dishes still have the pink stains.
You’re having a chemical reaction between the material of the glove and some type of product you are using. Recommend making sure the gloves are thoroughly rinsed off when you’re done using them. That should take care of the issue.
Yes, there common household chemicals that can react to the materials in gloves. e.g. Latex/nitrile gloves are weakened/dissolved by acetone. "I don't use acetone!" Fingernail polish is acetone.
It's useful to have some actual chemical resistant gloves (they are usually thicker) for working with cleaning chemicals.
Idk exactly what is going on with OPs gloves, but it is definitely a chemical reaction.
To the people not wearing gloves while washing dishes:
1. Gloves help with grip, so you drop and break less of them.
2. Dish soap is harsh. It’s meant for removing oils and grease etc, and will strip your hands of any healthy skin oils and dry them out. When you get older, your hands will be wrinkly as hell.
3. One extra layer that a knife has to go through if you accidentally grab it wrong or something.
I’m sure there are more reasons that I can’t think of at the moment. There are only two downsides to wearing these gloves: I hate the glove smell on my hands after I take them off, and if I’m washing dishes with hot water for a while, my hands get all sweaty and prune up. The benefits outweigh the costs, imo.
Could it be from them laying on top of each other? Certain materials will do that, surprisingly I learned this from not keeping thing separate in the fun drawer and a few things melted.
As The Offspring once said "You gotta keep 'em separated"
Nitrile, if that's what they're made of, Is incredibly resilient, but some things do surprisingly effect it. It does look like it dissolved. Keep track of what your cleaning with when it happens. If its a spray with a solvent base might do this. Even something as common as nail polish remover will do it with prolonged exposure, like holding a scrubber soaked with it for a while. A spray cleaner might have organic compounds in it capable of this. A change of glove brand, or change of cleaner being used might fix it.
I saw a recent post in PC sub where a guy's mouse pad was melting (similar to this) and it turned out he had "caustic sweat" or something along those lines.
Do you have any crystals or suncatchers in the windows? Might be they are focusing the sun on the spot of the glove. Also why if you have crystal balls that catch sunlight you should cover the crystal ball. They have caused fires due to focusing the sun
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u/ErisTerrace 15d ago
OP, the cause is the plumbers putty used around your sink as caulk instead of non reactive silicone caulk. Plumbers putty melts plastics and rubbers and is meant to be used on the inside of the drain not around the sink edge.