Applying sterile gloves correctly means touching only specific surfaces at specific times: your bare skin only touches the inside of the glove, and the sterile outside never contacts anything unsterile. The technique is straightforward once you understand this single principle, but skipping any step can contaminate the gloves and defeat their purpose entirely.
Prepare Your Hands First
Remove all jewelry, watches, and rings before you start. These trap bacteria underneath and can puncture gloves during use. Clean under your fingernails with a nail cleaner under running water.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 15 seconds, making sure you cover every surface of both hands. The total time matters less than reaching every area, including between fingers and around the thumbs. Soap and water physically remove bacteria but don’t kill organisms on their own, so follow up by applying an alcohol-based hand sanitizer generously to both hands and rubbing for 60 seconds. Let your hands dry completely before touching the glove packaging. Putting gloves on damp hands makes them harder to slide on and can compromise the material.
Open the Packaging Without Contaminating It
Sterile gloves come in two layers of packaging: an outer wrapper and an inner sterile wrapper. Peel open the outer packaging first and remove the inner packet. Place it on a clean, flat surface.
Open the inner wrapper by pulling the flaps outward. Here’s the critical rule: do not touch the area of the inner wrapper where the gloves are resting. Think of a 1-inch border around the edges of any opened sterile package as non-sterile territory. The gloves sitting in the center of the wrapper are sterile, but the edges and the outer flaps are not. The gloves should now be laid out with the thumbs pointing outward, palms facing up, and the cuffs closest to you.
Put On the First Glove
Pick up the first glove with your opposite hand. If you’re right-handed, you’ll typically glove your dominant hand first, picking up the right glove with your left hand. Grasp only the folded cuff, pinching the inner surface of the sleeve. This is the only part of the glove your bare skin is allowed to touch.
Slide your hand into the glove with your fingers pointed downward, pushing your fingers into the correct finger slots. Keep your other hand gripping only the inner cuff surface as you pull the glove on. Don’t try to unfold or adjust the cuff yet. If the fingers aren’t perfectly seated, leave them for now. You can adjust after both gloves are on.
With your still-bare hand, pinch the palm side of the glove’s sleeve and pull it back along your forearm until the glove is fully extended and snug.
Put On the Second Glove
This is where the technique changes. Your first hand is now gloved and sterile on the outside, so you’ll use it to handle the outer surface of the second glove.
Slide your gloved fingers (index and middle finger, or all four fingers) under the folded cuff of the second glove, lifting it up and away from the wrapper. Your gloved fingers are touching only the sterile outer surface of the second glove, which keeps everything clean. Slide your bare hand into the opening, pushing your fingers into position. Use your gloved fingers to pull the cuff up and over your wrist and forearm until the second glove is fully in place.
Now you can go back and adjust. Interlock your gloved fingers and gently settle each finger into its correct slot. You can unfold the cuffs by sliding your fingers underneath them. The rule from this point forward: only touch sterile surfaces with your gloved hands. If either glove contacts your bare skin, your clothing, the table edge, or anything else that isn’t sterile, you need to discard both gloves and start over with a fresh pair.
Open vs. Closed Gloving Methods
The technique described above is the “open” method, which is the standard for most procedures outside the operating room. It’s what you’d use for wound care, catheter insertion, suturing, or any bedside sterile procedure.
The “closed” method is used in surgical settings, typically when you’re already wearing a sterile gown. In the closed method, your hands never extend past the gown’s cuffs. Instead, you manipulate the gloves over the gown sleeves using your fabric-covered hands, then push your fingers through the cuff and into the glove simultaneously. Research comparing the two methods found that the open method produces significantly more contamination around the glove cuff than the closed method, which is why closed gloving is strongly recommended in operating rooms where gown cuffs can turn down and expose skin during surgery.
Choosing the Right Size
Sterile gloves are sized numerically (6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, and so on), unlike exam gloves that come in small, medium, and large. The number corresponds to your palm circumference in inches. To find your size, wrap a measuring tape around the widest part of your palm, excluding the thumb. A palm that measures about 7 inches around takes a size 7 glove. Half sizes are available and worth using, because fit matters more with sterile gloves than with regular exam gloves.
A glove that’s too large bunches at the fingertips and reduces your ability to grip instruments precisely. A glove that’s too tight restricts movement and tears more easily. When in doubt, try a half size up rather than a half size down, since the material will conform to your hand somewhat.
Latex vs. Nitrile
Most sterile gloves are either latex or nitrile. Latex offers a closer, more natural fit and has traditionally been preferred for procedures requiring fine motor control. However, latex allergies are common enough that many facilities have switched to nitrile as the default. Nitrile gloves give a clearer visual indication when they tear or puncture, which is a real practical advantage. They also hold up better against oils and solvents. If you have any history of latex sensitivity, including itching or redness after wearing latex, nitrile is the safer choice.
How to Remove Sterile Gloves Safely
Removal follows the “glove to glove, skin to skin” principle. The contaminated outer surfaces of the gloves should never touch your bare skin.
- Pinch the outside of one glove at the wrist using your other gloved hand. Peel it off by pulling it away from your body, turning it inside out as it comes off.
- Hold the removed glove in your still-gloved hand, balling it up in your palm.
- Slide your bare fingers inside the wrist of the remaining glove, touching only the inside surface. Peel it off inside out, enclosing the first glove inside the second.
- Dispose of both gloves in the appropriate waste container. Never reuse sterile gloves.
Wash your hands or apply hand sanitizer immediately after removal. Gloves can develop invisible micro-tears during use, so your hands may have been exposed to contaminants even if the gloves looked intact.
Common Mistakes That Break Sterility
The most frequent error is touching the outer surface of the first glove with your bare hand while putting it on. Remember: bare skin touches only the inside cuff. The second most common mistake is letting your gloved hands drift below waist level or touch your body. Once gloved, keep your hands in front of you, above waist height, and away from your torso.
Reaching across a sterile field rather than approaching it from the edges is another easy way to accidentally contaminate your gloves or the field itself. If you’re unsure whether you’ve touched something non-sterile, treat it as contaminated. Discard the gloves, re-sanitize your hands, and start with a new pair. The cost of a second pair of gloves is always less than the cost of an infection.