Are You Paying the "Rip Tax™"? Why Under-Gloving is Costing You Money

• January 22 2026

We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a job and snap. Your glove tears at the fingertip or splits between the thumb and forefinger.

You strip it off, throw it in the trash, maybe you have to wash and dry your hands, grab another one and get back into your flow of work. Ten minutes later? It happens again. How much time did you just lose?

Most people blame the glove. They think, "These gloves are garbage."

But as glove experts, we know that may not be the case. Sometimes it can be a bad glove but sometimes the glove isn’t bad; it’s just overwhelmed. 

What is Under-Gloving?

Under-gloving happens when you choose a glove designed for light-duty tasks and force it to perform heavy-duty work. It’s like trying to tow a boat with a sedan instead of a pickup truck. The sedan isn’t a bad car, but it’s going to fail because it wasn't built for that specific load.

When you use a standard exam glove for heavy-duty mechanical work, you are setting that glove up to fail. And every time it fails, you pay a hidden cost that is significantly more expensive than the glove itself. We call that the rip tax.

The "Rip Tax": Why Cheap Can Be Expensive.

The Proof is in the Numbers

We created an interactive Rip Tax Chart to show exactly where the money goes. You adjust the variables and see the cost for yourself.

Let’s look at a typical heavy-duty scenario (like a brake job). Every time a cheap glove rips, it takes about 1 minute to stop, wash and dry hands, put on a fresh pair and get back to work. If that happens twice in a job, you've lost approximately 2 minutes.

That doesn't sound like much until you multiply it by the cost of your time.

Level 1: The Cost of Payroll ($40/hr)

Obviously we can only use approximations here but using the example of a mechanic’s shop let’s look at the detailed costs to change their gloves. For our example we’ll assume a fully burdened labor cost of $40/hour ($0.67 per minute). This includes the hourly rate, insurance, taxes, etc..

Even at basic payroll rates, the "cheaper" glove actually costs almost 9x more to use.

Level 2: The Cost of Lost Revenue ($130/hr)

Now for the scary part! In this example if this auto repair shop bills out at $130/hour, every minute a tech spends changing gloves is a minute they aren't generating revenue. That time is worth $2.17 per minute.

The Bottom Line:

When you under-glove, you aren't saving money. You're losing almost $5.00 in billable revenue every single time a tough job comes in. Overall the shop costs itself almost 24x the cost of using a more proper glove. All these numbers are approximations but the difference isn’t even close. The better glove clearly makes sense to use. Besides it’s the tool for the job and the technicians will be happier using them.

The Monthly Impact

If an auto repair shop currently goes through 2 cases of standard gloves per month which is certainly not unusual, here is the estimated hidden "Rip Tax" they are paying and it is likely costing them thousands of dollars per year.

Sounds crazy but it’s the math. By switching to a more premium glove, you reduce wasted time and materials and reclaim approximately $1,586 a month in billable productivity.

MAYBE YOU THINK A MINUTE IS TOO LONG TO CHANGE A PAIR OF GLOVES OR THE OTHER COSTS ARE DIFFERENT THAN YOURS. TRY OUR CALCULATOR HERE AND ADJUST THE VARIABLES FOR YOURSELF.

The Solution: Match the Glove to the Grind

The secret to saving money isn’t just buying the cheapest box—it’s buying the right glove for the job.

Here is how to determine which glove you actually need.

1. When to Choose Standard Duty Gloves

Our standard nitrile, latex and vinyl gloves are excellent products. We stand by them 100%. They are designed for High Frequency tasks.

You should choose these gloves when:

• Contamination is the main concern: Food prep, janitorial work, or light medical exams.

• Change-outs are frequent: If you have to change gloves every few minutes by regulation or habit, durability matters less than price.

• The task is low-abrasion: Painting, light cleaning, or final inspections.

In these scenarios, paying for extra durability is a waste of money. Save on the box price.

2. When to Choose Heavy Duty Gloves

This is where our premium lines, like the TopGrip HD, Copperhead, Black Python, Glovezilla and Diamondback come into play. These are designed for High Duration tasks.

You should upgrade to Heavy Duty when:

• The job is long: You need one pair to last.

• The environment is hostile. 

Our premium gloves are made with premium nitrile or premium latex depending upon the product and specifically engineered for superior mechanical strength. In these scenarios, the higher upfront cost is easily erased because you use fewer gloves. Durability is the discount.

The Bottom Line

• If you are doing light work, buy our standard line. You’ll save money both in the short and long term. Really good bargains on gloves can also be found in our Milglove line. Availability is limited but many times there are some great 6, 7 and 8mil thick nitrile gloves here. To find out more click here.

• If you are doing heavy work, buy our TopGrip HD, Glovezilla, Black Python, Copperhead or Diamondback gloves. You’ll save money by reducing or eliminating the Rip Tax.

*How we calculated the $1,446 loss: We assumed a shop uses 2 cases (2,000 gloves) of standard gloves per month. In heavy-duty work where standard gloves tear twice per task, and the team stops roughly 666 times a month just to change them. At 1 minute per change-out, that equals over 11 hours of lost productivity. When you multiply those ~11 wasted hours by a standard billable shop rate of $130/hour, you arrive at $1,446 in lost revenue—money that could have been earned if the technicians weren't constantly walking to the trash can.

The Rip Tax is a trademark of UniSafe Inc.

 

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