Overview
ISO 374-6:2025 specifies requirements and test methods for protective gloves for hairdressers, addressing risks from dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms encountered in salon work (colouring, bleaching, perming, washing). It defines terms, performance criteria (mechanical strength, permeation, microbiological resistance), and marking and information manufacturers must supply. The standard is intended for single‑use hairdressing gloves used for one client and a maximum of 60 minutes.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope and definitions: Clarifies “protective gloves for hairdressers”, protective glove material, permeation, degradation, and single‑use gloves.
- Single‑use, powder‑free: Gloves must be powder-free - removable surface powder ≤ 2 mg per glove (ISO 21171 test method).
- Glove length: Minimum lengths measured per ISO 21420:
- Type 240 (hand protection only): ≥ 240 mm
- Type 300 (hand and forearm): ≥ 300 mm
- Mechanical strength (tensile force at break, tested on 13 dumb‑bell specimens after conditioning):
- Thermoplastic materials (e.g., PVC, polyurethane): median ≥ 3.6 N, each result ≥ 1.8 N
- All other materials (e.g., nitrile, neoprene, natural rubber): median ≥ 6.0 N, each result ≥ 3.0 N
- Test conditions include conditioning (23 ±2 °C and 50 ±5 % RH or alternative) and tensile test per ISO 7500‑1 with 500 ±20 mm/min jaw separation rate.
- Resistance to microorganisms: Gloves must meet one of the microbiological protection levels defined in ISO 374‑5:2024 (bacteria/fungi or bacteria/fungi/virus).
- Chemical permeation: Permeation testing against a defined list of salon chemicals at specified concentrations (examples in the standard):
- Para‑phenylene diamine (PPD) - 4 %
- Ammonium persulfate - 10 %
- Ammonium thioglycolate - 20 % (as supplied; note conversion to thioglycolic acid)
- Ethanol - 10 %
- Requirement: permeation rate ≤ 1 μg/cm·min before 60 minutes for each of three specimens (retest rules apply). Samples must retain integrity after testing.
Applications and users
- Glove manufacturers developing hairdresser‑specific disposable gloves.
- Testing laboratories performing tensile, microbiological and permeation assessments.
- Salon owners, procurement teams, and safety officers selecting gloves that meet chemical and biological protection needs.
- Regulators and conformity assessors verifying compliance with PPE requirements for cosmetology and personal services.
Related standards
Keywords: ISO 374-6:2025, protective gloves for hairdressers, chemical permeation, microbiological resistance, powder-free gloves, mechanical strength, glove length, salon PPE.
Open preview (PDF)Protective gloves against dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms — Part 6: Protective gloves for hairdressers
