Gloves are the busiest item a tactical operator carries and the hardest to bring back clean. They are worn through entry, clearance and restraint, so the outside picks up agent continuously, and a breach in the seal puts contamination against skin that stays inside the glove for the rest of the shift. The procedure below assumes decontamination at a staging point, not a fixed corridor.
Immediate Gross Decontamination Before the Outer Glove Comes Off
Gross decontamination happens with the outer glove still on the hand. A buddy flushes it with low-pressure water or works it down with a detergent-soaked wipe, from fingertips toward the cuff and never the other way, so runoff cannot cross the cuff. The interdigital webbing and thumb crotch get brushed while wet.
Removal follows a fixed handoff. The operator pinches the cuff bead and peels the glove inside out, so the contaminated face is contained, and a second person bags it. The operator never handles a removed outer glove, and the inner liner stays on until the rest of the kit is off - the only barrier left between contamination and bare skin.
The Bench Procedure and the Three Places Contamination Hides
Detailed decontamination opens with a tag carrying the pair number, the incident, the suspected agent class and the time of gross decon. The sequence is fixed: pre-clean inspection, detergent wash at the permitted temperature, clean-water rinse, agent-specific decontamination at the stated dwell, final rinse, controlled drying away from sunlight and heaters.
Contamination concentrates at the cuff bead and its binding, where double thickness holds liquid; at the thumb crotch, which flexes and thins; and along the wrist seam and palm creases. Dwell time does more than scrubbing: brushing a swollen film spreads agent and abrades the barrier.
Approved Agents and the One That Bites Back
The agent is selected by chemical class and by the polymer it will touch. Alkaline hypochlorite covers many chemical warfare agents and biological contamination, but on laminated film it attacks the adhesive layers and leaves chloride residue that irritates skin on the next wear. Peroxide products are gentler on some films but slower, and concentration-sensitive.
The permitted list, concentrations, contact times and prohibited combinations belong in a written procedure that ends at the manufacturer's compatibility statement. Nothing outside it gets a first trial during an incident. The decon agent is also a residual hazard. A glove that is cleaned but not fully rinsed will burn the next wearer, so the final rinse runs until the runoff is clear and, where the procedure calls for it, pH-neutral.
Verification and the Gloves That Have to Be Cut
Clearance rests on three checks: instrument or detection-paper reading against a stated threshold, a wipe of the cuff and thumb crotch, and a physical inspection. Inflate the glove and watch the seams, flex the fingers and look for delamination, tackiness or stiffening. A pair that passes is tagged, its cycle count incremented and it returns to the pouch.
Some gloves cannot be cleaned at all: liners that absorbed agent, leather or fabric-backed models, anything with contamination on the inside, punctures, film that has begun to separate, or pairs past their cycle limit. These are cut through the palm and cuff before disposal, because a tactical glove that still looks serviceable gets picked up again by someone in a hurry.
A station sheet with named roles and a signed clearance line holds up better than memory at three in the morning. The measure is not a glove that looks clean, but a pair count that adds up.