Are Ansell Sol-Vex Nitrile Gloves Acetone Resistant? Yes — But Read This Before Ordering

Are Ansell Sol-Vex nitrile gloves acetone resistant? Yes. Are nitrile gloves latex-free? Yes — nitrile is fully synthetic, so it contains zero natural latex proteins. But if you place an order based on those two facts alone, you might be repeating the exact mistake I made in June 2022. It cost me $3,200 and a 3-day production delay.

"Acetone resistant" is not "acetone proof." That's the sentence I wish someone had drilled into me before my first big PPE purchase. Sol-Vex handles acetone splash and short-contact exposure very well. It's not designed for extended immersion in a solvent bath. Understanding that difference changes which Sol-Vex model you should order — and I learned that the expensive way.

This reflects EN 374:2016 and Ansell's published specs as of early 2025. Standards get updated, so verify current ratings before you commit.

The Mistake That's Still on My List

I've been sourcing safety equipment for industrial maintenance crews since 2017. I've personally made and documented 14 significant buying mistakes, totaling roughly $18,000 in wasted budget. The Sol-Vex order is the one I talk about most.

Here's what happened. Our crew needed gloves for a metal-degreasing job: wipe down machined parts with acetone-soaked rags, then inspect each piece. I decided maximum chemical protection was the priority. So I ordered 500 pairs of Ansell Sol-Vex 37-155 gloves — 15 mil, flock-lined, the heavy-duty version for aggressive chemical handling.

On paper, everything checked out. The EN 374 rating against acetone was solid. The thickness meant a strong barrier. I approved the order and moved on.

The problem wasn't chemical resistance. The problem was the flock lining and the thickness. The 37-155 is built for immersion-style work, not for picking up a small part and turning it under your fingers. The gloves felt stiff and bulky, and the crew hated them. Within two days, I watched a technician pull his glove off to handle a part that had just been wiped with acetone. That's when a chemical burn happens — not during the big exposure, but in the 15 seconds when the glove is off.

I still kick myself for skipping the field test. If I'd bought a sample box with three Sol-Vex models and asked the crew to try them for 15 minutes, the answer would've been obvious: the 11-mil, unlined Sol-Vex 37-165 was the right glove for this job — enough acetone resistance for splash and short-contact work, with the dexterity the task demanded. Half of my 500 pairs sat in storage for a year.

Lesson: the spec sheet tells you about chemical resistance. It tells you nothing about whether people will actually keep the gloves on.

Why Sol-Vex Works for Acetone

The reason Sol-Vex is the standard recommendation for acetone work comes down to the material. Nitrile — the synthetic rubber Ansell uses in the Sol-Vex line — resists ketones like acetone much better than natural latex or neoprene. If you've ever watched a latex glove swell up and turn gummy after contact with acetone, you know why that matters.

Now the latex-free question, because it comes up every single time: are nitrile gloves latex-free? Yes. The chemistry, in plain English:

• Natural latex comes from rubber tree sap. It contains proteins that can trigger Type I allergies, and it breaks down quickly in acetone and petroleum solvents.
• Nitrile is a synthetic copolymer of acrylonitrile and butadiene. No rubber tree proteins, no Type I latex allergy risk, and far better solvent resistance.

Per FDA labeling rules, a glove can only be marketed as "latex-free" if it contains no natural rubber latex proteins. Nitrile qualifies. So the answer is yes — for real, not just as a marketing label.

One thing that caught me later: "latex-free" doesn't automatically mean "allergy-free." Some nitrile gloves use chemical accelerators during manufacturing — thiurams, carbamates, mercaptobenzothiazoles — which can cause Type IV contact dermatitis in a small percentage of wearers. If someone on your crew reports itchy, red skin under the gloves, that's the first thing to investigate. Ansell offers accelerator-free options, including in the Sol-Vex family. Read the full spec, not just the chemical-resistance chart.

What EN 374 Actually Tells You

Most buyers — me included, eight years ago — glance at a chemical-resistance chart and assume it represents hours of safe use. It doesn't.

EN 374:2016, the European standard also used in the UK, measures breakthrough time in minutes under lab conditions. A glove with a Level 1 rating for a chemical resists breakthrough for at least 10 minutes. Level 3 means at least 60 minutes. These are lab tests with continuous contact, and the rating describes how long the material holds out — not a recommendation to soak your hands for an hour.

Sol-Vex's nitrile compound performs very well against acetone on this scale. And the scenario EN 374 models — splash, wiping, dipping, handling solvent-soaked materials — is exactly the work Sol-Vex is built for. If your job involves continuous immersion, where hands are submerged in acetone, Sol-Vex is the wrong category entirely. That's a butyl or PVA-coated glove job, with a higher breakthrough rating. Less comfortable and more expensive, but the correct match for the hazard.

If You're Buying Ansell Safety Gloves in the UK

If "ansell safety gloves uk" is your search, you're probably dealing with two things at once: chemical exposure and UK compliance. Two notes.

First, the post-Brexit marking situation. Gloves sold in Great Britain need UKCA marking, or CE marking under the transitional rules currently in effect. The position has shifted once already, so verify it at the time of ordering — don't rely on a blog post, including this one, without checking the current rules.

Second, COSHH. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and they require you to assess specific chemical risks and select PPE that's appropriate for the task, with the correct certification. The HSE publishes practical glove-selection guidance, and it's worth reading before you choose.

Here's the selection shortcut I now use, based on my mistakes: list the chemical from your Safety Data Sheet, note the contact pattern (splash vs. immersion), then ask the crew one question — "how much fine finger movement does this task need?" The answer tells you where to start. High dexterity plus splash exposure points to the 37-165 territory. Heavy exposure plus less dexterity points to the 37-155 territory. The same discipline applies to any piece of PPE, from chemical gloves to pull-on work boots: match the specific model to the specific task, not the brand to the category.

When Sol-Vex Is the Wrong Answer

I don't want to oversell this glove. There are cases where Sol-Vex is the wrong call:

• Continuous immersion in acetone. This is not a nitrile job. Butyl or PVA-coated gloves with higher breakthrough ratings are the right choice.
• Combined chemical and severe mechanical hazards. Sol-Vex is chemical protection. If the task also has meaningful cut or puncture risk, look for a glove rated under both EN 374 and EN 388, or use a cut-resistant liner underneath.
• Skin irritation reports. Switch to an accelerator-free nitrile before assuming contamination is the cause.
• Mixed tasks in one shift. If workers go from solvent wiping to handling sharp edges, one glove model may not fit the whole shift. That's acceptable — but build it into the risk assessment rather than pretending one glove covers everything.

One final thought. I've learned to judge PPE the same way I judge building materials — a white vinyl fence looks clean and uniform from the street, but the difference between good and cheap shows up in the third summer, not the first week. Gloves look interchangeable on a screen. The real differences — the lining, the thickness, the accelerator chemistry, how the material holds up against the specific solvent on your SDS — show up in the first week of use. That's why the sample box, the crew test, and a 15-minute conversation with a technician matter more than any brochure.

The right answer to "which Ansell glove?" comes from your SDS, your crew's hands, and your specific task. Not from a search result.