The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Need Source for Opera-length Rubber Gloves

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

Need Source for Opera-length Rubber Gloves

Pardon the novice question.  I am sure the experienced bakers here have a solution to the problem of dough getting stuck in the arm hair.  I am making a large (for me) batch of Vermont Sourdough (so should this topic be in the Sourdough forum?).  And using a dough scraper to mix the dough, I keep getting patches of it stuck in my hair (mostly on my hands and arms).

I wonder if you guys oil up your arms before digging in.  I kinda doubt it. That would be messy too.

So, I bet you have a supply of opera-length rubber gloves you pull on before dough-mixing.  I Googled the subject, and was led to websites my wife wouldn't want me looking at.

Can anybody help me with a source?

Many thanks.

Glenn

SourdoLady's picture
SourdoLady

It's funny you should ask  because about an hour ago I actually saw some at TJ Max and I wondered why anyone would need them that long--LOL. Of course, TJ Max is one of those stores that the stock is constantly changing and I have no idea if you would find the same stuff where you live that I'm seeing here in Montana.

Tasty Little Dish's picture
Tasty Little Dish

If they are so needed maybe GSnyde can reimburse you and you ship them off?  That would be one solution!  How much did you see them for?  Heck, I may be interested!

belfiore's picture
belfiore

Hi Glenn,

We're here for you! We wouldn't want you in troulbe with your wife...I can hear it now..."but honey, honestly I was just looking for rubber gloves!"

Check these out @ Cabela's...Akers Sure Safe Field Dressing Gloves. They extend beyond the wrist (290mm) & have a textured surface for enhanced grip.

Cabela's has an amazing catalog of food processing items.

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0022118226078a.shtml

http://www.thecountryshed.com/akers_gloves.htm for a larger selection.

Hope this helps!

Toni

 

 

 

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I think putting some nice olive oil on your freshly washed arms would be wonderful..like the old italian women did to keep their skin young and beautiful.  The italians can be pretty hairy, even the women..my italian girlfriend has hairy arms..so I think the italian women knew what they were doing with all that great olive oil.  Use extra virgin, cold pressed...enjoy!

Sylvia

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

You must have seen at least one TV programme where a veterinarian put on a very long plastic glove to examine a cow.  Why not see if you could get your hands on some of those?  I don't have a clue where you could possibly look, except maybe an agricultural college or a vets' college.

RobynNZ's picture
RobynNZ

How about a different approach. I keep a bottle of 'cheap' vinegar handy which I use to clean stubborn dried dough off the rims of starter jars/fingers etc. It works like 'magic'. Rub on, rinse off, done. Sometimes when discard starter stored in the fridge in a mason jar rises and glues the lid on, my arthritic hands can't cope. Then I up-end the jar to soak in vinegar and the lid soon comes loose.

My father was a baker and a fond memory is of the tiny pieces of dough caught on his arm hair when I visited the bakehouse, seemed to symbolize his hard and enthusiastic work. I may be imaging things but I think he sometimes burnt it - he was probably just teasing us kids. I never saw it away from the bakehouse, but I've no idea how he removed it.

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

So, some suggest olive oil.  Some suggest vinegar.  Perhaps if I use both and add a little garlic and herbs, we can just rub veggies on my arms for a nice hairy vinaigrette?

I appreciate all the tips, serious and otherwise.  I guess I share the concern about the gloves, even veterinary latex, interfering with the tactile experience.  

I think the ticket might be oil up to the wrists for the initial mixing, and if I get dough boogers on my forearms, elbows or elsewhere, I'll try a vinegar sponge bath.  Or maybe creme rinse.  I bet in San Francisco I can find a hair salon that does arm comb-outs.

Glenn

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Glenn, well you could get your arms waxed or shave them...quess what, my husband shaves his legs..now before you judge....he's a serious cyclist, along with his whole team of cyclist..the reason..if you take a road skid off your bike...you'll be glad you did shave..it keeps the whole lump of skin from being ripped off and instead you end up with a big scab...we have his and her razor's,...ha :)  Personally, I like the oil treatment better.

Sylvia

 

belfiore's picture
belfiore

We're a cycling household, too. I have to buy different color razors!

Glenn's going to be so lubed up he'll have to be careful shaping the batards...one  squeeze & they could go shooting out the window!

:-)

Toni

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

It's difficult, but I'm stifling.

Glenn

EvaGal's picture
EvaGal

Those disposable OB gloves in Veterinary catalogs are huge-I bought some for my alpaca farm but don't use them because my hands (above average for an adult woman) don't fit the gloves at all.  I imagine if I tried to work with sticky dough while wearing those gloves, the gloves would come right off with much of the dough still attached!  

BTW, do you own a dog? I know mine would volunteer for cleanup duty:>)

EvaGal

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

BTW, do you own a dog? I know mine would volunteer for cleanup duty:>)

Rather than olive oil, you could rub the oil from canned sardines on you arms and enlist Tasha's help cleaning up.

On the other hand, arm hair balls may not be that wonderful to clean up.

Oh, well.

David

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

David,

Thanks you, as always, for the advice.

While I have had the experience of Tasha grooming my arm hair (and it's fairly pleasant except the lingering smell of kitty spit), if she thought it was a useful task, she would never do it in a thousand years.  That's just how kitties roll.

Glenn

alabubba's picture
alabubba

How about water? From a very hairy guy, Wet down your arms before you start, then wash them when done. Never a problem for me. I think if it was a big problem the gloves would be common.

allan

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Or running sleeves.  Wear them wet or floured to avoid sticking to the dough.  Wash by soaking in cold water first.

GSnyde's picture
GSnyde

Thanks for the link, Mini Oven. Really cute girls, but I'm not sure what they're selling.  Do you think they can bake?

Glenn

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I'm a believer in re-purposing things we already have. So how about a pair of clean tube socks being sacrificed as arm covers? Cut off the end,Slip on up your arm and anything that gets stuck can be laundered.

 

BellesAZ's picture
BellesAZ

At first when I read this post, I was intrigued.  Now I'm not so sure.  Between the visual picture of wads of arm hair, hairy italian ladies or smelly tube socks I'm starting to worry about you people.  ROFL

Trust me, I'm laughing right now.. the oddest things you read on a bread baking forum.  Hahahaha