How to avoid germs at the Gas Station

[Mike Phillips]

How to avoid germs at the Gas Station






NOTE: I originally wrote and posted this on Wednesday, January 28th, 2020, the day before the Mobile Tech Expo Trade show in Orlando, Florida started.

This is my own personal practice I've been using for years but I wanted to share it as the awareness of the Coronavirus went mainstream and the virus itself started to travel around the world.


Here' is the original article on the AGO forum

I have removed the links at the bottom of the article to the nitrile gloves sold on the AGO store as you will have to source these on your side of the pond. Also - the prices I show at the bottom for the black and orange style gloves we carry at the AG store are of course, specific to the U.S., I'm sure you guys can do a prices comparison for your glove options.



>begin article<


I hate getting sick. Most of you feel the same way. I especially hate getting sick when I’m responsible for teaching classes that have paying customers and have also been scheduled far in advance.

Besides not wanting to let anyone down, it’s simply no fun to put on a high-energy class without the energy. :dunno:


So I’ve learned to be a germaphobic. Especially when traveling due to the volume of people you will come into contact with. Besides the people you will come into contact with there all the people you will not come into contact with BUT you will come into contact with the things these people will have touched.


Here’s where I start when I'm traveling.

Getting gas for my car

Instead of throwing caution to the wind, here’s a simple way to avoid all the germs at the Gas Pump. Keep disposable nitrile gloves in your car.

Then do this, put one glove on the hand you will use. Only use this hand to touch everything.


The numbers on the keypad






The selector button





The gas nozzle handle and squeeze trigger





Fill your gas tank - PROTECTED






And think about this, if you fill all the way to full, you'll make less visits to the gas station and thus reduce the number of times you touch anything at the gas station.






Use your clean hand to pull the glove off by the tip of the cuff where there was no surface contact with anything and dispose of at the gas station.






Think about it...

If you don’t wear disposable gloves - you touch all the components at the gas pump to fuel up your car.


Next you get back into your car and grab and hold the steering wheel. The steering wheel becomes a Petri dish where the warmth and moisture from your skin will now create a perfect environment for germs to grow. Maybe your driving for a few minutes, maybe hours. Maybe after you are done driving - now your getting on a Jet. An enclosed environment.


How many people “touch” the surfaces on a gas pump?

I normally wouldn’t share this type of how-to info but in light of the Coronavirus in the news - it’s timely.




Disposable Nitrile Gloves

The thin disposable black nitrile gloves are inexpensive in context of your health and the health of all those around you. I don’t care where you buy your gloves but if your already placing an order for some car wax - add a box of these to your order and be pro-active about prevention. Autogeek also carries ORANGE heavy-duty nitrile gloves.



Here's the difference between the black and the orange gloves.


The black nitrile gloves are thinner and cost less. They also rip easier due to being thin.

Disposable Black Nitrile Gloves - Sizes: Medium - Large - X Large - XX Large





The orange nitrile gloves are much thicker and more stout than the black nitrile gloves and also cost a tick more,

Orange Heavy Duty Nitrile Gloves - Sizes: Medium - Large - X Large - XX Large







Price differences


Box of 100 black nitrile gloves = $16.00 = 17 cents per glove or 34 cents for a pair to wear.

Box of 100 orange nitrile gloves = $18.99 - 19 cents per glove or 38 cents for a pair to wear.

(in most cases you wear a pair of gloves, not just one glove)


There's a time and place for both types. I tend to prefer the orange gloves when doing any substantial work as they are much more heavy duty and also have dimples on them which increases your grip strength.

I prefer the black gloves when shooting video or taking pictures as the orange tends to blow-out the exposure making them look like they glow, which then takes away your focus from what you're trying to showcase.





Stay safe my friends...





p.s.

If this Coronavirus is not contained and gets out of control in the United States, you're going to want a lot of gloves for everything and anything you have to do in public. Let's hope and pray it doesn't become a problem.

	Autoglym Autoglym - A UK based Manufacturer of car care products.

[WHIZZER]

Thanks Mike

[Mike Phillips]

Originally Posted by WHIZZER

Thanks Mike

Back when we were filming our TV show I had to travel a lot and one thing I know, when you have to be on camera you need all your energy, you need to AMP things up more than normal. You can't be low energy.

So the last thing I want to do is show up to the location only to have a cold.

So I started wearing gloves when I gassed up. I also practice a LOT of other simple things like,

When entering a building or exiting a building - DON'T touch the same handle or place everyone else touches.

Try to find a place to push on to get in or out that the masses don't touch.

Then apply this practice to everything.

[Blue Al]

Is this the one time that using diesel is a lifesaver ...gloves happen on auto pilot

I will add that some gloves don’t seem to work with some touchscreens in UK super-markets
Please chime in anyone who has found ones that work, I use thicker ones that sit on the dashboard in between trips
To uv sterilise (don’t get out much) 3 days of summer daylight will do the job

[planehazza]

Great post. I really hope that the people I see walking down the street wearing masks and gloves are using common sense and not wearing the same pair all the time. The problem with gloves is that for them to work, they need to be thrown away after making contact with an 'alien' item, ie something that others have handled. Otherwise, all you're doing is keeping the germs/virus on the gloves and spreading it around just you would without them.

This unfortunately takes away resources from those that really need them. My argument is just don't bother (for going on walks etc.) and just wash your hands thoroughly.

I have a Model 3 so I stay clear of dinosaur liquifying stations anyway

[crash486]

Why can't you sanitise the gloves? I would have thought nitrile would allow this due to chemical resistance or is there a reason you can't.
Hate to see single use of items, especially plastic. Not talking heath workers or surgeon etc just us civilians.


Crash486

[ianrobbo1]

I think they are cheap enough this side of the pond to just bin them, rather than mess around re sterilizing and drying them time and again!!

[Darlofan]

Originally Posted by ianrobbo1

I think they are cheap enough this side of the pond to just bin them, rather than mess around re sterilizing and drying them time and again!!

Straws are cheap too, look what happened there!!

[garage_dweller]

Originally Posted by crash486

Why can't you sanitise the gloves? I would have thought nitrile would allow this due to chemical resistance or is there a reason you can't.
Hate to see single use of items, especially plastic. Not talking heath workers or surgeon etc just us civilians.


Crash486

Can’t see why washing your hands with the gloves on with soap and water for 20 seconds achieve this. If you really wanted to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Phillips]

So......


I was watching TV last night and looks like Tommie Copper read my article,