How do you choose heat-resistant gloves by heat rating and material?

Short answer: Heat-resistant gloves are chosen by matching the glove to the heat path — contact, convective, radiant, or molten-metal splash — and to the temperature involved, using ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat levels in the US or the six EN 407 scores in Europe. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.138 requires employers to select hand protection based on a hazard assessment. A glove rated for one heat path can fail badly against another, so the rating and material must match the actual task.

Heat-resistant gloves guide: contact-heat ratings and materials (2026 Guide)

Every pair of heat-resistant gloves is engineered around how heat reaches the hand, and the rating printed on the cuff is only meaningful once you know which heat path it describes. Two standards govern the category: in the US, ANSI/ISEA 105 assigns a contact-heat level based on how long the wearer can touch a hot surface before feeling pain, while in Europe EN 407 scores six separate heat and fire hazards. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.138, the employer must assess the hand hazard and select gloves that match it — a duty that fails the moment a foundry, welding, or kitchen worker grabs a glove rated for the wrong heat path.

This guide decodes both rating systems, maps common glove materials to the heat paths they actually defend against, and shows how foundry, welding, and kitchen tasks call for very different heat-resistant gloves. Heat-resistant gloves are not interchangeable, and the difference between a contact rating and a radiant rating is the difference between a protected hand and a burn.

Why this matters.
Picking heat-resistant gloves by feel instead of by heat path is a burn waiting to happen — a leather welding glove that shrugs off contact heat offers little against the radiant load at a furnace door, and an oven mitt that handles a hot pan can ignite near open flame. OSHA cites employers under 29 CFR 1910.138 when hand protection is missing or mismatched to the documented hazard, and contact burns are among the most common preventable hand injuries in metalworking and food service.

Part 1 — How heat reaches the hand

Before any rating makes sense, you have to know how the heat travels. Heat-resistant gloves defend against four distinct paths, and a glove built for one is often weak against the others. Matching the path to the rating is the single most important decision in glove selection.

Contact heat

Contact heat comes from touching a hot surface directly — a casting, a hot pan, a die, or a metal handle. It is the path most heat-resistant gloves are marketed against, and it is what the ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat level and the EN 407 contact-heat digit measure.

Convective heat

Convective heat is carried by hot air, steam, or flame washing over the glove, as in tending an oven or working near a torch. A glove can resist contact heat well yet conduct convective heat to the hand if its construction is thin or unlined.

Radiant heat

Radiant heat radiates from a hot mass — a furnace, a kiln, a pour of molten metal — without direct contact. Radiant exposure is defeated by reflection, not insulation, which is why aluminized fabrics dominate foundry work while leather does poorly at a furnace door.

Molten-metal splash

Molten-metal splash is a separate hazard: droplets of molten metal that must shed off the glove surface before they burn through. EN 407 scores small and large molten-metal splash separately, and foundry and welding gloves are built so splashes roll off rather than stick.

Part 2 — The ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat rating (US)

In the United States, thermal performance is described by ANSI/ISEA 105, which rates hand protection across several hazards including cut, puncture, abrasion, and heat. For heat, the key score is the contact-heat level.

How the contact-heat level works

ANSI/ISEA 105 assigns a contact-heat level from 0 to 5, based on the time before the wearer feels pain at a defined contact temperature. A higher level means the glove withstands a higher contact temperature for the required time — Level 5 is the most protective. The level describes contact heat only; convective and radiant performance are considered separately.

What the level does not tell you

A high contact-heat level says nothing about radiant load, molten-metal splash, or flammability. It also assumes a clean, dry glove; the rating is invalidated the moment the glove is wet. Treat the contact-heat level as one input, not a complete picture of a heat-resistant glove.

Part 3 — The EN 407 six-hazard rating (EU)

The European standard EN 407 is more granular than ANSI/ISEA 105: it scores six separate heat and fire hazards, each on its own scale, so one glove carries six digits. Many gloves sold in the US show EN 407 marks alongside the ANSI score, so it pays to read both.

The six EN 407 digits

EN 407 scores, in order: (a) burning behavior or flammability, 1–4; (b) contact heat, 1–4, across roughly 100–500°C; (c) convective heat, 1–4; (d) radiant heat, 1–4; (e) small molten-metal splash, 1–4; and (f) large molten-metal splash, 1–4. A higher number is better performance for that hazard.

Reading an X in the rating

An X in any position means that hazard was not tested, not that the glove failed it — but for selection purposes, treat an untested hazard as no protection. A glove marked 4-1-X-X-X-X is flame-resistant with modest contact heat and no verified convective, radiant, or splash protection, so it is wrong for a foundry pour.

Part 4 — Materials and the heat paths they defend

The material is what actually stops the heat, and each material favors a different path. Leather suits welding and general handling; aramid and Nomex add cut resistance with brief high-contact tolerance; terrycloth and cotton handle moderate bakery heat; aluminized fabrics reflect radiant load; and high-performance fibers handle the extremes.

Leather, aramid, and cotton

Leather is the workhorse for welding and general handling, good for contact and splash up to a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Aramid and Nomex add cut resistance with brief contact tolerance around 400–500°C, while terrycloth and cotton oven mitts cover moderate bakery and kitchen heat.

Aluminized and high-performance fibers

Aluminized fabrics reflect radiant heat and are the standard for foundry and furnace work where the load is radiant rather than contact. For the most extreme heat, silicone-coated fabrics and high-performance fibers such as PBI and Zetex extend the range. Browse material handling gloves for general grip work and trade gloves for warm-but-not-extreme handling that does not need full thermal construction.

What heat gloves are not built for

Heat-resistant gloves are not chemical or disposable-task gloves. For solvent and degreaser handling reach for chemical-resistant gloves, and for light food or shop prep a disposable such as the AMMEX 3-mil food-safe nitrile glove from the nitrile gloves range is the right tool — neither offers meaningful heat protection.

Material-to-heat-path reference. Limits are approximate and depend on construction, lining, and exposure time — verify the glove's ANSI/ISEA 105 or EN 407 rating for the specific task.

Part 5 — Compliance and hazard assessment

OSHA does not mandate a specific glove rating; it mandates a process. Under 29 CFR 1910.138, the employer must assess hand hazards and select protective gloves that match them, documented through the personal protective equipment hazard assessment required by OSHA 1910.132.

Matching the rating to the documented hazard

The hazard assessment should name the heat path and temperature for each task, then the glove rating should answer it — contact-heat level for hot surfaces, radiant rating for furnaces, splash rating for pours. A glove that is correct on paper but wrong for the path will not satisfy the duty and will not protect the worker.

Dexterity and the insulation trade-off

Thicker insulation buys heat resistance at the cost of grip and feel, so over-gloving a low-heat task creates its own hazard by reducing control. Match the insulation to the real temperature and consider lighter hand protection where the heat is moderate.

Part 6 — Practical cautions in the field

Even the correct glove fails if it is misused. Never handle hot items with wet or sweat-soaked gloves — trapped moisture flashes to steam and causes a steam burn through a glove that would otherwise hold. Inspect heat-resistant gloves for charring, stiffening, and holes before each use, and retire them once the surface is compromised. Choose a gauntlet cuff where the wrist and forearm are exposed to splash or radiant load, keep cut-resistant and heat needs separate when one glove cannot serve both well, and remember that heavy hot-handling can also involve impact, where impact-resistant gloves rated under ANSI/ISEA 138 add back-of-hand protection.

Part 7 — Worked example: choosing gloves by heat path for foundry, welding, and kitchen tasks

Here is how the heat-path logic drives three real selections — a foundry pour, a welding station, and a commercial kitchen — using categories stocked on this site:

1. Name the heat path for each task. The foundry pour is dominated by radiant heat and molten-metal splash; the welding station is contact heat plus splatter; the kitchen is moderate contact and convective heat. Write the path and rough temperature down first — that is the hazard assessment OSHA 1910.138 requires.
2. Foundry — reflect the radiant load. Radiant heat is defeated by reflection, not insulation, so the foundry needs aluminized gauntlet gloves with a high EN 407 radiant and molten-splash score. A high ANSI/ISEA 105 contact level alone is not enough here, because the dominant path is radiant, not contact.
3. Welding — leather for contact and splatter. The welding station calls for a leather gauntlet that sheds spatter and tolerates contact heat, paired with the rest of the welder's PPE — a 3M 8516 N95 welding respirator for fume, a helmet such as the 3M Speedglas 100V welding helmet, and welding safety glasses under the hood. Match the cuff length to how much forearm is exposed.
4. Kitchen — moderate contact and convective heat. The kitchen needs a terrycloth or aramid mitt rated for moderate contact and convective heat, kept dry at all times. Reserve thin hand-protection gloves for non-heat prep, and never reach into an oven with a damp mitt.
5. Verify the rating answers the path. For each glove, confirm the ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat level or the relevant EN 407 digit actually covers the path you named — radiant rating for the furnace, splash rating for the pour, contact level for hot surfaces. Cross-check against EN 388 if cut resistance also matters.
6. Inspect, keep dry, and retire on damage. Before each shift, check for charring, stiffening, and holes, and retire any glove whose surface is compromised. Keep the glove dry — a wet glove conducts heat and can cause a steam burn even at a rating that should hold.

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The same path-first logic scales from one bench to a whole plant. Start from the heat-resistant gloves catalog and the broader hand protection range to match each rated glove to the heat path you actually have.

Frequently asked questions

How do I choose heat-resistant gloves?

Identify the heat path first — contact, convective, radiant, or molten-metal splash — then match the glove rating and material to it. Use the ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat level in the US or the six EN 407 scores in Europe, and confirm the material suits the path. Start with the heat-resistant gloves range and narrow by task.

What is the difference between ANSI/ISEA 105 and EN 407?

ANSI/ISEA 105 is the US standard and rates contact heat on a single level from 0 to 5, alongside cut and other hazards. EN 407 is the European standard and scores six separate heat and fire hazards — flammability, contact, convective, radiant, and two molten-metal splash levels — each on its own scale. Many gloves carry both marks.

What does the EN 407 rating mean?

EN 407 prints six digits for six hazards: burning behavior, contact heat, convective heat, radiant heat, small molten-metal splash, and large molten-metal splash. Each is scored 1 to 4, with higher being better. An X means that hazard was not tested, which for selection should be treated as no protection.

What is the ANSI/ISEA 105 contact-heat level?

It is a 0-to-5 score based on how long the wearer can touch a hot surface before feeling pain at a defined contact temperature. A higher level withstands a higher contact temperature for the required time, with Level 5 the most protective. It describes contact heat only, not radiant or convective load. See the ANSI/ISEA hand-protection overview.

What gloves are best for foundry work?

Foundry work is dominated by radiant heat and molten-metal splash, so aluminized gauntlet gloves that reflect radiant load are the standard, ideally with high EN 407 radiant and splash scores. A leather glove with only a high contact rating is the wrong choice because the dominant path is radiant, not contact.

What gloves are best for welding?

Welding calls for a leather gauntlet that sheds spatter and tolerates contact heat, with a cuff long enough to protect the exposed forearm. Pair the gloves with the rest of the welder's PPE such as welding respirators, an auto-darkening welding helmet, and welding goggles rather than treating gloves in isolation.

Can I use leather gloves near a furnace?

Leather handles contact heat and welding spatter well, but it performs poorly against the radiant load at a furnace or kiln door, where reflection is what protects the hand. For radiant exposure, choose aluminized gloves; reserve leather for contact and splash tasks.

Why does a wet glove cause burns?

Moisture trapped in or on a glove flashes to steam when it contacts a hot surface, driving a steam burn straight through a glove that would otherwise hold its rating. Never handle hot items with wet or sweat-soaked heat-resistant gloves, and keep a dry spare on hand for long jobs.

What is the difference between contact and radiant heat protection?

Contact-heat protection insulates the hand from a hot surface you touch, and is measured by the ANSI/ISEA 105 level and the EN 407 contact digit. Radiant-heat protection reflects heat radiating from a hot mass without contact, which is why aluminized fabric is used at furnaces. A glove strong on one can be weak on the other.

What does an X mean in an EN 407 rating?

An X in any of the six EN 407 positions means that hazard was not tested, not that the glove failed. For selection, treat an untested hazard as no protection — a glove marked X for radiant heat should not be trusted at a furnace even if its contact score is high.

Are heat-resistant gloves also cut-resistant?

Not automatically. Aramid and Kevlar gloves combine heat and cut resistance, but leather, terrycloth, and aluminized gloves are not inherently cut-rated. If the task involves sharp edges and heat, check the cut score too — see our EN 388 guide, the cut-resistant gloves range, and the best N95 respirator for welding guide for the airborne side of hot work.

What temperature can heat-resistant gloves handle?

It depends entirely on material and heat path. Leather handles a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit of contact, aramid tolerates brief contact around 400–500°C, aluminized fabric reflects very high radiant loads, and PBI or Zetex extend further. Always read the glove's specific rating rather than assuming a category limit.

Do oven mitts count as heat-resistant gloves?

Terrycloth and cotton oven mitts are heat-resistant gloves for moderate contact and convective heat in a bakery or kitchen, but they are not built for radiant load, molten-metal splash, or open flame. Keep them dry and retire them once they char or thin, and step up to aramid or aluminized gloves for industrial heat. For wet cold prep alongside hot stations, a thick disposable like the Ansell MicroFlex Diamond Grip latex glove handles grip, not heat.

Does OSHA require heat-resistant gloves?

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.138 does not name a specific glove; it requires employers to assess hand hazards and select gloves that match them, documented through the PPE hazard assessment in OSHA 1910.132. For a heat hazard, that means a glove whose rating answers the actual heat path and temperature.

Why does glove thickness reduce dexterity?

Heat resistance comes largely from insulation, and thicker insulation reduces grip, feel, and finger control. Over-gloving a low-heat task creates a handling hazard of its own, so match the insulation to the real temperature. For dexterous warm-but-not-hot prep, a high-grip disposable like the Ansell MicroFlex 93-256 textured nitrile glove preserves feel, and lighter hand protection suits moderate work.

How do I know when to replace heat-resistant gloves?

Inspect before each use and retire gloves that show charring, stiffening, thinning, holes, or a hardened surface, since damaged material no longer holds its rating. For aluminized gloves, replace them once the reflective surface is scuffed or dulled, because lost reflectivity means lost radiant protection.

What is a gauntlet cuff and when do I need one?

A gauntlet cuff extends the glove up the forearm to protect the wrist and lower arm from splash and radiant heat. Use a gauntlet for foundry pours, furnace work, and overhead welding where the forearm is exposed; a shorter cuff is acceptable only when the exposure stops at the hand.

Further reading on this site

• Heat-resistant gloves — the full catalog across contact, radiant, and splash protection.
• Cut-resistant gloves — for tasks that combine heat with sharp-edge handling.
• Material handling gloves — general grip gloves for warm but not extreme work.
• Welding respirators — the rest of the welder's PPE that pairs with heat gloves.
• EN 388 glove standard explained — the companion mechanical-risk rating you will see beside EN 407.
• ANSI/ISEA 138 hand protection standard — how the US hand-protection rating system is structured.
• OSHA 1910.132 PPE requirements — the hazard-assessment rule that frames glove selection.
• 3M Peltor H505B welding earmuffs — hearing protection that completes the hot-work PPE set.