Walk into a busy fabrication shop and you’ll often see it. One welder doing a TIG job in thick, stiff gauntlets, fighting to feel the filler rod. Another doing heavy stick work in thin goatskin, with fresh burn marks on the back of the hand by lunchtime.

Wrong glove. Both times.

Choosing between TIG vs MIG vs stick welding gloves isn’t about brand or price first. The process decides most of it. Each one throws a different mix of heat, spatter and demands on the fingers. Match the glove to the job and the welder works faster and safer. Get it wrong and you either lose control or lose protection.

We make leather welding gloves at our factories in Sialkot, Pakistan, and this question comes up a lot when buyers are putting a range together. So here’s the plain answer.

The short version

TIG needs a thin, soft glove (usually goatskin) so the welder can feel the rod. MIG needs a medium weight glove that copes with more heat and spatter. Stick needs the thickest, longest glove you’ve got, because that process is messy and hot.

The rest of this post explains why, and what to check when you’re buying in bulk.

TIG welding gloves: feel comes first

TIG is the precise one. The welder holds the torch in one hand and feeds filler rod with the other, often on thin stainless steel or aluminium. There’s hardly any spatter. The heat is there, sure, but it’s controlled and close.

So what does a TIG welder actually need? Fingertip feel. If the glove is too bulky they can’t dab the rod properly, and the bead shows it.

That’s why most TIG welding gloves are cut from goatskin grain leather. It’s thin and soft, and it still handles the heat of this kind of work. Kidskin and deerskin get used too, but goatskin is the usual pick for B2B ranges because it sits nicely between price and durability.

The European standard for welders’ gloves, EN 12477, splits them into two types. Type B is for jobs that need higher dexterity with lower protective properties, such as TIG welding, while Type A covers general welding and cutting where more protection is needed. For TIG, that trade is exactly what you want.

A couple of details are worth a look. The cuff, first. A split leather cuff, like the one on our goatskin TIG welding glove, covers the wrist without making the fingers clumsy. Then the thread. Ask what the seams are sewn with, because cotton thread can burn through near heat, which is why many welding gloves use Kevlar thread instead. And then the leather grade. Grade A goatskin is smoother and more even, while Grade AB has more natural marks and costs less. Both work. It mostly comes down to who you’re selling to.

MIG welding gloves: the middle ground

MIG is where a lot of production welding happens. Steel frames, gates, racks, vehicle parts. The wire feeds itself, so nobody’s fiddling with a rod. But MIG runs hotter than TIG and throws more spatter, especially on thicker steel.

The glove takes more punishment, basically. That usually means cowhide, grain or split, a bit heavier than anything you’d use for TIG. The back of the hand faces the arc for long stretches, so some welders like padding there. A cotton or fleece lining helps as well since it slows down how fast the heat reaches the skin.

Length? Around 14 inches is common for MIG. Long enough to cover the wrist and tuck under a jacket sleeve, short enough not to get in the way. Our 14 inch MIG welding gloves with a reinforced palm are made for this sort of everyday shop work.

Stick welding gloves: built for the worst of it

Stick welding (SMAW, often just called arc welding) is rough on gloves. Big sparks, heavy spatter, slag, a lot of heat. It’s also what you’ll find on construction sites, pipelines and repair yards, often outdoors and often in awkward positions where sparks fall straight onto the hands.

You don’t need fingertip feel here. You need cover.

So stick welding gloves are thick split cowhide, fully lined, with long gauntlet cuffs. Sixteen or 18 inches is normal. For overhead or really heavy work, some buyers go all the way to 24 inches. A double layer on the palm and thumb is worth paying for, because that’s where the electrode holder rubs and where a glove usually wears through first.

Our 16 inch glove with a double palm, thumb and fingers was built with this kind of job in mind, and the 18 inch version gives more forearm cover. If your customers do a lot of stick work, they’ll usually want a leather welding jacket or apron too, because gloves only protect the hands and wrists.

Can one glove do all three?

Not well, no.

A thick stick glove will get you through a MIG job. Plenty of welders do exactly that. But put it on for TIG and the welder will struggle to control the rod. Going the other way is worse. A thin TIG glove on a stick job won’t last long and won’t give the hand enough protection.

Shops that do mixed work often keep two pairs per welder, one light pair for TIG and one heavier pair for MIG and stick. That’s the most practical setup, and it’s worth keeping in mind if you’re deciding what to stock.

What to check before buying welding gloves in bulk

If you’re a distributor, a store, or a company buying for a whole workforce, the questions shift a little. You’re not picking one pair. You’re picking what goes into a range.

• Where the leather comes from. Leather from Leather Working Group member tanneries is easier to sell into Europe and the UK. Ours is sourced from LWG Gold members.
• The marking inside the glove. For welding gloves sold in Europe that’s EN 12477, which also draws on EN 388 (mechanical) and EN 407 (heat). Ask for the test report for that exact glove, not just a CE logo on the cuff.
• Sizes, cuff colours, logo and packaging. Most buyers want their own brand printed or embroidered on the cuff, plus their own header cards.
• Samples. Feel the leather, check the stitching, hand them to a couple of welders for a week. A supplier who won’t send samples is telling you something.

We do private label orders from pattern to final sample, and you can see how that works on our glove manufacturing services page.

Buying welding gloves from Pakistan

Sialkot has been making gloves for generations. Pakistan’s Trade Development Authority describes the city as the country’s centre of glove manufacturing, covering everything from sports to industrial gloves. For buyers, that means leather, skilled stitchers and component suppliers all within reach.

Saxum Group has been part of that for over 20 years, making leather work gloves, welding gloves and welding clothing for export. If you’re looking for a welding gloves manufacturer in Pakistan, you can browse the full product range to see TIG, MIG and stick styles side by side.

FAQs

What leather is best for TIG welding gloves?

Goatskin, in most cases. It’s thin enough for good rod control and tough enough for the heat TIG puts out. Kidskin and deerskin are softer options some welders prefer.

Can I use MIG gloves for stick welding?

For light stick work, often yes, as long as the glove is lined and has a decent cuff. For heavy or overhead stick welding, go for a thicker split leather glove of 16 inches or more.

How long should welding gloves be?

About 14 inches suits most TIG and MIG work. Stick welders usually go for 16 to 18 inches, and 24 inch gloves are for heavy duty or overhead jobs where sparks fall onto the arms.

Do you make custom welding gloves with our logo?

Yes. We handle custom sizes, colours, cuff branding and packaging. Send your design or a photo of a sample and we’ll come back with a quote within 24 hours.

Picking the right pair

Feel for TIG, balance for MIG, cover for stick. If your buyers do mixed work, stock both a light and a heavy glove rather than one compromise. And whatever you choose, check the test report for the exact model before it goes on the shelf.

Not sure which glove fits your range? Tell us what your customers weld and we’ll suggest a mix. Get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.