You have been out more than I have. Why were you at an auto repair when you don’t have a car?

LOL. I walk between stores rather than take the city bus which serves many homeless, sometimes just to sleep. The auto repair is on my route.

That is a good shopping plan, too.  I need to call Walgreens and see if they have masks before I go over.

Not bad if you don't need one every day.

I don’t need that many.

Sell the extra.

For those with latex allergies, nitrile based elastic makes a great substitute. The synthetic rubber is about 5x to 10x the cost per unit weight of ordinary latex rubber, but it lacks the complex protein molecules that trigger severe allergies.

My friend with the severe fibromyalgia has a truly ghastly bad latex allergy. If she touches something that has even been in contact with a rubber band - e.g. mail that was bundled with a rubber band, even if someone else removes it before bringing it indoors - if she touches the spot the rubber had come in contact with on the envelope, it raises blisters like a 2nd degree burn within 30 seconds or less. That's just from a brief touch.

Touching a rubber band will do the kind of damage like touching a red-hot piece of steel.

Then she has to gobble Benadryl like one would eat M&Ms and take a couple of preventative puffs of a strong steroidal inhaler in case anaphylaxis decides to set in.

Interesting. How and where is it used?
I do not have that allergy (that I know of) but I never know when I will meet someone with it.
Where and how is it purchased?

kizmet1 said:

Interesting. How and where is it used? I do not have that allergy (that I know of) but I never know when I will meet someone with it. Where and how is it purchased?

Nitrile gloves are now being sold in places like Sam's Club, Harbor Freight, and AutoZone. They have been around for a couple of decades for mechanics to keep automotive grunge off their hands while retaining tactile sensitivity and grip of objects. I ordered some nitrile rubber bands on-line. There are even nitrile condoms out there.

They are starting to use nitrile in other applications such as mechanical drive belts, because it is resistant to oils and greases and even gasoline to some extent.

https://mykin.com/rubber-chemical-resistance-chart

https://www.customadvanced.com/chemical-resistance-chart.html

She also has a cross-allergy to neoprene and some other synthetic rubbers materials, including contact reactions with car tires. The odor in most tire stores is enough to cause a reaction.

Thanks for the info. I think I will pass on tbe condoms.