An oven glove, or oven mitt, is an insulated

Thermal insulation

Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...

 glove

Glove

A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...

 or mitten usually worn in the kitchen

Kitchen

A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...

 to protect the wearer's hand

Hand

A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs...

 from hot objects such as ovens, stoves, cookware, etc.

Fabric gloves consist of heat insulation surrounded by cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 fabric, usually consisting of decorative patterns. Newer oven gloves are often treated with silicone, which makes them resistant to water and stains, or made of stronger synthetic materials such as Kevlar

Kevlar

Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...

 or Nomex

Nomex

Nomex is a registered trademark for flame resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967.- Properties:...

.

Oven mitts are often sold singly rather than in a pair, designed to be worn on either hand.

Safety

Oven gloves should only be used when dry and only for short periods at a time. The gloves should not come into contact with heating element

Heating element

A heating element converts electricity into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element....

s, gas flames or similar sources of high temperature. Fabric gloves will not protect against hot liquids.

Furnace gloves, or furnace mitts, are more heavily insulated, longer, and can protect the user from intense heat for longer periods of time.