Protect Your Investment & Protect Yourself!
Correct washing and drying are very important to preserve the protection offered by FR clothing. If you do not wash and dry FR clothing correctly, the protection will be diminished and over time your safety will be at risk. Follow these steps:
Preparation:
- Wash the FR clothing at least once before wearing it to work.
- Inspect your clothing to make sure there are no burns, tears or other issues. Wipe any debris off with a cloth.
- If your clothing is covered in mud or dirt then the FR material cannot do its job.
- If your FR clothing has splashes of oil or grease or paint on it, those are flammable and compromise the FR garment. They must be cleaned away.
- Empty the pockets, clean out the cuffs and close the zippers.
- Pre-treating stains with commercial products can be helpful. Make sure the product does not contain bleach. Allow time for the product to do its work.
Washing:
- Wash FR clothing separately from other clothing.
- Wash in warm water (140F/60C) but never hot water, since hot water can deteriorate the FR protection.
- Do you have hard water? Use a water conditioner.
- Wash with synthetic liquid detergent only. Do not use powder detergent, which is made from fatty acids that can form an insoluble scum on the clothing.
- Soap residue must be washed away since it is potentially flammable. Make sure the rinsing is adequate.
- Do not use fabric softeners.
- Never use bleach, which will attack the FR protection. Make sure your detergent does not contain bleach either.
Drying:
- Machine drying does not affect Nomex inherently FR materials, however may fade the colour over time.
- Dry separately from other garments
- Dry at a low temperature.
- Consider hanging
Ironing:
- If you must iron, use a low temperature.
Dry Cleaning:
- Dry cleaning can be fine if the dry cleaner has knowledge about FR clothing and knows what they are doing. Make sure no harmful or potentially flammable additives are used.