Flame Resistant clothing make a great part of any company’s safety program. They protect you from any burning injuries at your work. It is very crucial to wear a flame resistant clothing, especially when you deal with fire or flammable substances at your workplace.
While washing your FR clothes you need to know the proper way to do so otherwise the clothes may lose their fire resistive property.
Washing your FR clothes is not really a hard thing to. A few expert tips and you will have your clothes clean without losing its usability. To learn more about care for FR clothing, take a look at our tips.
Industrial Laundry wash
If you are going to use an industrial laundry machine make sure that you wash your flame resistant separately from other ones. Avoid using hard water as it may cause insoluble minerals to deposit on the surface of your garment resulting in the decrease in flame resistive qualities.
Use wash formulas which are non-ionic in nature so as to retain flame resistance characteristics of your clothes.
Avoid using any kind of bleach as it may destroy the usability of your fabric. Also avoid starch and fabric softeners. You can also contact the manufacturer for detailed instructions on washing the fabric.
Home Wash
In case of home wash, separate your FR clothes from other ones and use home laundry detergent. Avoid using soap, fabric conditioners or bleach. You should also turn your clothes inside out to prevent tearing.
In case of deep stains, you might need to use a stain removal product and if the cloth is heavily stained it may reduce their usability. In such a case it may be a wise idea to throw the clothes away.
Do not over dry your clothes, as it may lead to shrinkage, reducing the usability of the clothing.
Dry Cleaning
Not all FR clothing are suitable for dry cleaning. Before you go for dry cleaning make sure that your flame resistant clothes are eligible for dry cleaning.
Dry cleaning is a great method for removing oil and grease from the clothes. In case of dry cleaning only petroleum or perchloroethylene solvents should be used.
Removing Stains
When you use a flame resistant clothing for your work, you need to make sure they are clean and free of stains. Staining contaminates your FR fabric and will reduce or destroy the usability of the garment.
To protect your clothes, you should clean them immediately when it is stained. An industrial laundering or even a home laundering can remove stains from both flammable and non-flammable substance.
If the stains are too deep and you are unable to clean them in a home wash you can go for industrial laundry. This should remove the stains from your garments.
Sometimes even after thoroughly cleaning your clothes, flammable substance may still adhere to your clothes. This may be indicated by the presence of light staining and odor even after laundering has been done. In such cases you might have to opt for dry cleaning.
Drying
Flame resistance clothing are prone to shrinking. So to prevent this from happening do not over dry those as it can cause heavy shrinkage. However, there is a chance of about 5 percent shrinkage in washing FR clothes, so a good idea will be to a garment which is at least a size larger.
Refrain from using fabric sheets in your dryer when drying FR clothing. Dryer sheets removes the protective coating of FR clothing to some extent reducing their usability.
Final Words
Once you know the right way to wash your FR clothing, it becomes quite easy. with the tips mentioned in the article you can now wash your FR garments and maintain their lobgevity.
