Cleaning Bulwark High Visibility Flame Resistant Clothing
Proper cleaning of your Bulwark high visibility flame resistant clothing is very important for keeping your garments in good condition and lasting longer. There is a right way and a wrong to go about cleaning your high visibility flame resistant clothing although it is not that difficult of a task. If you follow a few simple guidelines as shown below you should get more out of your safety clothing.
1.
What wash cycle and water temperature should Iuse?
Wash in a Normal or Cotton cycle at any water temperature up to a maximum of 140ºF (60ºC). Hotter water temperatures may be required to remove oily soils. It is important to remove flammable soils as soon as possible as they can serve as fuel. You can also use additives to the wash that help in removing the oily substances such as degreasers.
2. How do I wash these garments?
Use soft water (less than 4.0 grains). Hard water contains mineral salts that can form insoluble deposits on the surface of fabrics that can negate the flame resistant characteristics or serve as fuel if garments are exposed to an ignition source. Use any typical home laundry detergent. Do not use tallow soap. Home wash products are clearly labelled. For example,
“Tide® detergent” or “Dial®
soap” is stated on the package. Stains may be treated with any of the commercial stain removal products.
Depending on the water in your local community you can check on whether the
water is soft or hard.
Do not use chlorine bleach or liquid non-chlorine bleaches.
3. Do I have to wash these garments separately?
Wash Bulwark flame resistant high visibility garments separately to avoid damaging the luminescent effect.
This is due to the fact that soil from other garments can redistribute onto
the expensive PPE.
4.
What about other laundry aids?Starch, fabric softeners, and other laundry additives can coat the fiber and mask luminescent and flame resistant performance. They may also serve as fuel in case of combustion. Their use is not recommended.
5. What about drying and ironing?
Do not over dry. Dry on Permanent Press or Low setting. If dried either too long or too hot you may get excessive shrinkage. If desired, iron on PermanentPress/Low settings. Do not use starch. It is always better to take the garments out of the dryer when a they are slightly damp.
6.
Any other suggestions?Turn the garments inside out before wash to reduce streaking from abrasion of stiff new fabric. Load the washer no more than 2/3 full with garments and use the high water level setting.
7.
Can these garments be dry cleaned?Yes, these garments can be dry cleaned by either petroleum solvent or perchloroethlyene.
8. When is dry cleaning recommended?
If garments are heavily soiled with oil or grease, drycleaning is recommended because this is more effective in removing these type contaminants. It is usually best to wash the clothing first to get off the debris such as mud and dirt and then dry clean them to get the oil and grease out.
9. How do I repair these garments?
Minor repairs that do not affect the integrity of the garment may be made using the repair kits available from Bulwark Customer Care.
10. Can the flame resistant properties be removed?
When washed by the prescribed laundry procedures, the durability of the flame resistance of these garments is guaranteed for the useful wear life of the garment.
As with any process the above information should be followed to obtain the best results out of your product. There is always the chance that normal were and tear can sometimes result in damage to the fabric from abrasion. This may lead to faster wearing out of the apparel but it would not affect the flame resistant properties of the high visibility clothing as long as you follow the cleaning instructions in this article.
