Proper Wear and Care of Flame Resistant Cloth

Proper Wear and Care of Flame Resistant Cloth

No matter what style of work uniform you wear, if it’s flame resistant, it requires special care as well as correct methods of being worn. This cloth is designed to keep you safe from things like molten metal, sparks, and—obviously—fire. Improper care can reduce the effectiveness of the clothing. Wearing flame resistant work clothes in an improper manner can not only reduce the effectiveness of the material, but may even be a safety violation that could have serious repercussions on your career.

Care

Before you ever put your flame resistant work uniform in the washer, read the instructions. They will help you keep your uniform in tip-top shape so it can keep you safe. After reading the instructions, take a look at some of the tips below.

  • If you need to pre-treat the clothing, avoid any type of pre-treating chemicals that contain bleach. Bleach can reduce the effectiveness of the material.
  • When it comes time to add the detergent, avoid anything with bleach or any kind of animal fat in it. In fact, you may want to simply avoid any kind of detergent at all if you aren’t sure exactly what type of chemicals are in your normal detergent or soap.
  • Use a lower temperature. Sure, you wear this to work so your first inclination is to wash it in hot water in order to get the grime out, but be careful about using temperatures that are too high. Go for 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for washing and rinsing.
  • Avoid fabric softener. If you wash the item alone, this is easy enough to remember. However, if you wash it with other clothing, you might forget not to add the fabric softener. When washing the flame resistant material with other clothing, consider using dryer sheets in the dryer, but not with your work uniform. Instead, set the dryer on timed dry when you put the clothes in the dryer. Then, you can remove the work uniform and allow it to finish drying by air drying it. Add a softener sheet to the dryer so that the other clothes can benefit from fabric softener, but the uniform won’t be damaged.

Wear

Wear the flame resistant uniform as it was intended to be worn. This isn’t about fashion, or even comfort, but about your safety.

  • Keep all clothing tucked in under the uniform.
  • If the uniform has a fastener, use it. That means zip or button the uniform all the way up.
  • Do not modify the way the uniform should be worn by rolling up the sleeves or cutting off the legs.
  • If you are cold, wear an additional piece of clothing under the flame resistant clothing, not over it.
  • Do not wear synthetic clothing under your uniform if you can avoid it. Synthetic clothing catches on fire easily and burns very quickly.

Flame resistant clothing is meant to cover as much of your body as possible. When you roll it up, or leave other clothing hanging out of it or over it, you defeat the purpose of wearing it at all. In fact, if clothing is hanging out of your uniform and catches fire, the fire might get trapped under the uniform and cause a much worse situation than you could have imagined. For further information about flame resistant clothing, contact Prudential Overall Supply at 800-767-5536 now.