Fire retardant clothing plays a vital role in keeping people safe when they work in environments with fire risks.
It’s essential to keep these garments clean and free of stains, especially from oils or grease, to maintain their effectiveness. Not only do clean clothes offer better protection, but they also last longer without losing their fire-resistant qualities.
If the fabric gets covered in stains, gets holes, or becomes thin, it can become hazardous to the wearer.
Understanding how to properly wash and care for these clothes is crucial for their longevity.
Even though flame retardant garments are known for shrinking after washes, there are effective techniques to minimize this issue. Proper care will help ensure these garments continue to offer protection and a long-lasting service life.
How To Wash Fire Retardant Clothes?
Fire retardant clothes can be washed in a home washer or an industrial washer, but home laundering is a much safer and cost-effective option and can help keep the protectiveness of fire retardant clothes for longer.
7 Tips For Washing Fire Retardant Clothes
Washing FR clothes is similar to washing normal clothes, but as FR clothes aren’t ordinary garments, there are certain things you should remember to do and things that you should avoid for your FR clothes to be washed correctly.
- Separately washing your fire retardant clothes from your ordinary clothes will ensure your FR clothes don’t get contaminated
- Remember to turn your fire-retardant clothes inside and out to avoid streaking and abrasion
- Avoid washing your fire-retardant clothes at the highest temperature. If the temperature is set too high, your garments will be at risk of increased shrinking
- Choose cool and warm temperatures. Varying materials will have varying recommended temperatures. Check the garment’s label for its details
- Avoid letting the garment be soaked in the washer for too long. This can badly affect the garment’s protective finish
- Do not use bleach or bleach-based detergents. The integrity of the clothing can be badly damaged by bleach. Check your detergent’s label to ensure it doesn’t have chlorine or non-chlorine bleach
- Avoid fabric softeners and starch, as both can affect your garment’s protective finish
Tips to Reduce the Shrinking of Fire-Resistant Clothing
Flame retardant garments shrink over time, but certain actions can help slow this process.
One simple approach is washing these garments in cold or warm water. This can make a significant difference in keeping them from shrinking too much. Heat can lead to faster shrinking, so always keep the water temperature in mind.
When it comes to drying, line drying is a gentle and effective method. Hanging the clothes instead of using a dryer preserves their size better.
If a dryer is necessary, removing garments while they are still damp is recommended. Over-drying can cause extra shrinkage, so clothes should not remain in the dryer for extended periods.
Avoiding High Heat:
- Refrain from using high heat settings whether washing or drying.
- Always aim for the lowest heat possible to get the job done without triggering more shrinkage.
By following these simple steps and taking care with heat exposure, the life of flame retardant garments can be extended. It involves a little more attention, but the reward is in less shrinkage and longer-lasting clothing performance.
Conclusion
All clothes shrink, including fire-retardant clothing, but you can follow the tips above to ensure your clothes shrink at a much slower rate so they can have a long life of use. Stains are bad for any garment, but they’re specifically bad for FR garments as they can damage the protective finish of the clothing. Washing will not only keep your clothes clean but also effective.