How to determine the useful life of flame resistant clothing
Flame resistant clothing is made from various types of materials that are either flame resistant naturally or have been enhanced by man-made additives. Most FR garments are made to have their protective qualities last for the life of the garment which means until the garment can no longer be worn.
Some garments may use materials of less quality and can possibly over time be washed out bearing in mind that clothes of this nature usually undergo industrial washing. The label on the garment should specify what kind of material was used in the production of the garment and the protective rating.
This information may or may not indicate to the end user the useful life of the clothing.
If the fabric used is such that flame resistant properties were added, depending on the process the FR properties could last anywhere from 25 to possibly 100+ washes before the usefulness of the protection from flash fire may start to deteriorate. For better quality materials such as fabric that has been enhanced by the ammonia cure process they will maintain the flame resistant properties for the life of the garment unless the items are subject to deterioration by substances such as bleach.
Again this all comes down to buyer beware and some of the lower cost safety clothing that is available on the market may be a lower cost for a reason.
With the Internet being such a useful tool it is easy to research fabric types used in production to get an indication of the useful life of the garments made from the fabric.
As to the labeling of the garments, there should be care instructions that explain how to care for your clothing and keep them clean. The instructions will let you know the proper handling procedures and what is necessary to keep the garment in good condition and preserve its protective features.
There should also be some indication that the fabric was tested to meet certain standards such as for flash fire.
Terry Smeader
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Tags: clothing, flame, life of garment, resistant
