Washing Kevlar

[ctus]

Curious what others do for cleaning BP residue from Kevlar chute/ cord protectors. What type of detergent used? Do you air dry them? Does Kevlar shrink? I find they get pretty nasty even after 1 or 2 deployments.

Thanks

 

[BayouRat]

I soak mine in the garage sink with Gain laundry detergent. Just fill the sink 1/4 with water add detergent agitate. Add shock cords, chute protectors, D-Bags, chutes, dirty socks, etc... I agitate for a few minutes and let it sit for a while. Agitate it again and let sit over night. Then rinse repeat if necessary. I wring them out and throw the Kevlar and Nomex stuff in the dryer. The nylon chutes go on a line to dry.

I have even thrown in a dryer sheet so they get that just washed feel.

 

[tbzep]

My various pieces of turnout gear in recent years have been made from Kevlar, Nomex, PBI, etc. They all come with instructions to machine wash with regular detergent and stress not to use anything with bleach. They also recommend to air dry instead of using a dryer, but I'm not exactly sure why other than the heavy buckles and zippers on the outer shells beating the finish off of the drum.

 

[BayouRat]

My various pieces of turnout gear in recent years have been made from Kevlar, Nomex, PBI, etc. They all come with instructions to machine wash with regular detergent and stress not to use anything with bleach. They also recommend to air dry instead of using a dryer, but I'm not exactly sure why other than the heavy buckles and zippers on the outer shells beating the finish off of the drum.

Not to metion the noise it would make in the dryer. I know I get yelled at for putting sneakers in the dryer.

 

[ctus]

I wasn't sure if putting them in the dryer would make them shrink.

 

[tbzep]

I wasn't sure if putting them in the dryer would make them shrink.

No more than the average poly/cotton blend garment. Go for it. I've dried my Nomex hood before and it does just fine. As long as you don't use bleach, pretty much nothing will hurt the fabric when you wash it. If it is colorful, you could fade it by washing in really high temperatures but that's about it. Some fabric softeners leave flammable residue too, btw. Nomex doesn't absorb water all that well, so it shouldn't need to be dried very long. In fact, with the low humidity indoors in the winter, it should dry out by hanging it in the house for a few hours. It definitely would dry overnight.

If you wash and dry with other stuff like towels, lint might get caught in the fibers. Lint is flammable. Maybe that's why they don't recommend firefighting gear to be dried at all. I could imagine what kind of fuzz would be all over the gear if you dried it with a load of towels. If I walked into a hot fire I might go "poof"! :surprised:

 

[Peartree]

Not to metion the noise it would make in the dryer. I know I get yelled at for putting sneakers in the dryer.

Always put sneakers in the dryer with a load of heavy towels or sweatshirts. It muffles the thumpity-thumping. *edit- even if you have to put the sneaks in with stuff that's already dry* Also, as I always tell my kids, if you just leave your shoes on top of/in front of the furnace vent in your room overnight, they'll be dry by morning.

 

[KDRaven]

hey I put sneekers in the dryer when I tumble air dry my buckskins after hanging them to dry it sofftens them back up. And I just turn the raido up really loud or just leave. Ever try wearing line dried leather, it is as stiff as cardboard.

 

[Peartree]

Ever try wearing line dried leather, it is as stiff as cardboard.

I understand. My work gloves are practically useless after those occasions I need to wash them. It's like putting your hand in a cardboard box for the first few days.

 

[deandome]

I understand. My work gloves are practically useless after those occasions I need to wash them. It's like putting your hand in a cardboard box for the first few days.

I dunno, I have/had a leather bomber jacket...heavy, full-grain cowhide. It was on the floor in my basement, and some water seeped in & it got so wet for so long, MOLD was growing on it.

I was gonna pitch it, but before that, I tried a hail mary....I put it in the washing machine....WITH BLEACH...and gave it a go.

It came out BEAUTIFUL....the bleach gave it a cool, weathered/mottled/distressed look, it was soft when it dried, the lining didn't get messed up (still shocked at that). I actually sprayed some more bleach on the arms to even out the effect...that worked, too.

I'll stop short of actually recommending you do this to your jacket :lol: , but there are some leathers that take to water pretty dam well.

 

[jadebox]

Some fabric softeners leave flammable residue too, btw.

Yep. Both liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets can leave flammable residues. So, you'd want to avoid using either of them on rocket stuff.

-- Roger

 

[new2hpr]

, but there are some leathers that take to water pretty dam well.

Well, not much bad happens to cows in the rain.

Ken