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At G&L Clothing we understand that the work environment can be messy and when you are limited to a certain number of washings for your high vis garment you can never be to careful. Just in case spills or messes occur, we decided to run a little test on a few of our high visibility items. We chose a Class 3 LaCrosse jacket as well as both safety green and orange color enhanced T-shirts for our experiment. The jacket has reflective taping which is very important when staying visible on the job. The T-shirts do not have reflective taping, but it is still a nice example of removing stains from color enhanced fabric.
before the destruction
I was lucky enough to set up this experiment and I used a variety of different items to create stains on these three garments. From food to mud, grease, and oil, here is the complete list of products that “ended up” on our high visibility apparel.
I chose four different store bought stain removers just from word of mouth and curiosity plus tried household remedies on each stain. Because of the color enhanced nature of these garments and reflective taping, bleach is not option. These are the stain removers I used:
Most stains were treated within a 10-15 min timeframe of when the stain was applied. Because the jacket was waterproof, it prevented a majority of the stains from soaking in completely but still had staining. It was a little messy at times, but these were the findings for our stain removal experiment.
High Vis w/ stains
Chocolate, Jelly/Raspberry preserves, Ketchup, Mustard: Tide® to Go removed a majority of the stain immediately, Shout® gel did the same, Spray N’ Wash® and Oxiclean® sat for 1-5 mins to soak in. After washing, this stain was completely removed for all of them, so fear no food when it comes to high vis and color enhanced clothing.
Grass: Tide® to Go removed most of the stain but left a bit behind, Shout® gel left behind the darker stains, I let the Spray N’ Wash® and Oxiclean® sit on the stain. There were a few home remedies that I tried on the grass stain, vinegar and wetting the stain then applying sugar for an hour. The chemical stain removers worked well; there was barely a trace of the grass stain. Unfortunately the home remedies did not fair as well and the sugar was a big mess.
Mud: Tide® to Go took out most of the stain and left the spot a little dingy. Shout® gel removed most of the stain as well. Spray N’ Wash® and Oxiclean® soaked in the stain before washing. After washing the stain was gone; another winner for the stain removers.
Motor oil: First off this was a very messy stain and the results were not good. The Tide® to Go didn’t work to remove the stain. I let the Shout® gel, Spray N’ Wash® and Oxiclean® set in the stain for a bit. After washing, the stain remained, none of the removers worked. Working in the field and encountering oil stains is probably a lot more common than the food stains above so I was disappointed with the results.
Grease: Another tough stain, this one came from running the coat under an old truck. As with the motor oil, none of the pre-washing treatments came close to removing even a portion of the stain. The results were the same after washing; the grease stain was just as prominent as before. The whole purpose of this stain removal test was to try and removed the toughest stains like grease and oil, looks like a second experiment will need to be done to try and eliminate these stains.
Ink and Marker: I wanted to test these two stains on the cotton, color enhanced fabric and reflective taping. I have heard lots of different household items to remove ink stains so I gave it a shot; I used hairspray, nail polish remover, rubbing alcohol, toothpaste, vinegar and dish soap along with the chemical stain removers. The products that worked the best on the ink stains were hairspray and nail polish remover, the toothpaste worked pretty well too. The marker didn't come out as well. I was very surprised with the results. And a quick tip, DO NOT use the rubbing alcohol, the stain will grow in size and bled all over. It could be a good art project but not a stain removal tactic.
all clean, except for marker & grease/oil
All in all, the chemical stain removers, Shout® gel, Spray N’ Wash® and Oxiclean® worked well and performed at the same stain removing level. I liked the Tide® to Go because it is a handy little item you can keep in your glove box to help remove stains while on the job. Using these stain removers the High Visibility quality still remained with no discoloration. The household remedies worked the best at removing ink and marker stains. Our oil and grease stains will need a lot more work, so be on the look out for part 2 of the stain remover blog.
Find all your High Visibility Apparel at G&L Clothing and feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, suggestions, we’d love to hear from you!
Specialty clothing such as Flame Resistant garments are essential to keeping workers safe in situations where electric arcs or flash fires can occur. Because these garments are so specialized they bear a higher price tag than normal clothing and do not qualify under the return/exchange policy for some companies. Once you find the perfect fit now the task at hand is to keep that garment in tip-top shape for the coming years.
Most FR garments have a life expectancy between 2-5 years (depending on the fabric content) and if you follow the washing instructions your items will keep you protected as long as possible. We have a few different brands that provide our Flame Resistant collection: Carhartt, Walls FR and Bulwark. Here are the washing instructions for each brand.
Carhartt uses fabric from Mount Vernon Mills on a variety of their Flame Resistant items. All items can be washed at home or dry cleaned. You can find all our Carhartt FR items here.
- Home washing: All quilt lined items should be washed at warm temps that do not exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit; tumble dry low and remove promptly, iron with low heat. Unlined or twill lined garments wash warm temps that do not exceed 165 degrees Fahrenheit; tumble dry low, remove promptly and iron with low heat.
** Carhartt has recently discovered home laundering of the 13 oz. Dark Navy FR garments may result in color streaking. This does not degrade the safety of the fabric but it does impact the aesthetic quality. Carhartt recommends commercial laundering for the following items: FRB229, FRC066, FRJ184, FRJ195, FRJ198, FRR44, FRR45 and FRA265. Please ask for the garment to be turned inside out prior to washing.
Walls FR uses fabric from ITEX that produce BANWEAR and BANOX certified fabrics. BANWEAR products are a blend of 88% cotton/ 12% high tenacity nylon with a life expectancy of 4-5 years; BANOX certified products consist of 100% cotton and last 2-3 years. Start shopping for Walls FR garments.
- Home washing: Professional cleaning can be costly for a garment worn every day, luckily most FR items are machine washable. All detergents, except those containing chlorine or peroxide bleach and enzymes may be used. When washing at home, the hardness of the water does not affect the BANWEAR, BANOX certified fabric’s flammability as long as the fabrics are adequately rinsed.
- Industrial laundering: Because of hard water and high temps industrial laundering and drying can cause mineral build up on FR fabric (containing cotton) making them less resistant. This build up can be prevented with soft water or adequate sour, facilities using hard water should test the flammability of the fabrics after 100 washes. Industrial drying should not exceed 280 degrees Fahrenheit, normal shrinkage is up to 5%.
- Dry Clean: This procedure must be done in a manner that removes all dry cleaning solvent from fabric. ITEX does NOT want you to dry clean indigo dyed BANOX FR3 or BANOX certified denim.
Bulwark has a few different tips and laundry techniques for the different fabrics. Find all Bulwark Flame Resistant items here.
- Home washing: Wash FR garments separate in a normal or cotton cycle at any water temp up to a max of 140 degrees Fahrenheit; you may require hotter water temps to remove oily stains. Bulwark also mentions using soft water due to the fact hard water can cause mineral build up. Use typical laundry detergent; do not use: tallow soap, chlorine bleach, or liquid non-chlorine bleaches. Turn garment inside out before washing to reduce streaking and load the washer no more than 2/3 full. Do not over dry this can lead to excessive shrinkage; dry on permanent press or low settings.
- Dry cleaning: Bulwark garments can be dry cleaned by either petroleum solvent or perchloroethlyene and is recommended when items are heavily soiled with oil or grease. Do not dry clean indigo dyed FR denim.
No matter the brand, all agreed that using laundry aids such as starch, fabric softeners, bleach are not recommended. Starch and fabric softeners can coat the fiber and mask the flame resistant performance and can serve as fuel for combustion. Chlorine bleach destroys FR polymer and reduces the resistance of the fabric.
Now that you know how to take care of your Flame Resistant materials, what do you do if you have a rip or tear in the garment from normal wear? Bulwark offers a repair kit for minor repairs that do no affect the integrity of the garment. If you repair is major, do not continue to wear the item as it can become contaminated with flammable materials. Minor patches can be made in BANWEAR or BANOX certified fabrics with patches of these fabrics and nomex thread. Any garments that have lost their FR ability should be permanently removed from service.
Don’t hesitate to contact us about Flame Resistant items, whether it be sizing or washing techniques we will help as much as possible or contact the manufacturer if we do not know.
Safety is number one priority on or off the job, and whether you are on foot, bike, or behind a machine, if your day involves high traffic, distractions from your surroundings, or the need to differentiate from your surroundings High Visibility clothing can help keep you safe and sound.
Choosing the correct garment for the job is a necessity especially in high traffic areas; below are a few facts about Class 1 and ANSI compliant garments. This valuable information can help you decide what class is ideal for your situation or if higher ANSI rating is required.
Class 1 garments…
- Must be color enhanced
- Can be equipped with reflective taping no less than 25mm in width.
And are worn by workers when…
- traffic does not exceed 25 mph
- there is a separation between worker and traffic.
- An occupation permits full and undivided attention to approaching traffic
- Work backgrounds are not complex.
These are examples of workers using Class 1 garments:
- Parking attendants
- Shopping cart retrievers
- Warehouse workers in equipment traffic
- Sidewalk maintenance workers
- Delivery vehicle personnel
- Crossing guard in school zones
- Law enforcement/fire/EMS personnel
Before you make a decision on Class 1 clothing, make sure to check with your employer on the ANSI rating required for your position. A higher level of visibility may be needed if a situation or worksite changes, being safely equipped for the day is the most important thing you can do.
Color Enhanced garments like these Gildan T-shirts...
are not ANSI compliant because they lack reflective taping. Reflective taping helps determine class rating and is usually a requirement when working in jobs involving the use of High Visibility clothing. If you like the look of these garments reflective taping can be added, bumping up the safety. When adding your own reflective taping, make sure to comply with the ANSI/ISEA 107-2004 standard.
Even though these items are not class rated, they can be worn when biking, walking, or running, to make you more visible to drivers and help to increase their reaction time. When putting in extra effort to make yourself visible, never assume drivers can see you. The busy world we live in can cause many distractions to drivers; and even when using High Visibility clothing, take precautions before changing lanes, crossing the street or making a turn.
References:
American Traffic Safety Services Association, www.atssa.com
Lab Safety Supply, www.labsafety.com
3M Scotchlite™, http://solutions.3m.com/en_US/?WT.mc_id=www.3m.com/us
Flame Resistant clothing standards are used to regulate FR materials; these standards come from testing the fabric and making sure it is functioning to its best ability. The most common and accurate way to test FR clothing like Carhartt’s Flame Resistant coverall is through a process called Instrumented Thermal Manikin Testing. Companies like DuPont test and measure the protective performance of different FR garments by exposing life-size manikins to flash fire conditions. DuPont’s THERMO-MAN is a six-foot one-inch tall, high-temperature mannequin system and contains 122 heat sensors. THERMO-MAN is dressed in complete turnout garments and engulfed in flames so that factors like garment construction, fabric weight, materials type, style, fit, and the impact of outerwear and undergarments can be take into account. After a flash fire simulation the results from the heat sensors are then analyzed to determine the thermal protection the garments are offering. DuPont has the most advanced life-size thermal burn injury evaluation system in the world today.
The use of Thermal Manikin testing is an important advance in FR safety because it can evaluate the ability of FR fabric to shield the wearer from thermal energy when being worn on the representation of a human form. The following are results from an Instrumented Thermal Manikin test that measures Survival Statistics when exposed to a 4 second exposure wearing cotton materials verses wearing Flame Resistant materials. If the victim is between the agest of 30 - 39 and wearing regular untreated cotton, the predicted body area burn injury is at 96%, and there is a 15% survival rate. When this same victim is wearing a garment made with 4.5 oz. treated Flame Resistant materials the predicted body burn injury is 52%, with a 83% survival rate. There is a significant difference between wearing treated and untreated materials in a flash fire/arc exposure. This is why it is important to protect yourself when you are working in an environment where flash fires, or electric arcs can occur.
Now that we know just how important FR clothing, like Walls Flame Resistant Denim Jacket can be, these are a few tips on taking care of your clothing so it will continue to protect you when you need it. Most FR garments can be washed and dried at home using “normal” detergents with the exception to bleach; FR materials prohibit the use of chlorine bleach. Most Flame Resistant clothing should be washed separately and can be industrial laundered if desired. FR items contain labels with home laundering instructions, these instructions can vary from garment to garment so you should check every label on every garment for details before washing. If your clothing happens to rip or tear, all FR garments need to be repaired with Flame Resistant materials and components as the original materials. Repairing an FR item with non-FR thread or fabric can adjust the thermal performance of the garment.
How long you can wear your Flame resistant clothing depends on the type of fabric used and the quality of the garment; some items can last 5 years while others only 9 months. Your garments, like Walls Flame Resistant jeans, should be replaced if it contain holes, or tears that cannot be repaired, the fabric is thinning and becomes “thread bare”, or if it is contaminated with flammable substances that cannot be decontaminated. These items should be removed from service and replaced with a functional Flame Resistant garment.
At G&L Clothing providing workwear that will protect you on the job is our number one priority, if you have any questions regarding Flame Resistant products please do not hesitate to contact us.
Information Sources:
www.dupont.com
www.workrite.com
Industrial Flash Fire and Burn Injury Fundamentals with an Instrumented Manikin Demonstration of Protective Clothing Performance by Susan L. Lovasic and Thomas E. Neal, Ph. D.
Testing and standards go hand in hand with products like Flame Resistant clothing. Not only do the chemicals in the materials need to be safe but the actual materials themselves need to be tested to ensure they are functioning properly. There are numerous organizations who test and set standards for garments like FR clothing. These standards are not laws, or set in stone, but complying with the standards will make your business a safer play to work. In this post we will talk about a few of the organizations responsible for some of the safety standards we have today.
The National Fire Protection Association, NFPA, is a non-profit organization that was established in 1896, and their mission is to “reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.” With accreditation from the American National Standards Institute and 81,000 members in more than 100 nations, it’s not hard to see why NFPA is the world's leading advocate of fire prevention and an authoritative source on public safety. The NFPA has developed 300 codes and standards that influence building, process, service, design, and installation in the U.S. and many other countries as well.
NFPA 70E compliance is a standard you will see in a number of our FR garments such as Carhartt Flame Resistant Loose Fit Midweight Canvas Jean. "This standard addresses those electrical safety requirements for employee workplaces that are necessary for the practical safeguarding of employees in their pursuit of gainful employment." To read more about this code visit www.nfpa.org
Hazard Risk Category (HRC) and Arc Thermal Performance Value (ATPV) work together to help place FR clothing into categories based on the level of protection provided. The type of job you work determines the level of protection your FR clothing should be. HRC is based off specific jobs tasks and ranges from 0 to 4; zero is low risk which means 100% untreated cotton is sufficient for this job, 4 is high risk and would require FR clothing for protection. HRC is directly used to determine the necessary arc rating of a garment to be worn during a certain job task. The arc rating is a value of energy necessary to pass through any given fabric to cause (with 50% probability) a second or third degree burn. This is where ATPV comes into play, ATPV is measured in calories/centimeter squared (cal/cm2) and is the rating assigned to indicating the level of protection provided for certain arc ratings. Higher fabric weights typically have higher ATPV's, the higher the value, the more insulated a person is from second-degree burns. When it comes to FR clothing, the more layers the better, a Walls FR Pro Performance Shirt is perfect for layering with a Walls Flame Resistant Bomber Jacket; these will increase your protection from second and third degree burns.
Occupational Safety and Heath Administration, OSHA, is another organization that is setting standards to keep work environments safe for employees. OSHA is part of the United States Department of Labor and was created by Congress under the Occupational Safety and Heath Act in 1971. OSHA’s main mission is to prevent work related, injuries, illness, and death and since it was created occupational deaths have been cut by 62% and injuries have declined by 42%.
Those are just a few of the standards and organizations working to keep you safe on the job. Our next blog will talk more about the types of testing done to make sure Flame Resistant clothing is doing its job to protect you on the job.
http://www.aramark-flameresistant.com
www.nfpa.org
www.carhartt.com
www.osha.gov
Now that we have talked a little bit about Flame Resistant clothing and how it works, we are going to dig a little deeper and find out about the materials and companies used to keep you protected on the job.
Every component of FR clothing must be flame resistant, this is why FR fabrics are saturated with chemicals that extinguish flames. The chemicals used in Flame-Resistant garments like Wall’s FR Industrial Work Pants cannot be washed out and are made to last the life of the garment with correct laundering. These chemicals are constantly being tested to make sure they are protecting you from fire and arc exposure; tests also ensure chemicals are healthy and environmentally safe. A number previously used chemicals have been pulled off the market to make way for healthier and safer alternatives.
G & L Clothing stocks Carhartt, Walls, and Bulwark Flame-Resistant clothing and all brands use top quality flame resistant fabrics produced from brands such as Mount Vernon Mills, and ITEX Inc. Mount Vernon Mills provides flame-resistant fabric for Carhartt brand clothing, Walls uses ITEX Inc. for their flame resistant garments, and Bulwark is the North American market leader in flame resistant clothing. Because of the advancement in FR materials the chemicals will not wash out and last the life of the garment without reducing the wear life. Many brands will use manikin and exposure testing to make sure their fabrics will stand up to flash fires and electric arc exposure, these tests also certify that the fabrics meet ASTM, NFPA and OSHA standards. We will talk more about testing and standards for flame resistant clothing in our next blog post.
Not only does the fabric need to be flame resistant but everything from zipper tape to thread needs to be able to stop flames. Nomex is another material frequently used in flame resistant clothing it works hand in hand with the materials discussed above to protect you in the event of a flash fire, or electric arc. Nomex was developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and is used wherever resistance from heat and flame is required. It is a very popular material used for things like zipper tape, sleeve cuffs, and waistbands in Flame-Resistant clothing. The thermal technology resists the hazards associated with electric arcs and flash fires - including intense heat and flame. You can find Nomex in firefighting equipment like a firefighter’s hood, as well as race car driving suits. Military pilots and aircrews wear flight suits made of over 92 percent Nomex to protect them from the possibility of cockpit fires. Many of our products such as Carhartt’s Duck Bib Overalls or Quilt Lined Coats contain Nomex, giving you the safest clothing equipment for the job
Knowing a little bit about the materials and companies making your FR clothing is always important information and our next blog will touch on the standards and testing of FR materials. If you have any further questions about any products G & L Clothing offers, feel free to contact us.
Information sources:
www.wikapedia.com
www.banwear.com
www.mvmills.com
www.bulwark.com
At G & L Clothing we pride ourselves on providing products you need to stay safe on the job; this includes a variety of Flame-Resistant apparel in brands such as Carhartt, Walls, and Bulwark. We know keeping yourself safe at work is a big job and to help you decide which FR items are right for your work, the next few blog posts will go into some of the details involving Flame Resistant clothing. Our first post is about Flame Resistant Clothing and how it works.
FR clothing may look and feel similar to conventional clothing, but these jackets, pants, bibs, and coveralls are created to keep you safe in the occurrence of a flash fire or exposure to an electrical arc. Flame resistant clothing by brands like Carhartt are designed for electricians, workers in the utility, oil, gas, and petrochemical field or anyone at risk of exposure to electric arcs and flash fires. Ordinary clothing that we normally wear is made with natural, polyester, and nylon fibers. These fibers are all flammable and not only can catch fire and once they ignite can continue to burn on the body.
Flame-Resistant clothing such as Walls Utility Jeans or Bulwark Mock Turtle-necks can minimize or prevent fire from igniting on your clothing and more importantly will self extinguish once the source is removed. If your FR clothing does catch fire, in the event of a flash fire or electrical arc, it will not add to the injury by continuing to burn when the ignition source is gone. This will give the wearer greater escape time and can minimize the severity of the burn in the protected areas. And remember When it comes to FR clothing, wearing two layers is better than one. Teaming your Carhartt Flame Resistant Tradesman shirt with a Carhartt FR Active Jacket will give you one more line of protection against flame exposure.
If you are thinking about purchasing Flame Resistant equipment and have any type of question please don't hesitate to contact us, we want to make sure you are protected in your work environment. Our next post will talk more about Flame-Resistant materials, so check back for more information on Flame-Resistant clothing.
information sources:
Industrial Flash Fire and Burn Injury Fundamentals with an Instrumented Manikin Demonstration of Protective Clothing Performance: Susan L. Lovasic & Thomas E. Neal, Ph.D.
Recently one of our clients surprised us with their answer to the question of the cost of a newly mandated safety program. The customer is a manufacturer who now requires all shop employees to wear only footwear with safety toes and metatarsal guards. The company pays for the footwear of all those employees. What was shocking was the company says it will save more than the cost of the footwear by the reduction of their workman’s compensation insurance premium in the first year.
Net effect -> No cost to the company
For companies with a current safety incentive/rewards program, the answer may be a little more complicated. Some programs use cash as their safety incentive or reward. According to CA Short, a leading HR benefit company, Gulf Oil conducted a study a few years ago that concluded you would need up to six (6) times as much cash to do the same job as non-cash incentives when cash is the award in a safety incentive program. The same company learned a different lesson when GE concluded that the ‘trophy value’ for cash was less than 3 weeks. Ultimately cash becomes another entitlement with little, if any, connection to safe behavior.
What does this mean for you? Safety programs work! Please contact us for more information on how a safety awards programs can help save your company time and money.
A new breed of safety clothing is now available from Bulwark!
Safety clothing must be able to adapt with the ever changing regulations associated with it. So Bulwark has created a line of garments that possess both high visibility and flame resistant properties. Because of new regulations on high visibility clothing, including use by fire fighters and first responders to car accident scenes, it was important that in complying with these high visibility regulations they aren't giving up the safety of flame resistant clothing.
Not only are these garments ANSI approved for high visibility but they are ASTM Flame resistant approved and HRC rated.
Be sure to view the entire line of High Visibility and Flame Resistant clothing offered from G&L Clothing Online. Contact us with any questions regarding safety clothing regulations or consult your supervisor or the relevant regulatory organization.
First, the ground work. This is a discussion about a final rule that was published 2+ years ago that takes effect the fall. The tendency for some will be to see this as a limited scope, federal safety regulation that only deals with federal highways and probably doesn’t apply to them. That could be a big mistake.
While the new regulations are a product of the Secretary of Transportation’s department, they will affect more than just DOT workers and “federal highways.” The rules apply to all personnel within the rights-of-way of Federal-aid eligible roadways. The personnel covered by the regulation can be paid, volunteer or responders to incidents (tow truck operators and media representatives as examples); the eligible roadway covered may be a county blacktop road that has been defined (but not marked in any way) as a “major feeder” road to a federal highway. In other words, it is probably easier to define who among those working around traffic is NOT covered rather than the other way around. Even law enforcement personnel were not excluded entirely. They are required to wear ANSI Class 2 or greater visibility garments when “their duties involve directing traffic, investigating crashes and handling obstructed roadways and disaster within the right-of-way” under the regulation. The rules do allow for some flexibility to add special features as deemed appropriate to address specific work environments such as tear-away vests where there is machinery that might snag garments or flame resistant properties where there is a danger of arc flash incidents.
At G&L Clothing we carry a vast inventory of High Visibility garments from vests to rainwear to Flame resistant clothing. We work with all types of organizations from construction companies to federal, state and local governments so we have the experience to help you keep your workers safe and the regulators off your back.
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