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The Important Facts About Fire-Resistant Clothing To Know

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For professionals operating under high temperatures and open flames, like fire fighters and industrial operation employees, their own personal safety is at risk from fire too. The flame-resistant suit is their essential protective gear. Knowing essential knowledge is not only helpful in sidestepping dangers but can also assist you in choosing appropriate fire clothing. Below, you will see a complete discussion about flame-resistant suits in several aspects concerning definitions, principles, and others.

What Is Fire-Resistant Clothing

Lots of people tend to confuse flame-resistant suits with other types of protective ones. The reality is that flame-resistant ones are professionally defined – they are made of specialized fabrics that are capable of self-extinguishing under open flames or high temperatures and do not melt and produce toxic fumes. As a result, fire clothing prevents burns on the human body. This is functional clothing.

How Flame-Resistant Clothing Protects Wearers

These flame retardant suits protect from dangerous contacts by a multi-layer protection system. On exposure to open flames, these suits have the following properties: they do not burn or melt and form a carbonized layer to prevent the passage of flames. Fire suit also have the ability to retard heat conduction to protect from burns. These suits should also provide protection from smoke and should not produce toxic smoke on burning. They should provide safety to the respiratory system.
The data also verifies its effectiveness. In sudden fire incidents, the burn fatality rate of practitioners wearing competent flame-resistant suits can be lowered over 60%, which is an important guarantee for safety when operating high-risk environments.

Common Materials Used in Fire-Resistant Clothing

The protective function provided through flame retardant clothing is reliant on the cloth materials used. Today, some of the leading cloth materials in this field include:

Aramid fibers

Aramid is an exemplary material in the category of flame-resistant clothing and has properties of high temperature resistance, high strength, and non-melting characteristics. It works well even in high-temperature environments above 200℃. It is very light and has good comfortability and does not cause an excessive load on the wearer. It has applications in advanced fire-fighting suits and high-temperature work suits.

Flame-resistant cotton

Flame retardant cotton is produced through a unique flame retardant treatment of pure cotton fabrics, while preserving the qualities of pure cotton, such as breathability and sweat absorption, as well as possessing flame retardation properties. This material has excellent cost performance and can be applied in work environments that require a mid-level degree of protection, like mechanical processing and power maintenance.

Glass Fiber Composite Fabric

This fabric material contains glass fibers and other flame-resistant materials. It possesses very strong resistance to high temperatures and the ability to withstand high-temperature impacts beyond 800℃. But the material possesses weak flexibility and a relatively low level of comfort. It primarily serves specific high-temperature operation environments, including metallurgical and boiler repair operations.

Firefighter-specific fabric

Among them, the environment of the firemen is the harshest. This is because the working environment of firemen involves extinguishing fires, putting out fires, and rescuing people. It requires them to be in an environment with temperatures of about 500°C. In such an environment, they need to be able to move freely in order to be able to save people's lives.

Industries That Require Fire-Resistant Clothing

Industry requiring

Flame-resistant clothing has applications beyond the firefighting sector. In any sector where risks are present in terms of open flames, high temperatures, sparks, and so on, it is essential that the employees wear qualified flame-resistant clothing. These sectors include but are not limited to the following:

Fire Rescue

This is the most critical application use of the flame-retardant suit. During the process of combating various fires, the firemen need to use firefighting clothing offering high levels of protection to withstand the encroachment of open fire, high temperatures, and smoke to ensure self-protection during the rescue operation.

Industrial Manufacturing

The industries that come under this category include chemical engineering, petroleum, natural gas, metallurgy, and power production, in which production involves high temperatures and explosive or flammable materials. The likelihood of sparks or fires is high in these production setups. Flame-resistant clothing is a must-have protective gear in these sectors.

Construction

During the construction process, there are many welding and cutting activities that produce many sparks. These activities pose a fire risk when in the vicinity of inflammable materials used in the construction of buildings. Therefore, employees who are welding and cutting materials, for example, need to wear firefighting clothing.

Transportation

Tank lorry drivers and railway maintenance personnel may potentially come in contact with flammable and explosive materials and high-temperature equipment in their work context. Providing them with flame-resistant clothing can help minimize potential damage from unexpected situations.

Maintenance and Care of Flame-Resistant Clothing

The lifetime of quality flame retardant clothing will, furthermore, not solely be reliant on the quality of the material used, as proper maintenance will ensure that the clothing serves for a longer period. In this regard, to increase the lifetime and functionality of such fire clothing, one should take note of the following considerations:

Clean Correctly

Bleach and acid and alkali detergents should be avoided in cleaning. This will cause damage to the flame evidence resistance coating on the fabric. It is important to clean the fabric using neutral detergent. If the fabric has to be cleaned using a machine, the wash mode should be delicate. After completion of the cleaning process, the fabric should be left to dry. This will prevent acceleration of the aging process of the fabrics due to drying. The fabrics will also lose flame evidence resistance.

Regular inspection and storage

The flame-resistant suit should be checked occasionally for its looks. If there are any damages or burn marks on it, or in case it becomes hard or discolored, it must be discarded at once and not used further. In storing it, it must be away from anything sharp or chemicals. This is to prevent it from getting wet or rusty in a sealed, damp, and poorly ventilated area.

Regular professional inspection

Flame-resistant clothing also has a certain service life in terms of its protective effect. Even if the clothing looks intact, it should be checked every 1 to 2 years by a professional to make sure that it still has flame-resistant properties.

How to Choose the Right Fire-Resistant Clothing

While selecting flame-resistant clothes, one should not be a trend follower. This requires consideration of the type of one's business, the working environment, and the scenario in which it is used. Certain major key points in flame-resistant clothes need to be given prime focus to:

Explain level of protection

Levels of risk differ from one sector to another, hence the need for corresponding levels of flame resistance suits. Firefighting professionals, for example, will need high-quality fire suits that are resistant to high temperatures, smoke, and punctures. Those working in general mechanical processing sectors can consider general flame-resistant suits.

Quality of the clothing material

Give top priority to selecting flame-resistant fabrics from renowned brands. For example, fabrics made of Aramid are more reliably fire resistant. Meanwhile, you should also consider the breathability of the fabric to avoid impacting the efficiency of your work because of usability issues related to the comfort of the clothing.

Check compliance certification

Qualified fire suit against flames must have the relevant national standards certification. When purchasing goods, the test report and certification mark on the product must be checked to ensure the product qualification. Do not purchase goods that lack a producer and a product qualification certificate or lack a production date.

Customized functions on demand

According to the special requirements of the working scenarios, flame-retardant suits with additional functions such as reflective strips, water resistance, and wear resistance can be selected. For example, for outdoor work, styles with reflective strips can be chosen to enhance safety during night operations.
If you need to purchase in bulk or customize flame-retardant suits, JIUPAI is a great choice. We can provide personalized solutions based on the industry characteristics and job requirements of your enterprise, ensuring both product quality and meeting actual usage scenarios.

Common Misconceptions about Fire-Resistant Clothing

Fire suit can be worn permanently

It is generally perceived that if the fire-resistant suit is in pristine condition, it can be used without end. But in reality, this is not correct. In other words, if the fire-resistant suit is used for too many instances of washing, its fire-resistant properties would reduce. If the fire-resistant suit is used for a span of time beyond its usage life, even if it looks pristine, it might not provide the desired level of safety.

Fire-resistant clothing will not fear any high temperatures

The limit for the high temperature resistance of flame-resistant clothing also exists. The different materials have different maximal values for temperature resistance. For example, the maximal value for high temperature resistance of flame-resistant cotton is much poorer than that of aramid materials. Beyond the limit that it could resist, the protective function would be lost.

Common protective clothing can replace fire-proof clothes

Normal protective clothing may have additional features like water-resistance and wear-resistance, but it doesn't have any fire-resistant or flame-resistance qualities. Even if it is exposed to open flames, not only does it not offer protection to the individual, but it may even increase the effects of the flames.

The cleaner you wash, the better the shield will be

Over-cleaning may damage the flame resistance coating on the fabric. It is important to adopt the right methods by cleaning only if necessary and using mild soaps.

Conclusion

Fire-resistant clothing serves as the life line in high-risk environments, and its significance is self-evident. From understanding the definition and materials of fire-resistant clothing, to mastering the selection methods and maintenance skills, every step is crucial for the safety of the wearer.
If your company needs to provide fire-resistant suits for its employees, or has the need to purchase fire-fighting suits, you must choose compliant and high-quality products. You might as well choose JIUPAI. As a professional manufacturer of fire-resistant suits, we can offer you reliable products and services to ensure that the protective function is fully implemented. Safety is no trivial matter. Choosing JIUPAI fire-resistant suits is to safeguard the safety of yourself and your employees.

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