USA1C5

I finally broke down and spent the money for a Driving Suit. I have some questions about cleaning Nomex suits. The manufacturer and the label inside the suit says to "Dry Clean Only" and use "Perchloroethylene Only". I have searched around on the web and some info hear and there says suits can be laundered at home in a regular washer and dryer. I found some of this info at www.moleculelabs.com, of course they want you to use their product to do this. Has anyone tried their products and/or laundered their Driving Suit at home? Another question I have about this is colors bleeding over on the suit. My suit is two tone, black , off white and a little red here and there. I wonder if I did launder it myself would the black or red bleed into the off white part? Even though some info says you can launder yourself instead of Dry Cleaning, nothing is said about colors bleeding. Does anyone have any info they can post here about my concerns or any other info on cleaning a Driving Suit?

trackboss

I have a pyrotech suit that I first purchased in about '01 or there abouts. I was told to either dry clean or fill the bath tub and pour in some wool lite then step on it. I did the woolite thing a few times until I found out a friend with the same suit just stuck it in the washer with detergent. I've been doing that ever since and no problems. The suits, like sparco, with the fancy exterior may need the dry clean, but otherwise there is no need. The way I do it I have a clean suit every time.

Short-Throw

2. How do I care for my race suit?

A) Machine wash in your home washing machine, with mild detergent, in cold water (not hot, the colours may run). Do not use fabric softener or bleach.

B) Before washing, close the zippers and fasten all Velcro closed using a stainless steel safety pin. This will prevent damage to the fabric.

C) To prevent the risk of staining from colour bleeding from other items, do not wash other garments with your race suit. Remove your suit from the washing machine immediately after washing.

D) Wash right-side-out only to prolong the life of the liner.

E) Hang indoors to dry. Hanging in the sun will cause fading.
*** Dry-cleaning is not recommended. Some dry-cleaning solvents are flammable and may leave a flammable residue on your race suit.


http://www.quartermidget.biz/firesuits.htm


Sparco:

Sparco recommends dry cleaning your suit to preserve the life of your safety garment for as long as possible. Your Sparco Race suit should be treated with the same respect as your Sunday Suit. After each driving session, please remove the suit whenever possible and hang dry to remove moisture and to prevent grease/oil from staining the suit while working on your car.

Washing instructions: If you wash your suit, Sparco recommends hand washing or washing it on a delicate cycle in the washing machine with COLD water. Please make sure that the belt and collar are closed on the suit, to prevent the velcro from causing damage to the nomex fabric. Woolite soap is recommended as it is a non-abrasive detergent. DO NOT use bleach or anything similar. When drying the suit, always let the suit drip dry, indoors (out of the sunlight).

SIK02SS

wash cold with a little detergent (a little being less than a normal amount you would put in in an equivalent sized load), and no fabric softner. let it hang dry. NO BLEACH

LOS ANGELES PI

Turn it inside out. Zip it up and close all the velcro. Use half the normal amount of detergent and cold water. Go gentle short cycle and hang it up to dry.

Stain remover works well on the stains as a pretreatment.

Have washed my Simpson over 24 times this way. Holds up great.

Racer-38

I had a MOMO suit. After each race I threw it in the washer w/the normal amount of detergent then threw it in the dryer.
I have a SPARCO now. I started out dry cleaning it.....but I race so much that it was really getting expensive. SOOOOOO.....now>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I throw it in the washer.....you get the picture!!
I've had no problems with either suit. It gets washed at least 20 times per year.

NemesisC5

That has to be the least expensive item or maintenance process associated with racing or HPDE's

Racer-38

..................After each race we change all the fluids, nut and bolt the car ,etc......but somehow; drycleaning that damn suit after each race bothered me

Lancer033

I hate to put it like this, but the only 2 Corvette drivers i can think of that I want to hear an answer from on this one are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Boris Said.

NemesisC5

I know how you feel when you put it that way......you could have used that money towards a in new in-car data aquisition system

imp zog

I highly doubt that Boris and Jr. worry themselves much about what detergents or rinse cycles to use, their answer will likely be: Finish race, donate (sell?) suit for auction to fans (complete with authentic sweat), and get a shiny new one for next race. Same thing with helmets.

Lancer033

Probably true, but i don't know of anyone else that's had to depend on their suit to actually protect them from a fire. While the suit may come clean in the wash, i question what that does the the fire resistant properties of the material. Maybe nothing, i don't know, I'm just saying that the quesiton needs to be asked

USA1C5

Some of those answers here: http://www.moleculelabs.com/ProperCare.html of course they are trying to sell their product, so make of it what you want.

Also read their FAQS page: http://www.moleculelabs.com/Faqs.html

Racer-38

There is so much "information" and "misinformation" on this its incredible.
My first suit everyone said I had to dryclean because if I washed it, it would reduce the suits ability to be fire retardent. THEN>>>>someone said don't dry clean it. That the cleaners they use will break down the suits fire retardent chemicals. Still others said that some of the dry cleaners chemicals were actually flammable!!!
Like I have found out in racing......there are alot of opinions about particular topics!!!

imp zog

Check for a tag in the firesuit (mine has one, says wash gentle in cold water, lay flat to dry) and/or check the manufacturer's website, or call them, as they are the best (and should be only) source of info for something that is designed to protect you from fire.

imp.

NemesisC5

I sell Nomex coveralls to the oil & gas market and a good detergent & rinse is fine. Nomex is actually a very durable and colorfast fabric which can be washed many times with little concern, it is not however abrasion or tear proof. It is inherantly flameproof for the life of the garment when properly cleaned & maintained,,,,,,DO NOT DRYCLEAN or BLEACH.

JaGsC5

I bought and used the Molecule product www.moleculelabs.com for my suit and it worked great. I actually bought the completed kit which has a spot remover (for heavier stains), the washing detergent and a fabric protector. The protector is supposed to repel flammable liquids and stains. I have a sparco nomex suit that is red and white and the colors did not bleed. It had a stain on it which did come clean and the suit looks just like new. The complete kit is a little expensive but I figure a clean suit is cheaper than a third degree burn.

AMERICANMUSL

Depending upon the usage, Nomex usually breaks down after 5 years. Sunlight is the worst thing for nomex barring corrosive chemicals. Save your money on the specialized cleaning sovents and like most have already mentioned mild detergent and cold water on gentle cycle.Dry only naturally and out of the sunrays. If you need to pretreat stains, use the same mild detergent/water, a medium shorthaired auto scrub brush and manually treat before the washing machine. If you have a suit that has a inner barrier(cotton, PBI, Carbon-X) that is removable separate alike and wash separate. I would not use any pretreat solution nor bother with turning the suit inside and out(you can actually damage the fibers of the inner shell.)
I use this method on my racing suits as well as my structure and Wildland Turnouts and figure if it's good for NFPA it's good for me. This is the normal standard of care for Nomex.

Good luck----Ed

davidfarmer

Nomex is a fire resistant fiber, NOT a chemically treated fabric. Washing it should not hurt it's performance, unless you actually physically tear/damage it.

ErnieN85

Oh well, I'm a dry cleaner by trade!
so. here is the scoop.
Wash it gentle unless you have grease or oil on it.
if you do the Dry_clean it ask which solvent they use! if it's PERC.
Then your done ready to wear if not then wash it again yourself and hang to dry. Don't dry it in the sun!