Wash and Care

Temperature and duration of washing and drying cycles:

• Fabrics made from 100% Nomex® brand fibre can be washed up to 95 degrees
• It is adequate to wash Nomex® garments at 60 degrees C. Using a higher temperature may not bring any benefit, and indeed may simply contribute to overall energy consumption. In addition, extended periods of physical agitation can cause fabric shrinkage, because the individual yams and fibres can become interlocked.
• The garment manufacturer may recommend washing at 40-60 degrees C due to other accessories such as reflective stripes, moisture membranes, etc.
• The washing cycle need not exceed 1 hour.
• Always include a rinse cycle that adequately removes residual soaps and
• At the end of the wash cycle, the alkaline pH environment is neutralized by addition of a dilute acid such as acetic acid.
• Drying can be done in either a tumble drier or a tunnel
• For tumble drying, outlet temperatures from the drum can be set up to The important factor in drying is not to over-dry. It is better to give the garments a shorter drying cycle and remove them while still slightly damp (up to 10% humidity by weight), than to remove them bone-dry. Again, this is because excessive agitation can cause localized damage such as abrasion and, in extreme cases, garment shrinkage.
• For tunnel finishing, air temperature should be set at 155C with an operating time of minimum 4 The load is considered to be dry when the load temperature (ie garment surface temperature) is 135-140C.

pH of soaps and detergents:

• Avoid pH lower than 2 or higher than
• The Nomex(R) brand fibre itself is resistant to all but the strongest acids and bases, with the rate of physical degradation being a function of concentration, temperature and duration of exposure to that extreme acidic or basic environment.
• N01mally, avoidance of low pH agents is not an
• High pH agents (range 10-12) may have an impact on the color of the garment, depending on the temperature/duration of exposure in this environment.
• Nomex® garments should never be subjected to strong oxidizing agents such as peroxides, hypochlorites or other chlorine-based bleaches. These can harm the physical strength of the Nomex® gaiments

Detergents and soaps

 Some detergents and soaps that are currently used with Nomex® are listed below. Others may be equally suitable; a small scale test is recommended at the launderer’s facility.

INDUSTRIAL DETERGENTS:

Fabri-Care 2000 (Diversey, UK) Fabri-Care 3000 (Diversey, UK) Derval Rent (Kreussler, Germany)

Usona liquid (Henkel-Ecolab, Germany) Citrosqueeze (Albag, Belgium)

DOMESTIC DETERGENTS:

Ariel colour liquid

Vizir colour liquid (Procter & Gamble)

,Mir colour liquid

DESTAINERS:

Fabri-Care liquid (Diversey, UK) E840 Citrus Gel (Prochem, UK)

A217 Ultrapac renovate (Prochem, UK) Derval PRE (Kreussler, Germany)

FLUOROCARBON RETREATMENT:

Saprit protect (Henkel-Ecolab, Germany) Hydrob FC (Kreussler, Germany)

N.B. The above guidelines supplement those stated in the Nomex@ Wash and Care brochure, and reflect our knowledge of current commercial pract,ic•e, as ·well as the contents of ISO FDIS 15797 for industrial laundering. In addition, it is recommended that each washing facility carry out a small scale test when starting to work with NOMEX® garments.

NOMEX® is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company