How to Repair Protective Fabric for Technical Clothing
- 1). Read all the informational material shipped or sold with the protective clothing. If this is not available, find the information on the Internet by searching the brand name found inside the clothing. Because protective clothing is made of dozens of different kinds of materials, manufacturers make specific recommendations for care and repair. An incorrect repair may render the clothing much less effective.
- 2). Repair the garment as directed by the manufacturer using the correct materials. While some fire protection gear may be mended as long as the materials used are the same as those used in manufacturing, others insist on performing repairs in the factory. For example, the well-known Nomex fire retardant fabric used by the military for many years may be repaired with Nomex thread, patches, zippers and trims. However other manufacturers recommend that repairs be the responsibility of a professionally trained employee or returned to the factory.
- 3). Leave repair of some protective fabrics to the manufacturer's representatives in order to insure the safety of workers. If the product is labeled with directions for returning the garment to the factory, whether it is chemical protection, fire protection, or bullet protection, follow the directions carefully. Kevlar, one of the most recent successes in protective materials, generally cannot be repaired at all
without factory assistance.
