Washing Fire Fighter Gear Correctly (Turnout Gear)

While dirty fire gear used to be a sign of heroic efforts, that is no longer the way to measure your crew’s hard work and dedication these days. Nowadays, when fire gear is kept dirty, it is not only looked upon as a sign of laziness, but also a dangerous safety hazard. 

Keeping fire gear clean, dry and at the ready is not only critically important in terms of improving firefighter safety and their ability to do their job, but also helps to extend the lifespan of the equipment as well.

Finally, soiled gear can darken reflective striping. This means firemen not only have less visibility of their team members, but other people have less visibility of them. This can greatly increase the dangers of not being clearly visible while responding to fires in locations such as highways, and busy intersections. Additionally, when in the thick of it these visibility markers are key to ensuring your crew has each other’s back.

The Process Of Fire Gear Cleaning & Care

When it comes to cleaning turnout gear (aka bunker gear), there are a number of important steps to follow.  

1. Clean before you leave the scene – Bunker gear should be cleaned before one leaves the scene of a fire. This step of immediate cleaning reduces the exposure risk from harmful particulates and chemicals to both yourself and others.
   
2. Inspect and disassemble – Next, gear will need to be inspected and disassembled. For this step, one should don eye protection and exam gloves. Damage like holes should be found and repaired.  
   
3. Presoak and wash – Before machine washing, areas that are extra grimy should be pretreated. Then, turnout gear outer shells and liners should be washed separately in a washer-extractor.
   
4. Re-inspect – Once the washing is complete, re-inspection should be done. If the fire gear is still not clean, wash it again.
   
5. Drying – Drying should be done next in a fire department gear dryer. Drying shouldn’t be done in sunlight and temperatures shouldn’t exceed 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Check out our firefighter turnout gear dryers.
   
6. Reassemble – When the turnout gear is fully dried out, reassemble it and make sure everything is properly secure.
   
7. Storage – Finally, bunker gear should be stored in an area away from direct sunlight and not too hot or too cold.
   

The Importance Of Fire Gear Dryers For Turnout Gear

Having a fire gear dryer that is able to thoroughly dry out bunker gear is incredibly important to any firefighter for a variety of reasons. For one, the ability to dry turnout gear quickly is critical, as after one fire, a call to another fire may be quickly followed; this makes reduced downtime a crucial concern. And if your team is caught out in the rain, or under the fire hose overspray their wet gear needs to be thoroughly dried prior to the next run. Our dryers can easily handle even the most rain soaked gear. Wet gear is thermally unstable and not something you or your crew want to be exposed to.

Furthermore, gear that is not dried properly can cause mold and bacteria to grow on it, which can have a negative impact on health. Finally, as previously mentioned wet gear is thermally unstable and steam burns can occur from gear that is improperly dried out, as moisture still in bunker gear that is exposed to heat from a fire can turn to steam and if hot enough, this can overwhelm the turnout gear’s interior moisture membrane.

How Williams Direct Dryers Can Help You

At Williams Direct Dryers, we have been exclusively in the business of dryer production since 1989 and make dryers for a wide variety of clients. These clients include NASA, the US Military, major resorts, both small and large fire departments, and even national sports teams.  

There are many reasons our dryers, including our bunker gear dryers, are so widely used. Some reasons include the following:

Benefits Of Our Dryers

1. They are freestanding and wall mounted, allowing them to be used in a variety of locations.
   
2. They come with specialty ports to dry equipment such as boots, helmets, turnout gear, gloves, SCBA masks, and more.
   
3. They are extremely durable and are able to last decades, meaning you’ll save money.
   
4. They can be gentle enough to avoid damaging even the most delicate equipment while drying it.
   
5. They are dynamic and strong enough to handle all turnout gear and associated equipment.
   
6. Continuously dried gear between runs has been proven to help eliminate 99.95% of bacteria.
   
7. They are fast acting, which is necessary when it comes to firefighting.
   

Contact Us For A Free Consultation

Having turnout gear that is clean and well dried is not only important for safety reasons, but allows firefighters to perform their job optimally as well.  

Given our Who’s Who list of clients and extensive experience, we are extremely confident that we can help you with finding the best fire gear dryer for your turnout gear. Contact us here and start with a free consultation.

Sources Consulted While Writing This Article:

While dirty fire gear used to be a sign of heroic efforts, that is no longer the way to measure your crew’s hard work and dedication these days. Nowadays, when fire gear is kept dirty, it is not only looked upon as a sign of laziness, but also a dangerous safety hazard. 

Keeping fire gear clean, dry and at the ready is not only critically important in terms of improving firefighter safety and their ability to do their job, but also helps to extend the lifespan of the equipment as well.

Finally, soiled gear can darken reflective striping. This means firemen not only have less visibility of their team members, but other people have less visibility of them. This can greatly increase the dangers of not being clearly visible while responding to fires in locations such as highways, and busy intersections. Additionally, when in the thick of it these visibility markers are key to ensuring your crew has each other’s back.

The Process Of Fire Gear Cleaning & Care

When it comes to cleaning turnout gear (aka bunker gear), there are a number of important steps to follow.  

1. Clean before you leave the scene – Bunker gear should be cleaned before one leaves the scene of a fire. This step of immediate cleaning reduces the exposure risk from harmful particulates and chemicals to both yourself and others.
   
2. Inspect and disassemble – Next, gear will need to be inspected and disassembled. For this step, one should don eye protection and exam gloves. Damage like holes should be found and repaired.  
   
3. Presoak and wash – Before machine washing, areas that are extra grimy should be pretreated. Then, turnout gear outer shells and liners should be washed separately in a washer-extractor.
   
4. Re-inspect – Once the washing is complete, re-inspection should be done. If the fire gear is still not clean, wash it again.
   
5. Drying – Drying should be done next in a fire department gear dryer. Drying shouldn’t be done in sunlight and temperatures shouldn’t exceed 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Check out our firefighter turnout gear dryers.
   
6. Reassemble – When the turnout gear is fully dried out, reassemble it and make sure everything is properly secure.
   
7. Storage – Finally, bunker gear should be stored in an area away from direct sunlight and not too hot or too cold.
   

The Importance Of Fire Gear Dryers For Turnout Gear

Having a fire gear dryer that is able to thoroughly dry out bunker gear is incredibly important to any firefighter for a variety of reasons. For one, the ability to dry turnout gear quickly is critical, as after one fire, a call to another fire may be quickly followed; this makes reduced downtime a crucial concern. And if your team is caught out in the rain, or under the fire hose overspray their wet gear needs to be thoroughly dried prior to the next run. Our dryers can easily handle even the most rain soaked gear. Wet gear is thermally unstable and not something you or your crew want to be exposed to.

Furthermore, gear that is not dried properly can cause mold and bacteria to grow on it, which can have a negative impact on health. Finally, as previously mentioned wet gear is thermally unstable and steam burns can occur from gear that is improperly dried out, as moisture still in bunker gear that is exposed to heat from a fire can turn to steam and if hot enough, this can overwhelm the turnout gear’s interior moisture membrane.

How Williams Direct Dryers Can Help You

At Williams Direct Dryers, we have been exclusively in the business of dryer production since 1989 and make dryers for a wide variety of clients. These clients include NASA, the US Military, major resorts, both small and large fire departments, and even national sports teams.  

There are many reasons our dryers, including our bunker gear dryers, are so widely used. Some reasons include the following:

Benefits Of Our Dryers

1. They are freestanding and wall mounted, allowing them to be used in a variety of locations.
   
2. They come with specialty ports to dry equipment such as boots, helmets, turnout gear, gloves, SCBA masks, and more.
   
3. They are extremely durable and are able to last decades, meaning you’ll save money.
   
4. They can be gentle enough to avoid damaging even the most delicate equipment while drying it.
   
5. They are dynamic and strong enough to handle all turnout gear and associated equipment.
   
6. Continuously dried gear between runs has been proven to help eliminate 99.95% of bacteria.
   
7. They are fast acting, which is necessary when it comes to firefighting.
   

Contact Us For A Free Consultation

Having turnout gear that is clean and well dried is not only important for safety reasons, but allows firefighters to perform their job optimally as well.  

Given our Who’s Who list of clients and extensive experience, we are extremely confident that we can help you with finding the best fire gear dryer for your turnout gear. Contact us here and start with a free consultation.

Sources Consulted While Writing This Article: