smankow

In starting to get ready for track season, I pulled my drivers suit out of the bag to air it out and quickly realized that I needed to get it cleaned. The suit (OMP) didn't have cleaning instructions and I was cautious about proper care. I wouldn't want to find out that my nomex suit was no longer fire retardant.

I had heard about a new product from Molecule Labs that you can simply use in your washer and dryer (it's is a no-no to wash nomex with regular laundry products). When purchasing the kit ($100), it comes with all of the products that you need - Wash, Spot Remover, Protectant and Refresher. Plus, it comes with a measuring cup, tester for the protectant and a DVD instruction video. The Wash, Protector and Refresher come in 20oz bottles.

After spraying the spot remover in a few areas, I put my suit and gloves into the washer along with the Molecule Wash. Then I used the Protector to keep it fire retardant (not required after each wash). I was very sceptical about drying the suit on high heat for 60 minutes but the suit didn't shrink at all. I'll try the Refresher during an upcoming event.

Overall results - suit and gloves were clean (spots gone) and were as soft and fresh as when they were new. It's an easy process (instructions were decent) and will definitely be cost effective over drycleaning. Plus, I'll use the Wash and Refresher more often than drycleaning.

The only negatives were very minor points. The measuring cup doesn't have multiple lines (you use 1, 2 or 4oz) for varying levels of soil and there were a few "inaccuracies" in the instruction video - I followed the written one. That's it.

So, if you want an easy and effective way to keep your nomex attire clean and fresh, try the Molecule Labs Products. It's so easy to use, even I could use it

Let me know if you have any questions. I highly recommend this product. Now if only they made something for helmets ....



Steve Mankowski

David in Chicago

I don't understand. Here's DuPont's statement on simply laundering NOMEX:

"Garments of NOMEX® are easy to launder. Because the flame resistance of NOMEX® IIIA is permanent, it cannot be washed or worn out no matter how the garment is laundered......"

It does go on to caution against the use of chlorine bleach, but the fire retardance of NOMEX can not be washed out - it derives from what the NOMEX fiber is and not a fragile coating.

Regards to all.

Bryan Watts

For what reason?

GUMBALL

I washed my suits, underwear, gloves, etc for years using a little mild laundry detergent, cool-to-warm water, and drying them on LOW heat. From experience, if you dry underwear and gloves with high heat, they shrivel...
Also, after drying gloves, I used a little hand lotion on the leather palms.

Racerrob

That has been my understanding. I stopped dry cleaning and have been using Woolite, gentle cycle, cold water and hang dry with good results.

smankow

when I bought my suit last year, I asked about cleaning. I was told not to wash it because of issues with the detergents. Even the manufacturer (OMP) doesn't give care instructions either on the suit or tags. I've been told to dryclean it based on usage.

Jscaramella

NOMEX is the only flame retardant fabric that is not affected by standard detergent.
This is directly from their site

M758

That is what I have been doing as well. I do it just about every other race weekend in the winter and every weekend in the summer.

RickBetterley

If that kit costs $100, they should come to my house and wash it themselves.
I have a Nomex OMP suit; manufacturer said to have it dry cleaned, fastening the velcro bits so that they don't abrade the stitching on the suit.
HTH

smankow

and how much does drycleaning cost?

looking back at the various replies, there's everything from I simply wash it to I use a certain soap to I dryclean it to you can never dryclean it. And there's everything in between.

I checked out a product that worked and I wanted to share my views. Is there a right or wrong way to care for the suits? I don't know but I'd been told to avoid washing with regular laundry detergents. With what we've invested in our gear, this seems minimal. If Woolite works, great. This is an option, too.

RickBetterley

You were smart to be careful; a full race suit is a big investment (= to a full set of tires?)
Thanks for sharing your expereinces.

Mark in Baltimore

I used to dryclean my suit ($11 for a "pantsuit" as the cleaners call it) but stopped doing so because it seemed as if it was getting dingy. I now wash it on a gentle cycle with a bit of detergent.

CDOC also sells some sort of nomex treatment, but I, too, wondered how the fire-resistant thread could be made less resistant by using some soap that should be mostly washed off.

951fan

Your OMP, or any suit for that matter, shoud have a tag which denotes the cleaning instructions. OMP suits have this stitched inside the zipper line in the chest area. Just below where is says DuPont's registered trademark there are 4 symbols. These are the "cleaning codes" if you will. Dry cleaners are familiar with these, or you can search online and learn what each means.

Also having visited Alpinestars facility in Italy, per Alpinestars, a suit that is washed 16 times is beginning to be compromised. They are of course testing this for FIA certification as well as for durability purposes and education of customers. This of course does not account for degradation caused by sun exporsure or fluids and contaminants so common at the track. This is where the Molecule helps even further than simply cleaning your suit; by offering contaminant protection.

I have plenty of OMP booklets which detail the care instructions should anyone want a copy. Or glad to scan an e-mail them to anyone who would like to review them.

smankow

Mark, this is the product that CDOC sells.

chancecasey

I think everyone appreciates your sharing of info/experience - anyone who disagrees with the necessity of such a product is also trying to share info/experience - that this product may not be necessary and save yourself some money. There is a lot of snake oil in the racing business. I'm not saying this is - sounds like a great product. However, since nomex is the material itself, not some kind of coating, it stands to reason you'll get a lot of ??? about washing it with mild detergent being a "no no". I'm pretty sure most bleach-free laundry detergents will not break down the nomex. Perhaps the value is that this product gets out flammable contaminants better than ordinary detergent? It would take a pretty sophisticated set of experiments to support this assertion - which I highly doubt they or anyone else has undertaken.