Spin Cycle: 50 Wash Cycles with Liquid Chlorine Bleach on an AR/FR Garment

Welcome to the first episode of our Spin Cycle blog and video series! Join Tyndale’s Vice President of Technical, Scott Margolin, as he takes you through today’s test to determine whether using liquid chlorine bleach during home laundering affects an AR / FR garment’s performance.

All labels in arc-rated and flame resistant (AR / FR) clothing say that using liquid chlorine bleach is prohibited. While Tyndale always strongly recommends following the instructions on the garment label when laundering AR / FR clothing, it’s important to explore what could potentially happen if AR / FR clothing is accidentally laundered with bleach at home.  

Some uniform rental companies may tell you that any exposure to liquid chlorine bleach removes the garment’s arc protection and flame resistance. This is a common claim designed to convince companies to use an industrial laundry program. In this episode, Tyndale puts that claim to the test.

Please note: Tyndale does not endorse the intentional use of bleach, oxidative bleach, or fabric softener when laundering AR / FR clothing, as it is prohibited by safety standards.

Does liquid chlorine bleach affect AR / FR garment performance?

Let’s see if 50 wash cycles with liquid chlorine bleach compromises an AR / FR garment in a full-scale arc flash scenario.

We started our tests with a control garment – a completely new AR / FR garment that has never been exposed to bleach. As expected, the arc flash left no afterflame and no holes burnt through the garment – the garment did its job protecting the wearer.

Next, we conducted the same arc flash on a garment we washed 50 times using standard amounts of liquid chlorine bleach in each cycle. Aside from slight discoloration, the garment came away from the arc flash unscathed, with no afterflame or holes present. The garment performed the way it was meant to – by charring instead of burning – and essentially produced the same results as our control garment.

As you can see, our test concludes that 50 wash cycles with liquid chlorine bleach have no effect on the performance of an AR / FR garment in an arc flash.

Is liquid chlorine bleach really a concern for AR / FR apparel?

Liquid chlorine bleach is generally used in the laundry to brighten and remove stains from white fabrics. However, white arc-rated or flame resistant garments are exceedingly rare in today’s market.

Liquid chlorine bleach isn’t recommended for colored garments and isn’t used on AR / FR garments, as it goes against safety standards like ASTM 2757: Standard Guide for Home Laundering Care and Maintenance of Flame Resistant or Arc-Rated Clothing.

For these reasons, it's highly unlikely for liquid chlorine bleach to interact with AR / FR garments to begin with. That’s why any bleaching that might possibly occur would likely be accidental.

But even if a garment is accidentally washed using bleach, our tests show that it has no effect on the protection offered by the AR / FR garment. Therefore, uniform rental companies’ claims that liquid chlorine bleach removes the garment’s arc protection and flame resistance are false.

In the next episode, we’ll explore if oxidative bleach has any negative effects on AR / FR clothing’s performance.