Washing Nomex flight suits?

[willysmb44]

I was thinking of washing two of the Nomex CWU27 and 73 flightsuits I have. I just got one and other I used to fly in warbirds while wearing it. Both could probably use a pass through the washing machine.

The labels suggest I think you can throw them into a washing machine, but anyone out there know if there's anything I should be aware of?

One of these is a NASA suit and I don't wanna mess that one up!

Hey, I was mech on active duty and we were never issued nomex so I have no experience with cleaning them...

[rr01]

They don't need starch!!!!!!

Sorry, too good to pass up. The regular nomex is pretty much wash & wear. The only NASA flight suits I ever saw seemed to be the same type nomex except blue but maybe there is another type out there. The only thing they ever told us about the nomex was the material was good for only so many washings. Frankly, from my own experience being the 2nd or 3rd to the accident site the only thing the nomex ever did for the 1st guy to the accident was keep everything in one place but that's more than you asked.

[hawkdriver]

Been wearing Nomex as business casual for 24 years now. Wash it just as you would anything else. The only thing you should do to prevent any damage is to make sure all the hook velcro is securely fastened. Don't wash it with anything else that will lint up such as new cotton bath towels, blankets, new cotton socks or such unless you want to spend an afternoon picking lint balls off. With the one pieces, simply throwing them in and washing is fine. If you have the camoflage two pieces, sometimes, I will turn them inside out so that the duty side isn't being abraded as that can cause fading faster than normal. When you dry it, use a medium heat. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary, common detergent works.

[hawkdriver]

The only thing they ever told us about the nomex was the material was good for only so many washings.

 

Actually, there is some truth to that. You can't wash the fire retardant properties out of the material, but eventually, the material will thin. When made, the flight suit has a thick fuzzy appearance to it. If you find a old, well worn one, they are thin and you can almost see through them. It is much like a cotton T-shirt that your dad used to wear. After several years, there is nothing left but the nylon base mesh and you can see through it. Nomex will do the same over time and we used to be proud of our uniform, it showed your salt and crust.

[willysmb44]

Thanks, gents. I assumed I could machine wash it but you never want to risk messing something up in case you're wrong.

rr01, I have first hand seen what nomex will protect in a crash, so I know what you mean. When I fly in any WW2 birds, I always wear nomex because I did get burned in a chopper 'incident' once when I got burning fuel on my back and was wearing normal ripstop BDUs at the time. Nomex would have prevented that.

[FtrPlt]

I have first hand seen what nomex will protect in a crash, so I know what you mean. When I fly in any WW2 birds, I always wear nomex because I did get burned in a chopper 'incident' once when I got burning fuel on my back and was wearing normal ripstop BDUs at the time. Nomex would have prevented that.

 

Nomex flightsuits are/were designed for high temperature, flash fires not (relatively) low temperature fuel fires (gasoline, etc). Nomex will not support combustion and will briefly prevent thermal transfer (a few seconds). Basically they were designed to protect for the few seconds needed to eject.

 

Clearly better than 50% nylon BDUs but anything longer than a few seconds and you'll still get thermal burns. Think fire department. Proban/Nomex outer layer and very thick insulation to prevent thermal transfer to the skin.

[VP_Association]

I wore these things for over twenty years in the USN and USNR. We just threw them in the washing machine and then put them in the drier afterwards and never had any problems. We'd routinely get fuel and oil on them, especially when crawling over the wings and engines to put the plugs and covers on, so we'd normally wash them in hot water. I don't recall ever having anything fall apart due to washing, and these things were made to last. Just make sure that all the velcro tabs are fastened so they don't flap around.

[Spathologist]

They're not indestructable...

 

[willysmb44]

That looks like a classic GI joke message to me. We used to write up fake 'orders' like this all the time to have drivers check blinker fluid levels in wheeled vehicles and stuff like that...

[Spathologist]

I don't even think the addresses are right.

 

I scanned it when I cleared out a bunch of old papers, thought it was somewhat relevant....

[Datil_Mountain_Muse]

That's a pretty funny fake message.

 

Just wash the flight suit in the normal way. I recall that we were not to use bleach, it left a residue or something.

[hawkdriver]

bleach, it tends to remove the color too. I think you meant starch.