Caring for your workwear jacket: maintenance tips for longevity
A workwear jacket works hard every shift. It keeps tools and heats out, holds heat in when you need it, and presents a clean, professional image. With the right care, it will last longer, protect better, and cost less over its lifetime. Here is a practical, care guide you can share with teams and suppliers.
Why care routines matter
Good maintenance keeps protective features performing as designed. Reflective tape needs clarity to shine. Flame‑resistant finishes need specific detergents to remain effective. Coatings that block wind and water respond to the right drying method. A few simple habits will add months to the life of your jacket and keep your industrial uniform and safety workwear ready for audits and customer visits.
Step 1: read the label and the datasheet
Every jacket should carry recognized care symbols. These symbols tell you about the most severe safe treatment for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing, and professional cleaning. Train supervisors to check them during issue and when writing laundry SOPs. The symbols follow the international ISO 3758 care‑labelling code, so they are consistent across brands.
Ask your supplier for the technical datasheet as well. It will list any special finishes, test standards, and maximum wash cycles, which you should mirror in your laundry contract and internal procedures.
Step 2: choose the right wash process
For high‑volume plants, industrial laundering is usually the most reliable route. When you specify a wash for a workwear jacket, use processes aligned to ISO 15797. This standard sets out industrial washing and finishing procedures that simulate real‑life conditions and helps you evaluate workwear compatibility with detergents, temperature, mechanical action, and drying.
Practical tips for day‑to‑day operation:
- Close zips and hook‑and‑loop before washing to prevent abrasion.
- Sort by colour and soil level to avoid greying and redeposition.
- Keep machine loads within the range recommended by the laundry to reduce wear.
- Brush off metal swarm or grit before collection to protect drum surfaces and the garment shell.
Step 3: protect special features
Not all workwear uniforms are the same. Match the care method to fabric technology.
- Flame‑resistant jackets: FR properties are part of the safety design. Many manufacturers warn against chlorine bleach and fabric softeners because they can damage FR performance. Follow the garment label and the supplier’s FR care guide and dry the setting they recommend.
- High‑visibility jackets: Reflective and fluorescent materials can lose performance as they collect grime or as tapes age. Wash the label and inspect tapes after each cycle. If you use hi‑vis for night or roadside work, make sure the jacket continues to meet ISO 20471 requirements for retroreflective performance and minimum areas after repeated laundering. Replace tapes when cracked, grey, or dull.
- Water‑repellent or waterproof shells: Some durable water‑repellent (DWR) finishes reactivate with gentle tumble drying or a brief warm iron, while others need periodic reproofing. Use the care symbol and supplier advice to decide. Avoid over‑drying, which can damage seam tapes and coatings.
- Insulated garments: Dry thoroughly to prevent odour and clumping. If your jacket has removable liners, wash them separately to avoid stress on stitching.
Step 4: drying and finishing:
Dry according to the symbol. Over‑heating shortens the life of coatings, elastics, and reflective trims. Where energy or climate permits, line‑drying reduces thermal stress and keeps shapes true. If you press jackets, avoid direct contact with reflective tape and printed logos. Use press cloth or avoid those zones entirely.
Step 5: quick inspections, fast repairs
Build a simple inspection routine into locker distribution and collection. Look for:
- Broken or stiff zips
- Loose or lifting reflective tape
- Torn cuffs and hems
- Worn elbows and pocket edges
- Cut or heat‑damaged areas on FR garments
Repair early. Small issues become garment losses if they reach the wash tunnel again. Remove from service any jacket that no longer meets its safety claim, for example when reflective tape has failed, or an FR panel shows damage.
Step 6: storage and rotation that extends life
Clean jackets should be dry, zipped, and stored on hangers. Avoid direct sunlight that can fade hi‑vis shells. Use a rotation plan that gives every wearer enough sets for their shifts, so no one is tempted to wear a soiled jacket. This is especially important in dusty, humid or oily environments common in Indian industry.
A simple weekly care checklist:
- Confirm wash and dry settings match the label and your SOP.
- Separate FR, hi‑vis and coated shells from heavy‑soil loads.
- Close zips and fasteners before bagging.
- Inspect after washing for tape lift, seam damage and odour.
- Record repairs and replacements.
- Retire jackets that fail reflective, FR or structural checks.
Hygiene and quality assurance:
If your site needs to control microbiological quality uniforms, ask about a risk‑based system for biocontamination control. The EN 14065 RABC framework is used in many sectors, including food and healthcare, to keep textiles hygienic from wash to handover. A garments compliance audit can further ensure that your uniforms meet safety, hygiene, and durability requirements for certification.
Why a managed rental service helps
The easiest way to protect a workwear jacket over its life is to outsource the hard parts. With our workwear rental and laundry model, you get the garment, hygienic washing, maintenance, repairs, replacements, delivery, storage and lockers in one contract. That keeps availability high and takes hidden work off your team.
Bottom line: treat your workwear jacket as a piece of industrial safety apparel, not just clothing. Follow ISO care symbols, align industrial processes to ISO 15797, protect special features during washing and drying, and repairing early. Your jackets will last longer, your industrial workwear will perform better, and your people will look and feel ready to work every shift.
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