I don't understand how dry cleaning works

Last time I raced my dirt car it was really hot and I sweated a lot. Pulled my fire suit out of my gear bag tonight and it's moldy, actual mold. My fire proof underwear look like a fricking petri dish.

Will dry cleaning kill that stuff? I probably can't get new before the weekend even if I wanted to.

 

Supposedly the heat used should disinfect, not sure how reliable that is though


http://blacktoxicmolds.com/mold-clothes.php#drycleaning

 

as far as I know it works like this..

I bring dirty stuff to dry cleaner
next day I pick up now clean stuff from dry cleaner

beyond that I have no clue.

Is a fire suit washable? I had the same thing happen when I left a pair of wet gloves in my helmet.. Both ended up in the trash after unsuccessful attempts to clean

 

White vinegar kills lots of things.

Not sure about mold, though.

 

Yeah it's washable, but like on cold, gentle detergents.

Back in the old days when I raced before I tried to wash them as little as possible just to not lessen the flame retardant stuff.

 

Take it to the laundromat and use the borax with the proper soap

Don't add more than recommended

Lightly dry (if dryable) and hang out side to dry in the sun. Turn inside out and dry some more

Blacktoxicmold.com

What a laugh! About 99.99999% of black mold is harmless aspergillum

 

Dry cleaning is just washing but in something else besides water. They used to use carbon tetrachloride. The carbon tet would release the dirt from the wool garment without causing the wool to react with H2O and shrink. Freon also works well as a dry cleaning agent, basically any volatile liquid that doesn't react with the cloth, dye, buttons, etc would work. Of course Freon and CT are not used anymore.
Your FR suit is made from what? If cotton with FR treatment you can water wash WITHOUT bleach and gentle dry. This is acceptable but many cycles but the FR chemicals will eventually go away. If Nomex, check on the interwebs. There should also be a label in the suit but I would google it just to be sure.
Good luck

 

Simply taking it out side will dry it and stop the the growth. Do that for a day, and then wash it in Molecule. It's a detergent that they sold me when I bought my suit specifically for Nomex and other technical fabrics.

http://www.moleculemotorsports.com/shop/suit-care/wash-16-oz/

 

Hydrogen Peroxide also kills mold . Spray it on ,let it sit, wipe it down / wash.

 

You can wash nomex like any normal fabric. You will prob have to wash it two or three times to get all the funk out though. Nomex has no fire retardant treatments, the fabric itself is fire retardant. Just machine wash, and hang it up to dry. And get in the habit of hanging your suit up to dry when you get home. Same with your gloves. Mold will eat the thin leather palms right out of most racing gloves.

 

Dry cleaning uses solvents instead of water it is not really "dry".

 

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tech/safety-racing-suit-cleaning-and-care.html
Good info from a highly trusted source

 

what is water if not the "universal solvent"?

but, yeah... tetrachloroethylene. organic solvent with low flammability. cleans without exploding. might also remove Fire Retardant treatment.

 

I actually run a cycle (empty of clothes) through my washing machine once a year or so with a full bottle of white vinegar mixied with the water. Its a great way to keep the inside of it from getting funky and crud growing on the backside of the barrel inside.

 

I googled it, because I never cared to know. Apparently some dry cleaners use computer controlled washers with water since the "solvents" don't work well on water soluble stains.

 

I always thought it was black magic, like suspension.

 

Or computers. We don't need to know what happens behind the counter or inside the plastic box. It just works.

 

I dropped it off. Talked to their "master dry cleaner" beforehand. He said there's a point at which the mold attacks the fibers then you're just SOL. We'll see how it turns out, unless they call me soon and I overnight it in I can't get new stuff before the weekend.

Never thought about it, when I raced before my gear ended up strewn about the back seat of my crew cab. Now I'm driving someone else's car so everything gets packed away in my bag and last time I took my truck that I never drive to the track so it just sat in the back seat closed up for a couple weeks.

Shit gave me an instant headache this morning when I put it all in a garbage bag to take to the cleaners.

 

They charged me $49.25 + tax to clean a three-layer fire suit, gloves, underwear tops & bottoms, socks, and a head sock.

It all looks awesome and smells pleasant, not too strong.

I stuck my face in the suit and breathed in. Didn't sneeze or get a headache or anything so I'm claiming success.

 

What is the suit made of? Make sure you hang it up to dry out as soon as you get home. I would race on Saturday, and my suit would be hanging from a light in my living room no later then Sunday morning (unless on the road, then it was hung up in the trailer or in the hotel room right away). It is amazing how even the sweat funk would go away when you hang it up right away. Maybe even get a hang dry type thing to dry it even faster.