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FR rated and embroidery

4279 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  MDShunk
I was at the uniform supplier on Friday talking to them about whether they can embroider names and such on FR rated clothing. I was mostly concerned about whether it would screw up their zillion dollar machines. The lady said "yes", but she wondered if it was "legal". It seems that embroidery is only accomplished with polyester or rayon thread, and my vendor uses polyester. She related that really old non-computerized (almost antique) machines could use cotton thread. Anybody know about the safety aspect of getting a name embroidered on FR clothing with polyester thread? Will that little bit even matter?
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You need to more specific . Do you want to know who is in the suit or who the suit belongs to? If you want to know who is in the suit try a heat transfer with name, company logo, etc. If you just want to know who the suit belongs to, try embroidering just the hem or a tag that is sewn into the garment somewhere.

Or just like the US NAVY does, make a stencil with the name and spray paint it on the back of the jacket. :thumbsup:
I'm talking more along the lines of a company name and person's name, stitched above the breast pocket.
I would go with the heat transfer option. I do not think that you would want to penetrate the material because the rating on the garment is based on the complete unaltered assembly. If you go poking holes in the material it might compromise the rating. Checking with the manufacturer is the best thing.

The FRC's we wear in the refinery all have an "iron-on" patch like John mentioned.

I also have some blast rated clothes the power company issued, the jacket has some nice embroidering, but I can't tell what material the thead is.
We have both Iron on transfer and embroidered. we receive all our FR clothing from Tyndell, I will shoot them an e-mail and request info. I beleive the thread must be 100% cotton to retain the FR. Another tidbit about FR clothing that alot of people overlook, do not use any fabric softener on FR clothing, the fabric softener can deteriate the FR qualities.
I didn't know FR clothes could be cotton, but I just read my jacket tags, it's 100% cotton with a Proban FR chemical and an ATPV(arc) rating of 7.7
The shirts I have are a 5.1 ATPV, and are made from 98% aramid fiber(which is the Nomex name I believe) and 2% carbon filament.

The company that made both and I believe also embroidered the jacket and shirts too is called Workrite in Oxnard CA, (800)521-1888
My wife is a seamstress and does a lot of volunteer work with local theater groups, she was asked to modify the=is stage curtain to fit a different stage, It ruined her scissors made a mess of her shop annd played havoic with the sewing machines. Something they do to the fabric is hard on equipment.
I think those theater curtains have been fire retardent for many, many years. I wonder what they made the old one's out of? Steel wool, maybe? :jester:
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