Every piece of gear a firefighter dons serves an important purpose. Helmets offer face and neck safety while boots provide protection from heat, water and injury from walking on dangerous terrain. Turnout gear, arguably, is one of the most essential parts of one’s PPE, as it helps protect crews from heat and flame while offering breathability and comfort.
But what goes into turnout gear from a manufacturing perspective? It’s a far more complex process than what’s involved in making a pair of sweatpants or a T-shirt, for example. At TenCate Protective Fabrics, experts have refined the process of making the fabric used by turnout gear manufacturers, taking a detailed approach from start to finish.
IT STARTS WITH THE FIBERS
At its base, each piece of turnout gear is made from a blend of specialized fibers woven into yarn and then made into durable, flame-resistant (FR) fabrics.
“We get about 30 different fibers from all over the world,” explained Stuart Perry, the company’s brand engagement manager. “We are one of the largest textile purchasers of Nomex and Kevlar. We bring those fibers in and that’s where we start the process – we literally go from fiber to fabric.”
Once a fire department has established what they’re looking for in their turnout gear, acquiring the necessary fibers becomes a high priority. Procuring these specialized fibers can be challenging and is sometimes the cause of manufacturing bottlenecks, Perry says. After the fibers are in hand, the entire process of creating the fabric can take weeks, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
TRACKING THE PROCESS STEP BY STEP
Every facet of transforming fibers into fabric is closely monitored in TenCate’s labs, with frequent quality control measures being implemented every step of the way. Before spinning fibers into yarn, experts inspect the blend to make sure it’s precise. After spinning the yarn, each twist is measured for accuracy and multiple tests are performed before moving on to the weaving process, describes Bart McCool, end-use business development manager for TenCate.
“At the end of the process, our corporate lab does what we call a release test, which means they’ll run an entire battery of NFPA tests on it. Only once it passes do we ship the fabric,” said Perry.
“We track everything very meticulously,” Perry continued. “Before we ship a roll of finished fabric, our quality control technicians log unique tag numbers for every roll. If the customer encounters an issue with their order, they can send us the roll’s unique tag number and we can see exactly when that roll was made, who the operators were on the machines and what shift it was run on. We can trace it back through the entire process.”
Why so much emphasis on quality control? Because each fiber possesses different properties, it’s critical to ensure fabrics are made exactly to a department’s specifications and no cross-contamination is involved. “Every fiber behaves differently, protects differently and dyes differently,” said Perry. “If you get an errant fiber or yarn in the wrong fabric, it spoils the whole lot.”
‘WE DON’T DO ANYTHING ELSE’
Perry notes that TenCate Protective Fabrics has been able to perfect the turnout gear fiber-to-fabric process over the years because the company is able to focus its efforts on one area. “We don’t do anything else,” he said. “We don’t make trampolines or tent material or awnings. All we do is make protective fabrics for PPE.”
TenCate is one of the only turnout fabric manufacturers to do their own finishing and dying, employing chemists who ensure each product line achieves industry standards. Each lab is also painstakingly maintained and adheres to the required standards and guidelines, including undergoing regular audits of all machinery.
All this oversight has allowed the company to invest in research and development to a high degree, achieving industry innovations that have elevated the features of today’s modern turnout gear. One of their more popular products, the Titanium Nano thermal liner with Coolderm technology, delivers enhanced moisture management with less bulk for elevated levels of performance.
“Another recent innovation is Enforce technology which allows us to make thermally protective fabrics even stronger across the board which allows us to deliver increased levels of mobility so firefighters can stay more comfortable,” said Perry. “When you combine lighter weight, better mobility and moisture management, you really build a better ensemble.”
The effort required to manufacture these high-tech materials isn’t lost on the team at TenCate, as they know each step is critical in their greater mission to support those in public safety. Perry emphasized, “We’re making fabrics that people are literally counting on to help protect them every day.”
Visit TenCate Protective Fabrics for more information.
