TEXTILE SERVICE LIFE, CARE, AND REPAIR
A ten year service life span is the maximum recommendation for all continuous use textile products. Yates Gear recommends the service life span to be ten years from the date the item was first put in service.
The working life of textile goods depends on the type of sewn good, application, frequency, and proper use. Below are guidelines and approximate service life for average and proper use of product:
- Extensive use: up to 1 year
- Regular to occasional use: up to 5 years
- Rarely used: up to 10 years
Note these are only guidelines, actual working life of a textile product may be considerably shorter depending on care and use. It is therefore recommended that product history and use be documented. Remember to check your sewn product before every use to determine if it has been damaged, worn, or degraded in any way. If there is any question as to the use, history, condition, or quality of the item, retire it.
Yates Gear recommends that all PPE be regularly inspected by a competent and qualified inspector and if that person has deemed the item to be in poor condition it should be removed from service immediately. Refer to “Yates Inspection Card” for inspection criteria below.
If your equipment needs to be washed do so with mild soap and cool to lukewarm (up to 90F) fresh water. Never use cleaners with bleach or bleach substitutes. A soap such as Woolite which is PH neutral works great. Remember, if a soap Is harmful to your skin then it’s harmful to your textile products!
A bathtub or large pail works well and should allow for complete submersion. Place harness or webbing products in soapy water and agitate by hand to remove dirt particles. Rinse well in several baths of clean water as it’s extremely important to remove all soap residue as soap residue will attract dirt. After rinsing allow products to air dry out of direct sunlight at room temperature.
If textile products are exposed to saltwater, soak inappropriately sized container filled with fresh water for up to five minutes, drain, and repeat up to three times. Use of a soap or detergent is not usually necessary after exposure to saltwater unless the product is dirty or contaminated in some way. After rinsing allow products to air dry out of direct sunlight at room temperature.
Avoid exposure of any Yates Harness or textile products to acids or acidic environments as these can severely degrade the strength of these materials.
Examples of an inspection tag is shown below as a reference but please refer to the specific user instructions on each product for any unique inspection points.
