Washing fiberglass out of clothes

[dylanmitchell]

How do you clean fiberglass out of your clothes? I was up in the attic again crawling over fiberglass bats while replacing a bath exhaust fan. I usually put on long sleeve pants and an old long sleeve shirt or sweater that gets covered in fiberglass. The tip for fiberglass on your skin is to take a cold shower so your pores don't open so I'll take a long cold shower. But for clothes is warm or cold water better? I have a Speed Queen AWNE92SP and used the prewash and extra rinses for the clothes yesterday followed by an extra large/ full fill rinse only wash cycle with a little vinegar. That's also what I do with especially dirty clothes or rag loads. The rags with any chemical on them don't go in the washer they just get used until they have to be thrown out.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I was always told not to. As you will contaminate the machine with fiberglass for no telling how many loads.

 

[petek]

Just a long wash and extra rinse without any other clothing obviously, temperature of the water doesn't matter.

I know Fiberglas well.. I worked on the line removing newly made batts off the converyor and stuffing them into the pink bags in the Fiberglas plant here part of a summer and over a Xmas. Worst job ever. BAck then we were given no masks, in the summer it was hot outside and even hotter in the plant near the big blast furnaces,, so workboots and cutoffs, a t shirt or no shirt was pretty much the uniform. LOL.

 

[rancherman]

Before washing, I'd take them outside and shake the livin' daylights out of them.. inside out too.
Make sure you are standing up wind! Maybe tie them to your rear bumper and go for a high speed drive?? That may draw the wrong kind of attention...
I'd bet most of the tiny slivers are going to still be stuck/embedded to the clothes even after washing. Hopefully in the dryer is where they'll be knocked loose and blow out.
Fiberglass remnants are serious business.
Might just want to chuck those items.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I heard that vinegar will help.

 

[frigilux]

I’m with Harley on this one. I wouldn’t risk embedding fiberglass into the next few loads.

 

[tolivac]

This was the same problem when folks washed fiberglass curtains and drapes.You had to run a few empty loads to flush the machine out-Fibillation as it was called on the fiber shedding.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We washed the fiberglass curtains of a friend who lived in an apartment. We did them in our GE back in 1962, maybe. They were agitated on gentle, then pulled out of the machine and put in a tub while the machine drained. This was repeated for the rinse. She took them home and hung them to drip dry. I imagine we ran the machine through a cycle with no fabrics to help get rid of any stray shards. We did not have any skin irritation. I have heard that these curtains can be satisfactorily washed in a bath tub since they do not absorb water.

 

[askolover]

When I get fiberglass in my fingers, I wrap duct tape around them, wait a few minutes, and then pull it off.  Works very well to get the little pieces out of the skin.  Sometimes works on tiny pieces of metal too.  As for the clothing, I have no idea.

 

[dylanmitchell]

Thanks

Thanks, think I'll pick up a couple of the Tyvek or similar suits I can toss when I'm done or light cotton coveralls I can keep in the garage and toss when they get too dirty. The last thing I want is to spread fiberglass into other clothes.