The working principle and maintenance method of reflective clothing

1. What is the working principle of reflective fabrics?

The production of reflective fabric uses the principle of retro reflection. Reflective fabric is made of the base cloth, the adhesives, and the micro glass bead. And a variety of processing technology including coatings, composites, along with processing methods such as hot pressing is imperative. The micro glass bead for producing high silver reflective fabrics are half coated with aluminum to improve the reflective coefficient significantly. The highly reflective glass beads coated in the surface of the cloth works by reflecting light back to the light source only, such as a car’s headlights. In other words, the reflective tape only lights up for the person with the light source or in line with it. This happens because the tape contains either glass beads or prisms that collect light, focus it and bounce it back to the source.

How does it do this? Imagine that you are in a round room and you are in the center of the room. If you throw a ball towards the wall it is always going to come back to you. Reflective fabric or reflective tape works in a similar manner. The diagram below shows how the glass beads or prisms do this.

2.How to take care of your reflective clothing?

People must wear reflective workwear in the messy work environment, such as mines, railways, construction sites and so on. While you are told only can wash your high visibility clothing a few times, it was thought to be wasteful. 

Washing high visibility clothing in a wrong way will lose its color and original functions, because reflective clothing is not as normal clothing, and it is made of bright or fluorescent materials. 

Today, Sanli garment will tell you how to take care of your reflective clothing which will keep you wear it more long.

1. Machine wash similar colors in cold water on a delicate cycle

2. When do machine wash, you may use a mild detergent, but no bleach or fabric softener!

3. Try to avoid wash the reflective products with your work jeans or any clothing with rough fabric .The reflective heat transfer film can be worn off by rough fabric

4. Try to line dry your reflective clothing by hand.

5. Most important: Read the washing instruction icons. The icons will tell you how to wash your high visibility clothing!

Sanli garment focus on manufacturing safety workwear, reflective fashion clothing several years will give you professional advice.