Fluorescent Orange T Shirts Place Safety First

| Thursday, August 25, 2011
By Ben Pate


The 1960s was a decade of incredible change. Not only did humans walk on the moon but an entire way of thinking was upended. The emergence of a subculture labeled "hippie" made non-traditional clothing and colors desirable, a trend quickly noted by the entertainment and fashion industries. The new colors were bright, flashy and could be used in a variety of applications. One of the more popular uses has been the creation of fluorescent orange tshirt.

The Science

True fluorescence, found in nature, in quite different from garish, bright clothing dyes. It is a phenomenon that occurs in many creatures and substances both on land and under the sea and is generally produced by absorbing and converting non-visible photons into visible displays. The term fluorescence is actually named after fluorite, a natural mineral that glows.

The scientific description, however, is actually very different from its role in manufactured clothing. Scientists have discovered methods that can improve fluorescent orange tshirt dyes and are able to make the hues incredibly bright and reflective. Additives and brighteners that amplify light emissions create not only clothing that is fun to wear but is also highly visible, even at night.

In The Safety Industry

This unintended consequence proved to be fortuitous in the industrial safety industry. The new, easy-to-see colors meant that workers in many jobs now had a new way to cut down on injuries caused by poor visibility. Bright orange is popular for these worker applications but other highly visible colors treated in the same chemical fashion include lime green and even bright yellow.

Greater Awareness

Today, there are truly valid reasons for using these kinds of colors in manufacturing safety garments ranging from the ever-present cotton t-shirt to the dyes used in coloring the clothing worn by heavy equipment operators. Simply wearing these glowing uniforms automatically creates a greater awareness through an amplified visual presence. Untold numbers of accidents have been prevented because of this new safety clothing.

Useful Elsewhere As Well

Workers are not the only ones to benefit from the improvements in these fluorescent fabric dyes, which have made their way into the clothing favored by outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes. When combined with newly developed, super-warm and extremely strong fabrics, they make the ideal material for creating safety jackets and other apparel easily visible when worn by hunters, hikers, and other people enjoying the outdoors.

Coats, trousers and even fleeces and sweatshirts now sport the same bright orange as the ubiquitous t-shirts. Apparel is not the only area where the color is useful, however, because the same dyes have been used in the manufacture of everything from shopping bags to laptop cases, making them easier to see and harder to lose. Today, this type of high visibility coloration has gone mainstream, even down to your personal monogram or company logo.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment