Bullet-proof vest - cleaning

[The SSheriff]

Hello all,

I have since been issued a vest at the Academy, and they said you can wash the carrier (all the velcro and such), but the bullet-proof material has not been washed since I have it. It smelled originally from someone else, so I just began spraying it with Febreeze to try and get the smell out.

How can I clean/de-odorize the bullet-proof material?

[grd2326]

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[ant_kem]

http://www.galls.com/style.html?asso...og&style=BP076

[fleetguy]

Soap and water then Febreeze and lots of it. Its not really good for the vest but the one you have is expired and your not going to get shot at in the academy.

[The SSheriff]

LOL, I would hope not. I have always thought the actual bullet-proof material inside the vest was WAAYYYY past its prime. I did hear though, that they strapped a vest to one of the the targets at my Academy and none of the 9mm ammunition went through, so I guess it's ok.

[KenW.]

I shot a twelve year old vest from 3 feet with both 9mm and 45 ACP FMJ. It stopped both.

There has to be an advertised life span though. Manufacturers don't want to be sued over a 15 - 20 year old vest...

[gloriavoxdei]

You can actually look it up on NIJ. They did some testing 2 or 3 years ago and found that vests from the 80's still stopped what they were designed to stop 20 years later. Their conclution was that the vest material, if well cared for, will not degrade with time (except Zylon, but that a whole nother lawsuit). Kind of an interesting study.

[Citizen85]

Spraying down anything that smells bad with rubbing alcohol always seems to do the trick.