Hunter Blog
October 29, 2025
The Real Cost of Clean: Why Deconology® LCO₂+ decontamination, Beats Water Based Washing.
Firefighter PPE is an investment in protection, not a consumable. How you clean and care for it determines whether that investment delivers five-star performance for years—or degrades early, forcing avoidable spend and exposing firefighters to unnecessary risk.
At Hunter Apparel Solutions Limited (Hunter), we run a fully managed service: providing inspection, repair and digital traceability—integrated with logistics across the UK & Ireland for rapid turnaround. Accompanied by our award winning Deconology® LCO₂+ decontamination technology, the first available to the UK & Ireland. The result is simple: cleaner kit, safer firefighters, and better whole-life value for every set of PPE.
There is a hidden price of water-based washing, although traditional water-based washing looks inexpensive per cycle, it will often shift costs downstream:
- Material stress & early replacement. Traditional water-based washing systems cannot decontaminate PPE that contains waterproof membranes — the water simply never penetrates to where toxins are embedded. Repeated water-based washing for PPE can fatigue its moisture barriers and thermal liners, shorten service life and bring forward replacement cycles—an expensive hit at scale (Source Emergency technical Decon).
- Incomplete contaminant removal. Traditional water-based laundry methods only remove 15-40% of contaminants from PPE leaving dangerous toxins behind, (based on studies from The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health). Hunter’s Deconology® system achieves over 99% removal of harmful substances such as PAHs and PFAS, while also protecting the integrity of the garments, (based on NFPA testing).
Deconology® LCO₂+ decontamination is waterless and chemical-free, which is more beneficial to the environment; it produces no wastewater or chemical runoff, operates at low temperatures to cut energy use and emissions, using recycled CO₂ in a circular process, and preserves PPE fabrics so kits last longer. This recycled liquid CO₂ under controlled pressure lifts and transports contaminants out of textiles—without the heat, water, or harsh chemistry that can damage PPE structure.
What these benefits mean for your fire service:
- Proven contaminant removal.
- Longer kit life.
- Fewer replacements.
- No hazardous effluent.
- Operational uptime.
- Kit exits the LCO₂+ process dry and ready for delivery back to wearers.
Think beyond the water-based wash price:
- How long your kit will last: If kit wears out even one year sooner, replacements will add up fast. Deconology® decontamination and expert repairs helps PPE last longer, so you will purchase less over time.
- Keeping firefighters healthy and on duty: Poor decontamination can mean more exposure to dangerous contaminants, that lurk within PPE, this exposure can lead to illness, time off, and sometimes early retirement. Better decontamination of PPE can reduce that risk.
- Avoid hidden environmental costs: Water washing creates contaminated wastewater that will need managing. Deconology® avoids that, making compliance simpler and helping avoid extra handling costs.
A cheaper wash can be an expensive risk. Switching to Deconology® can help improve the long-term health outcomes of firefighters, budgets, and our planet.
Interested to learn more? Why not speak with our sales team today contact sales@hunterapparelsolutions.com
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