Go Kart Racing Jacket Care and Handling
In today’s racing world, driver protection is an ongoing evolution. Currently most sanctioning bodies in kart racing require the driver to wear at minimum a protective jacket along with a properly rated helmet. This guide is going to address the handle and care of your karting jacket. In particular, those jackets manufactured from ballistic nylon otherwise know as Cordurra.
Disclaimer: Always follow the jacket manufactures suggest care instructions. This is a general guide only and may not cover all types and brands of race wear.
The Cordurra racing jackets are very tough and abrasion resistant. However, the items sewn to them may not be. So, great care should be taken when washing your jacket.
If you have a jacket without a heat shield, machine washing on a mild or delicate setting will probably be fine. Close all Velcro closures and fully zip all zippers before washing. As stated above it is always best to check the manufacturers recommendations.
If your jacket is equipped with the heat shield (typically a silver metallic patch with a woven member underneath) then hand washing ONLY is normally required. Hand washing is required due to the fact that the silver overlay is normally very thin and does not have the same abrasion resistant qualities as the Corrdura.
As for drying your jacket, typically hanging and drip drying works best. The extreme heat in your dryer could have some adverse effects on your jacket at the cuffs and possibly the zipper (if it is plastic zipper).
At the track, try to keep your jacket free from oils, fuel, and solvents. You may find that some solvents and tire preps have a bad reaction with your jacket.