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Personal Protective Equipment Solutions
Protecting the Equipment that Protects People - A New Approach to PPE Care
When it comes to personal protective equipment, the components become more advanced while the contaminants involved and levels of sanitation become more demanding. Tersus Solutions' proprietary CO2 process provides a wide array of benefits for difficult to handle PPE items.
Whether the gear provides protection from a blazing fire, a barrage of bullets, the elements of the highest points of Mt. Everest, or the contaminants of a lithium battery fire, the Tersus Process can take care of the gear that takes care of you.
A new standard in firefighting gear cleaning.
Tersus Solutions pioneered true decontamination of firefighter gear in conjunction with the Belgian Federal Government beginning in 2015.


Through observed testing with Centexbel, a textile lab in Belgium, gear cleaned with the Tersus Solutions CO2 process showed a carcinogen removal rate of 98%. Subsequent testing with North Carolina State confirmed these results, released in 2022. Additional testing through UL showed a removal rate of 98%.


In contrast, gear washed in traditional water wash methods was observed to have only a 56% removal rate.
For too long, firefighter gear cleaning has been limited by technology.
Conventional water-based cleaning of fire PPE cannot thoroughly penetrate & remove contaminants from all layers of the gear. The residual contaminants stay in the gear long after an incident and over 50% stay in even after conventional washing. ​


This is why Tersus Solutions developed and customized our equipment specifically for decontamination of this gear. Removing 98% of the contamination results in cleaner gear, leaving virtually no smell. ​
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“One significant thing that I noticed was the complete absence of fire smell on the gear.”
RUSS SNIDER, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY
How It Works
Tersus Solutions has designed and built the first and only CO2 based process specifically for firefighter decontamination in the world.
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Due to the natural properties of CO2, the gear can be decontaminated fully assembled, saving time and money. Furthermore, since CO2 returns to a gas state at normal atmospheric pressures, the gear comes out dry. This saves 24 hours of time that the gear would normally have to sit in a drying room, getting back in service faster.
Technical Fabric Cleaning
Working with partners at the U.S. Navy, Centexbel, and H.P. White, Tersus developed customized cycle parameters optimized for the materials used to construct fire turnout gear, including:
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Nomex
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Kevlar
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Aramid Batt
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Leather
Fabric & Garment Longevity
The Tersus Solutions Process ensures that apparel performance, size, and color won’t degrade by mechanical action or excessive heat. In a 50 cycle test, Tersus Solutions demonstrated substantially less fiber degradation while maintaining the following:
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Color
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Size
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Retro-reflectivity
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Performance coatings (e.g. DWR, flame retardant, oil repellant)
Pioneering lithium decontamination
The world and technology are increasingly becoming dependent on Lithium batteries to power everything from phones to cars. When these batteries catch fire, they release toxic contaminants that stay in firefighter gear. Tersus, alongside LION and OCFA, developed the world’s first lithium decontamination process. Lithium contaminates left on the gear were removed to such a level that the gear is safe to use and can be put into service.
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Reach out to learn more about LION RedZone CO2 powered by our proprietary technology.
Gentle Enough For Bullet Proof Vests and Body Amour
The Tersus CO2 process has been used to sanitize PPE for the US Navy and US Army with positive results after extensive testing. The performance of the protection remained even after several cycles. The process preserves special features of the gear from technical fabrics to coating such as water or oil repellants and special strategic coatings.


A great deal of cleaning tests have been done on military and law enforcement ballistic vest to ensure the process does not degrade the effectiveness of the protection. In some cases it was found to improve performance when compared to the same item prior to processing. The lack of water and heat in the Tersus process allow the process to be less invasive than most methods. Some items are forced to be labeled "hand clean only" due to the aggressiveness of traditional methods, however that does not yield much sanitation. This leads to more frequent replacement, and diminished protection as the gear ages.
PPE Timeline
2009
2009
2014
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Developed CO2 process approved for Cleanroom Textiles
2022
Tersus Solutions was founded in 2009 in Denver, Colorado with a mission of building a better CO2 textile cleaning machine.
Proved Successful Cleaning of IOTV (Ballistic Vest) with US Army
2016
2022
Lion Total Care launches "Red Zone" CO2 Decontamination for PPE powered by Tersus Solutions
Deployed CO2 for Military PPE with the US Navy
2015
Pioneered the first decontamination process of firefighter gear in conjunction with the Belgian Federal Government
Developed Custom Process for Lithium Ion Decontamination
Strategic Partner
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