What Gear Wash does

Gear Wash, operating as Fire-Dex GW, LLC and a division of sister company Fire-Dex, LLC, is the largest fully verified Independent Service Provider (ISP) of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) care and maintenance in the United States, serving municipal and volunteer fire departments, academies, EMS providers, USAR teams, military installations, and private fire companies. Founded by Bill Burke and now led by his daughter Taylor Burke Gilman as President alongside Fire-Dex CEO (and sister) Lauren Burke DeVere, the business operates as a privately held, family-owned Ohio-domiciled company headquartered in Medina, Ohio, with 14 fixed NFPA 1850-certified service facilities and a mobile on-site unit across the Southeast.

The company's core offering is a five-service portfolio — advanced cleaning, inspection, repair, alteration, and PPE rental — anchored by proprietary decontamination technologies including Tersus Solutions CO2-based cleaning (delivering up to 98% contaminant removal), advanced ozone laundering, ultrasonic cleaning, and OMNI Solutions' LUX Advanced Oxidation Laundry System. All services are performed to NFPA 1850 standards, with the company holding UL verification (since 2020) and undergoing annual third-party audits by UL or Intertek. A proprietary Gear Wash App, hosted on AWS, provides customers with service tracking, inventory management, repair status, and configurable cost thresholds. The firmographic core competency is compliance-driven specialty industrial services rather than a software or data business.

Gear Wash sells through a direct enterprise field-sales motion targeting fire departments, academies, and government agencies, supplemented by inside-sales phone support, self-service web request forms, and pre-paid UPS shipping for nationwide service. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with 30-day payment terms and bundled service discounts available. Named customers include FDNY, Miami Dade Fire Rescue, Memphis Fire Department, and Sinclair Fire Academy. Revenue is generated per set of PPE cleaned, inspected, repaired, or rented, with growth driven by a combination of organic facility expansion (most recently the March 2026 Santa Fe Springs, California opening, the 14th facility) and acquisitions including Minerva Bunker Gear Cleaners in May 2022 (six locations) and Advanced PPE Company in February 2025.

Name

Gear Wash

Legal name

Gear Wash, LLC

Website

https://gearwash.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Gear Wash is the largest fully verified Independent Service Provider of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) care and maintenance in the United States, operating 14 NFPA 1850-certified facilities nationwide and offering cleaning, inspection, repair, alteration, and rental services to municipal fire departments, academies, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

PPE Maintenance Services

NAICS

Linen and Uniform Supply (81233), Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance (811310)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Fire/Rescue & Emergency Services Gear Laundry (HSAJAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industrial Workwear & PPE Laundry (HSAJAEAD)

Keywords

• Firefighter PPE cleaning
• Turnout gear maintenance
• NFPA 1850 compliance
• Bunker gear repair
• PPE inspection services

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. PPE Cleaning Services: Advanced cleaning of firefighter PPE including turnout gear, helmets, hoods, gloves, harnesses, and boots using multiple technologies (CO2, ozone, ultrasonic, extraction). Recommended twice yearly per NFPA 1851.
2. PPE Inspection Services: Annual inspections including hydrostatic testing, liner evaluations, fabric integrity reviews, water penetration tests, and leakage tests for gloves and boots.
3. PPE Repair and Alterations: Repair services for patches, zippers, name panels, hardware, retrofits, and specialty repairs. Alterations including nameplate replacements and gear modifications.
4. PPE Rental Program: Rental of high-quality PPE for departments during cleaning/inspection periods, academies for training, and temporary needs. Provides head-to-toe ensembles or individual items.
5. Mobile On-Site Services: Semi-tractor trailer providing on-site cleaning, inspection, and repair services at customer locations in Southeast region. Requires 100 set commitment per department.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gear Wash is the world's largest fully verified Independent Service Provider (ISP) of PPE care and maintenance for first responders, offering NFPA 1850-compliant cleaning, advanced inspection, certified repair, alteration, and rental services for firefighter turnout gear, helmets, hoods, gloves, harnesses, and boots. Services are delivered through 14 fixed facilities, a mobile semi-tractor trailer unit, and a UPS-supported ship-in model, all unified under the Gear Wash tracking app. Operations are UL verified and audited annually for compliance.

Product overview

Gear Wash operates as the largest fully verified Independent Service Provider (ISP) of PPE care and maintenance for first responders worldwide, offering a unified portfolio of NFPA 1850-compliant services. The core offering spans five interconnected service lines: advanced Cleaning (including proprietary CO2 cleaning technology, ozone laundering, and ultrasonic cleaning), Inspection (with hydrostatic testing and annual liner evaluations), Repair (certified to original manufacturer specs), Alterations (custom fitting and nameplates), and PPE Rentals (bridging gaps during service cycles). These are unified under the Gear Wash App, a customer-facing tracking and record-keeping platform. The company also operates a mobile semi-tractor trailer for on-site Southeast services and provides NFPA 1850 compliance training. All services are backed by UL verification and annual third-party audits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PPE Cleaning Services Advanced cleaning of firefighter turnout gear, helmets, hoods, gloves, harnesses, and boots using multiple technologies (CO2, ozone laundering, ultrasonic, extraction) to remove hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and biological contaminants. Performed NFPA 1850-compliant and recommended twice yearly.
• PPE Inspection Services NFPA 1850-compliant advanced inspections including annual liner evaluations, fabric integrity reviews, hydrostatic water penetration testing for moisture barriers, and leakage testing for gloves and boots to identify hidden damage and contamination.
• PPE Repair Services Certified repair services for turnout gear covering patches, zippers, name panels, hardware, retrofits, helmet part replacements, and specialty repairs performed to bring gear back to original manufacturer specifications.
• PPE Alteration Services Alteration services including gear modifications, nameplate replacements, and custom fitting to ensure proper fit and NFPA compliance for individual firefighters.
• PPE Rental Program Rental of high-quality PPE for fire departments during cleaning or inspection periods, for academies during training, and for temporary needs. Provides head-to-toe ensembles or individual items (helmets, jackets, pants, gloves, boots).
• Southeast On-Site Semi Service UL-verified, NFPA 1851-compliant mobile semi-tractor trailer providing on-site advanced cleaning, inspection, and repair services directly at fire departments in the southeastern US, with a 36-hour turnaround and capacity of up to 25 turnout sets per day.

Quantifiable outcome

• Contaminant removal rate as high as 98% with CO2 cleaning technology
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and secondary.

• Florida Fire Departments (Hurricane Ian Relief)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2022Gear Wash and Fire-Dex extended aid to Florida fire departments affected by Hurricane Ian, providing critical PPE equipment donations and discounted cleaning and repair services to task force rescue units in Orange, Seminole, Polk, and Osceola counties.
• Minerva Bunker Gear CleanerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2022Minerva Bunker Gear Cleaners was acquired by Gear Wash in May 2022, adding six locations (New York City, Denver, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and Dayton, Ohio) to the network. Minerva had been a leader in NFPA 1851 services for over 16 years, serving hundreds of departments including FDNY and Miami Dade Fire Rescue. Minerva locations were rebranded to Gear Wash.
• Fire-Dex, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFire-Dex is the sister company of Gear Wash under the same family ownership (founded by Bill Burke, now led by daughters Taylor Burke Gilman as President of Gear Wash and Lauren Burke DeVere as CEO of Fire-Dex). Together they support the lifetime of PPE from manufacturing through cleaning, repair, and maintenance. Fire-Dex is a global manufacturer of PPE for fire departments and emergency services.
• Tersus SolutionscoreTechnology or IntegrationTersus Solutions is described as the world's leading pioneer in CO2-based machine cleaning for firefighter decontamination. Their CO2 cleaning solvent and hardware are used in Gear Wash's Denver location for advanced cleaning services with contaminant removal rates up to 98%.
• OMNI SolutionssecondaryTechnology or IntegrationOMNI Solutions provides the LUX Advanced Oxidation Laundry System used in Gear Wash's special operations equipment cleaning. This system provides outstanding cleaning and disinfection while eliminating ground pollutants through advanced oxidation process.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Cintas: The largest U.S. uniform rental and linen supply company, providing recurring laundering, cleaning, and managed uniform programs for institutional and industrial customers — directly comparable in recurring laundering service model and customer-acquisition motion to Gear Wash, but operating across far broader end-markets.
• UniFirst Corporation: Major North American uniform rental and laundering company serving industrial, healthcare, and commercial customers. Overlaps with Gear Wash in the recurring textile-cleaning-as-a-service model and government/municipal customer base, though UniFirst's scope is broad workplace uniform rather than fire-specific PPE.
• Clean Harbors: Largest North American provider of environmental and industrial services, including industrial cleaning, decontamination, and hazardous-materials response. Comparable to Gear Wash's advanced decontamination play for contaminated PPE, but at much larger scale and across oil-and-gas, chemical, and industrial end-markets.
• Aramark Uniform Services: Uniform and career apparel rental division of Aramark, providing managed uniform programs and laundering for industrial and institutional customers including government clients. Comparable business model (managed textile services) with much broader end-market reach than Gear Wash's fire-service focus.
• LION Group: Major U.S. manufacturer of firefighter turnout gear, helmets, boots, and related PPE with care, cleaning, and training offerings adjacent to Gear Wash's ISP services. Comparable as a vertically integrated firefighter-PPE platform and potential consolidation peer in the same vertical.
• National Safety Apparel: U.S. manufacturer of FR workwear and PPE for industrial, electrical, and public-safety end-markets. Comparable as a PPE manufacturer that increasingly bundles care and maintenance services into customer programs, paralleling Fire-Dex/Gear Wash's vertically integrated model.
• Bulwark FR (VF Corporation): FR (flame-resistant) workwear brand under VF Corporation, supplying industrial and public-safety uniforms. Comparable as a PPE/workwear brand owner whose customers require recurring laundering and inspection — the same compliance-driven demand that drives Gear Wash's cleaning services.

Direct peers

• ImageFIRST Healthcare Laundry Specialists: U.S. provider of linen and uniform rental and laundering services focused on healthcare and institutional customers. Closely comparable to Gear Wash in service model (recurring laundering + managed delivery), sales motion to institutional clients, and tracking-app customer engagement layer.
• Prudential Overall Supply: Family-run uniform rental and industrial laundering company with multiple decades of history serving industrial and institutional customers across the U.S. Closely comparable to Gear Wash in operating model — family ownership, multi-site laundering network, recurring service contracts with industrial customers.

Others

• Belfor Property Restoration: Global property restoration and emergency response services company handling smoke, fire, water, and contamination cleanup. Adjacent to Gear Wash in the decontamination-of-fire-damaged-materials space and potentially complementary during disaster response (e.g., Hurricane Ian-type events) but does not overlap as a core ISP competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GearWashISP
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gear-wash

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gear Wash