ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Alternative Competitor to Dupont Coveralls

Updated on February 24, 2013
Coverall Spread Out on Floor (I had to take an angle shot to get the whole thing in, the legs and head really are proportionate ;-)
Coverall Spread Out on Floor (I had to take an angle shot to get the whole thing in, the legs and head really are proportionate ;-)

Introduction to Disposable Coveralls

If you wear those white, zip up disposable coveralls made by Dupont they are likely made from Dupont's Tyvek ® materials. Tyvek® is a registered trademark of Dupont that identifies the material they manufacture and sew into coveralls. This material is a high density polyethylene. For years I purchased Dupont's disposable coveralls and have been quite pleased with the performance of this garment.

What I Use Dupont Coveralls For

To put this article in the proper context, let me tell you what our company wears disposable coveralls for. We generally use this garment for two reasons 1) to block paint from getting onto employees and 2) Protect our product from loose skin, hair, dirt debris from falling off our employees and into the product we manufacture.

Spunbound material elastic wrist cuffs
Spunbound material elastic wrist cuffs

What Competes With Tyvek Coveralls

There are a lot of different brands that complete with Dupont's Tyvek ® coveralls. I won't get into all of them but I've tried a number of them and might add to the list as I think of more.

The one brand I was particularly impressed with was a brand called Critical Cover ® coveralls. Critical Cover is a registered trademark coverall by Alpha Pro Tech. As of the date of this article they are a USA Made product with 3 manufacturers in the united states

The AlphaPro Tech coveralls (aka AlphaGuard) had some drawbacks but I felt that the cons outweighed the pros in most instances. I'll do a quick review on these below

Spunbound Polyethylene Poll

Do You Wear This Type Of Coverall At Work

See results
Versions WIthout Integral Booties Ankles with Elastic
Versions WIthout Integral Booties Ankles with Elastic

AlphaPro Tech Vs Dupont Material Strength

First we checked to see if the Alpha ProTech / Alpha Guard coverall strength seemed comparable to Dupont's. I'll be honest with you, we did not do any tensile strength testing or any formal testing controlled by any particular ASTM standards or otherwise. Two of us did the test by sampling two coveralls of each manufacturer. We tested them three ways:

1. We attempted to tear the coveralls like you would a sheet of paper.

2. We attempted the pull the coveralls apart like you would in a tug of war

3. We attempted to slowly but very forcefully push a fist, then a finger through each coverall in order to get it to puncture.

What we found was both coveralls held up equally well.

Hooded Versions Have Elastic to fit snug around edges of scale and face
Hooded Versions Have Elastic to fit snug around edges of scale and face

Loose Strings, Thread, Sewing Quality

One thing I've noticed over the years is that occasionally you'll get a batch of Dupont coveralls that are a bit stringy. They have fine threads that hang off much like when you have a thread hanging off a shirt that you yank out.

In a more industrial or construction environment, how stringy a coverall is doesn't really matter. In a company with more sensitive products like ours the loose threads are problematic. Loose threads could fall into a product causing the product to be unsterile and not perform properly.

We each closely inspected a couple of coveralls of each brand. I found that the Alpha Pro Tech / AlphaGuard Critical Cover® coverall was of higher quality when it came to strings than the Dupont Tyvek ® coveralls. Again, this might be a non-issue if strings and threads are not a problem. I also have to say that it isn't as though Dupont's coveralls are a complete mess. They are far from it. The threads don't hang off like Mr. Snuffleupagus's fur. I just feel as the AlphaPro version is clearly sewn with more car

Outer Garment Work Poll

If You Wear Coveralls are They Disposable or Reusable

See results

Heat, Temperature, How Hot is Dupont vs AlphaPro Tech?

This is where things became interesting. After AlphaPro Tech / Alpha Guard passed all of the initial tests indicating it was comparable to Dupont's version, we sent of couple of cases of Alpha Pro to our factory. We really wanted to see what the guys thought of these in a live, production environment.

Overall, the coveralls performed equally well in mobility, strength and the ability to keep minor ink spatter off the employees. They also performed well as a barrier protecting the product from loose skin, clothes, dirt, debris from the men going into the stuff we produce.

Where things got derailed a bit was how hot the coveralls felt. About half our shop staff felt as though the AlphaPro Tech felt too warm when they wore it. The other half felt it felt that it had equal breathability and suitable temperature

Is AlphaPro AlphaGuard Cheaper That Dupont?

If you want to know which is cheaper, AlphaPro Critical Cover ® or Dupont Tyvek® you might need to do some looking around. For me, I found the AlphaPro Critical Cover ® to be way less expensive (sometimes by a couple dollars per coverall) than the Dupont version.

If you scout and around I'm sure you'll find this the case too although I can not guarantee it. That said, in general when I price out AlphaPro and Dupont with local distributors that carry both, the Alpha Pro Critical Cover ® is less expensive.

Location of Alpha Pro Tech Manufacture Site

A
City Where Alpha Pro Tech Makes Coveralls:
Nogales, AZ, USA

get directions

Learn More About Comparing Coveralls to Their Competition

I touched bases a bit on what we did to compare coveralls for strength, temperature and quality. Check out my post that gives a more detailed (but simple) explanation on how best to test coveralls to find the best one.


Buy AlphaPro Disposable Coveralls?

If you are interested in purchasing the critical care coveralls, you can check out the Amazon link I posted in this article above or purchase Alpha Pro here as well

Thanks For Checking Out Alpha Pro

I hope that this post helped to give you an idea that there are other coveralls out there besides Dupont. There are also coveralls by Kimberly Clark and other major manufactures. I just thought the AlphaPro / Alpha Guard was the most competitive in price and about equal in quality as the Dupont coverall.

Please be sure to check out some of my other posts if you get a chance. It is a pleasure to have you stop by my "Alternative Competitor to Dupont Coverall" post.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)