- Published 30 Sept 2024
- Last Modified 30 Sept 2024
8 min

Selecting the Best Work Overalls for the Job

Overalls protect the body from various workplace hazards, but which ones are best for your job? Learn more about overalls types, materials, and qualities.

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Reviewed by Peter Kendall, Technical Interaction Engineer (September 2024)

Overalls have been a classic staple of industrial work since the late 19th century. While denim has endured as a base material for them, today there are various materials, styles, and features available for overalls PPE (personal protective equipment).

Learn here about overalls vs coveralls, what these styles and their subcategories offer, when to use them, and how to choose the best full-body PPE for your work.

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What Overalls Protect Against

What do overalls protect you from? There are types of overalls suited for protecting you from all types of work hazards:

Dirt, dust, and grime
Oils and greases
Chemicals and acids
Paint
Minor cuts
Rough surfaces, especially wooden crates or pallets
Metal shavings
Sparks and spatter from welding
Projectile hardware
Ultraviolet radiation (sunlight)
Static electricity
Hot surfaces
Cold temperatures
Fire

Overalls aren’t always completely impervious to the worst of these hazards, but the best work overalls provide a first line of defence, letting you get clear of the hazard without harm to yourself.

Types of Full-Body PPE

Though there are many different types of overalls PPE, their terminology can be confusing and interchangeable. There are also types of overalls based on their functionality, such as visibility or disposability. RS full-body PPE includes the following categories:

Overalls

Overalls, also known as ‘bib and brace overalls,’ cover the legs and most of the torso, but not the arms. They are heavy-duty trousers with an attached wide bib zone in front and suspenders going over the shoulders. Overalls feature pockets for holding and easily accessing tools and other on-the-job items, and they can also have openings for accessing pockets of your clothes underneath.

What are overalls made of? It varies based on the type of work they’re meant for, but the material always needs to hold up well to the work’s materials and hazards. RS overalls feature one or a mixture of:

Cotton
Nylon
Polyester
Ethylene polyester (EP)
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

Overalls are best for when you need leg and torso protection but also free movement of your arms or perhaps more cooling in hot environments. They are good choices for carpentry, joinery, landscaping, and agriculture.

Coveralls

As for overalls vs coveralls, coveralls cover close to all of the body. They are one-piece suits that close up in front and fully cover the legs, torso, and arms while usually keeping the feet, hands, and head exposed. They otherwise can have most of the same features as overalls and be available in the same materials.

Choose coveralls for these work scenarios:

Exposure to oils and lubricants from vehicles and other industrial machinery
Food processing
Exposure to chemicals, including their production
Medical industries
Industrial painting

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Boiler Suits

What is a boiler suit? ‘Boiler suit’ is another name for coveralls, or full-body overalls. The term originally referred to clothing for coal-fired boiler room workers since they needed full-body protection from extreme dirtiness and heat hazards. Though coal’s prevalence has greatly diminished, boiler suits and coveralls are still interchangeable today when discussing types of workwear.

Dungarees

Dungarees vs overalls - what are the differences? In practice, as far as true workwear is concerned, none. Similar to boiler suits referring to coveralls, ‘dungarees’ historically refers to overalls as defined above. Both terms refer to full-body PPE that cover the legs and torso, but just have straps over the shoulders and leave the arms bare.

If anything, dungarees are more distinctive as a category in stylish fashion: trendy, overalls-style garments that are not actually meant for heavy work.

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High-Visibility

Staying easily visible is essential and required for many industrial workplaces. With workers occupying the same high-traffic areas as heavy equipment and vehicles, high-visibility clothing makes all the difference in avoiding disastrous incidents like collisions with an excavator boom or pinning by a lorry.

High-visibility overalls typically have reflective stripes around at least the arms and legs, though the RS high-vis line also features overalls with bright yellow or orange base fabrics for extra visibility.

We carry hi-vis overalls and coveralls along with high-vis trousers, shirts, jackets, and fleeces, letting you find the right combination of high-vis PPE no matter your tasks or working environment.

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Disposable

Most types of overalls are built to take a beating, stand up to washing, and last a long time. Single-use overalls exist too, though. What are overalls made of when they’re disposable? RS disposable coveralls and overalls are made from materials like polyethylene fabric or polypropylene plastic. They fit the body more tightly using elastics and typically don’t have features like pockets: Pocketed items could spread around what these coveralls try to contain.

Disposable coveralls are a good choice when you need to work with contaminating substances. Attempting to wash coveralls that contact them could be dangerous (or just ineffective) since you could spread those substances around, leading to uncontrolled safety hazards and improper environmental disposal. Properly disposing of coveralls right after working with hazardous substances keeps those contaminants controlled and as safe as they can be.

Also, disposable coveralls can cover even closer to ‘all’ of your body since some include tight hoods or even boots, making them the best overalls for keeping you safe from harmful materials. Hooded disposable coveralls, together with a respirator covering the face, are the best painters overalls for work with industrial spray paint.

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Examples of where to use disposable coveralls are:

Cleanroom work
Food processing
Chemical production
Medical work
Industrial painting
Heavy-duty cleaning

How to Choose the Best Work Overalls

Selecting the best overalls involves considering how comfortable you’ll be in them and how well and long they can withstand the demands of your work.

Size

How are overalls sized? RS overalls are sized either by waist size together with leg length, or with general small, medium, large, extra-large size designations. By selecting overalls based on your leg and waist measurements, you should end up with overalls that have a comfortable amount of extra room to both fit over your base clothing and leave you unconstricted in your work.

Overalls sizing must provide you with all of the following:

Protection from workplace hazards
Freedom of movement for your work
No loose clothing hazards

If any of these aren’t met, consider a different overalls size.

What size overalls do I need? Browse our PPE selection guide to find overalls size charts that compare all types of overalls and their sizes.

Durability

Bottom line, you need your overalls to stand up to the rigours of your work better than your regular clothes can. This means the best overalls will be those that resist tearing and fraying long-term.

Looking inside overalls can reveal much about their workmanship and in turn, their durability. If you see uneven stitching, short hems, fraying threads, or rough serging, those overalls may not endure your work for long.

Buttons, zippers, and snaps especially need to last since you’ll manipulate them every day. If those become loose, dangling, or nonfunctional the overalls become not only frustrating to wear, but a significant entanglement hazard.

Also, overalls with poor durability can start fraying after being washed, so running a pair through the wringer a few times can reveal whether a bulk set will last in your business.

Breathability

Staying cool and aerated is essential for working outdoors in hot temperatures or indoors with hot equipment. Cotton has stood the test of time for breathability, so the best work overalls in that regard are made from cotton or a polyester-cotton mixture. Also, overalls with heavier materials will naturally breathe less than lightweight ones, while disposable coveralls may not breathe at all. Always prioritise safety, though.

Comfort

Overalls’ overall comfort is harder to define, and their sizing and breathability will factor into it. Other points you should consider for overall comfort are:

Material (how it feels on the skin)
Flexibility
Ergonomics
Kneepads to help with work on the floor
Seams where they may be uncomfortable, like the shoulders

If you can before purchasing, try on overalls together with typical underclothes and think carefully about how it feels to wear them.

Washability

As your overalls continually protect you from your job’s dirty and hazardous materials, you’ll need to keep washing those off to prevent odours, damage, and an unprofessional business image. Washability is thus essential for reusable overalls, though it’s also vital that they retain their measurements after washing.

In the overalls’ specifications, look for compliance with EN 5077/25077 or ISO 5077:2007, which cover the dimensional changes of textiles after washing and drying.

You’ll likely need an outside laundry company to pick up, wash, and return your overalls to ensure they’re washed properly based on their material and substances encountered. Stains from certain substances will need specific chemicals to wash out.

Along with overalls and coveralls, RS carries other lines of body PPE, such as work trousers for when the torso is less exposed to hazards. Browse our PPE offerings today.