The following section contains information which may be of some help when specifying materials for a project. In particular, emphasis is given to the fibre types which textiles are made from and how they are considered by domestic legislation with regard to the levels of flammability testing required. Much of this information is contained within the table below.

Fibres: Whilst in many instances the fibres listed below may be flame retarded, experience has shown that problems may be encountered either during the application of the flame retardant treatment or at some time following treatment. The causes of the problems are numerous. From a flame retardancy point of view, we would recommend that fabrics containing significant proportions of any of the fibres listed below be avoided when selecting materials for a project.

There seems to be an increasing number of man made fibres which we simply are unable to identify. These may be familiar fibres but finished in a way that imparts burning characteristics quite unlike those we have seen previously. This unfortunately makes them unsuitable for flame retardancy treatment.

Dye Types: Some dyes will have an adverse reaction to some flame retardants. One class of dye in particular seems sensitive to certain types of flame retardant. Fabrics which include reactive dyes in the composition have been shown to discolour following treatment. The discolouration may occur soon after treatment or may not manifest itself until some time (often many months) after treatment. From a flame retardancy point of view, avoiding the use of this class of dye may help eliminate possible long term problems. We have included more information on dyes and colour fastness which can be found here.