- Author
- Damant, G. H. | Williams, S. S. | Krasny, J. F.
- Title
- Cigarette Ignition Behavior of Commercial Upholstery Cover Fabrics.
- Coporate
- Bureau of Home Furnishings, North Highlands, CA National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Journal of Consumer Product Flammability, Vol. 9, No. 1, 31-46, March 1982
- Keywords
- polyesters | cigarettes | fabric flammability | ignition | polyester batting | polyurethane foams | self-extinguishment | smoldering | textiles | upholstered furniture | weight loss
- Abstract
- The cigarette ignition of 70 primarily cellulosic upholstery cover fabrics was studied independently in two laboratories: the California Bureau of Home Furnishings (BHF) and the Center for Fire Research, National Bureau of Standards (NBS). BHF used the mini-mockup procedure, NBS tested the fabrics in mockups resembling the cushion and vertical members of actual furniture. BHF classified the fabrics according to self-extinguishment or the time to reach 10 or 20 percent weight loss during continued smoldering of the fabrics mounted over variety of upholstery filling mterials and exposed to a burning cigarette. NBS classified the fabrics according to self-extinguishment or ignition when the cigarettes were placed into crevices made up by a full size cushion and two types of filling materials in the vertical member, or on the flat surface of the cushion. Fabrics which did not ignite in the NBS mockups also generally self-extinguished in the BHF polyester batting and foam mini-mockups. Certain fabric characteristics which may improve cigarette ignition resistance could be identified, such as low weight in cellulosic fabrics, adding of thermoplastic fibers to cellulosic fibers in medium to heavy weight fabrics, certain backcoatings, and removal of impurities from cellulosic fabrics which are found in raw cotton or as residues from finishing operations.