Effect of Laundering on a Flame Retardant Fabric
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Date
1976
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North Dakota State University
Abstract
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Clothing and other untreated fabrics on household objects may ignite and catch fire due to heat sources and cause injury to human and other. The US government enacted legislation mandating that a large number of clothing and other items meet flame retardant standards. Around this time, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission published a fact sheet entitled 'Laundering Procedures for Flame Retardant Fabrics'. Washing may reduce flame retardant qualities, especially when other chemicals such as bleach are added to the wash. A flammability study was done in the Department of Textiles and Clothing comparing the effectiveness of a flame retardant finish on cotton, flannelette fabric when laundered in both high and low phosphate detergent and with moderately hard and soft water. This study is the topic of this article. The results of the test indicated some tolerance to variables in the laundering procedure while maintaining flame retard qualities. This tolerance is important to allow for differences in water hardness, amount of phosphate in detergents and variations in laundering procedures.