Safe batting choices article

[Denis]

http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/20...Fall2011_1.pdf

Here's an article on safe batting choices. This is in response to another thread on the forum here when someone asked whether to use polyester or cotton for a quilt.

It's an an excellent article and very informative.

I hope the link works.

[ChristineB]

Wow!! Very, very interesting article. And perfect timing for me as I am about to make a baby quilt for my new granddaughter.
Thanks for sharing.

[Sandy Navas]

Thanks for sharing - print protected though - I do love reading paper instead of on the screen.

Very timely information. Thanks for sharing.

[Alana]

Very Good article Denis, thanks for posting.....

[Nena]

Great info---thanks for sharing!!

[Denis]

Thanks for sharing - print protected though - I do love reading paper instead of on the screen.

Sandy, you may be able to contact IMQA for a copy of the magazine.

[Claire Hallman]

That was so hard to read, due to the small print. Could someone tell me the end result. I know poly will melt rather than really flame but it seems to me that any type of blanket would burn easily.
Funny, the kid next door did a science project similar to this to show burn times for various fibers and he was surprised with his results. I think he found that flannel burned the least but I am relatively certain what he bought was flame retardant which would have skewed the results.

[K. McEuen]

"Synthetics (polyester) may catch fire quickly......sputter, flame and melt to the skin or the flaming melt will drop to the floor. Residue is molten and hot and difficult to remove." Taken from the linked article.

Polyester is petroleum based. Oil is a natural fuel for fire and highly flammable.

The article goes on to say that "polyester batting should not be used in a Baby Quilt or a quilt made especially for an Elderly or Invalid Person. The Burn Test Photos clearly show that the Flame Retardant, 100% Cotton, and 100% Wool battings were clearly the best choices for these types of quilts because they better resisted the burning process."

If any of you have seen polyester clothing catch fire and/or melt when someone was wearing it, you'd never go near the stuff. It's pretty scary. I ripped a shirt off someone that was standing in front of a wall heater and the whole back was in flames and melting. Other than the fact that I almost chocked him because I pulled from the back, he was lucky that none of the melted fabric stuck to his skin.

[Denis]

That was so hard to read, due to the small print..

Claire, if you opened the document with Adobe, you should have been able to enlarge it. The pictures alone are worth looking at.

[Denis]

[QUOTE=K. McEuen;96021If any of you have seen polyester clothing catch fire and/or melt when someone was wearing it, you'd never go near the stuff. It's pretty scary. I ripped a shirt off someone that was standing in front of a wall heater and the whole back was in flames and melting. Other than the fact that I almost chocked him because I pulled from the back, he was lucky that none of the melted fabric stuck to his skin.[/QUOTE]

Karen, this happened to my brother. He was leaning up against a counter and there was a candle burning. He got too close to the flame without realising it and the shirt caught fire in micro seconds. He did burn his arm a bit so thankfully he was quick enough to extinguishing it before causing any serious damage to his skin.