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Fabric Safety

Safety and Energy Challanges fibres

                  The early 1970's saw a wave of consumer protection demands, most notably one for a mandated Federal flammability standard for children's sleepwear. The artificial fibre industry spent $20 million on flammability research and development in 1972 and 1973, and artificial fibre fabrics became predominant in this market. Flammability standards were also issued for carpet and other products. In the U.S. carpet market, 99% of all surface fibres are now manufactured fibres.

                   In late 1973, when the U.S. was struck by a severe energy crisis, the manufactured fibre industry reduced the energy required to produce a pound of fibre by 26%. By then, the industry was using but 1% of the Nation's petroleum supply to provide two-thirds of all fibres used by American textile mills.

                   Today innovation is the hallmark of the manufactured fibre industry. fibres more numerous and diverse than any found in nature are now routinely created in the industry's laboratories.

                   Nylon variants, polyester, and olefin are used to produce carpets that easily can be rinsed clean - even 24 hours after they've been stained. Stretchable spandex and machine-washable, silk-like polyesters occupy solid places in the U.S. apparel market. The finest microfibres are remaking the world of fashion.

Industrial Safety

                  For industrial uses, manufactured fibres relentlessly replace traditional materials in applications from super-absorbent diapers, to artificial organs, to construction materials for moon-based space stations. Engineered non-woven products of manufactured fibres are found in applications from surgical gowns and apparel interfacing to roofing materials, road bed stabilizers, and floppy disk envelopes and liners. Non-woven fabrics, stiff as paper or as soft and comfortable as limp cloth, are made without knitting or weaving.

Fire Safety

                  Just about everything will burn under the proper conditions. However, most synthetic fibres resist ignition because they melt and shrink away from heat sources. This is why synthetic fibres are used so extensively for children's sleepwear, which must pass a demanding flammability test to be sold in the U.S. Synthetics are also widely used in upholstery fabrics for furniture, especially when the strict California flammability standard for public occupancies must be met.

                   For some high-risk uses, the inherent ignition resistance of synthetics is not enough to provide adequate fire protection. Flame retardants may be added during manufacturing to impart a higher degree of fire resistance. There are also special fibres, such as the aramids, PBI and sulfar, which provide a very high degree of protection. These fibres are made from heat-stable polymers that do not melt or burn.

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