American Fabrics: Flame retardancy and safety go hand in hand
A challenge for the future is whether there is any good way to guarantee the life of fire-resistant non-durable goods, Newman said: “If you set the warranty period of your fire-resistant PU coated fabric to one year and promise a warranty, But after a week, can you still prove that the fire retardant applied to the surface of the fabric complies with the standard without having any way to verify what conditions the fabric surface may encounter.”
Fabrics commonly used in commercial applications such as trade show banners, theater tents, and restaurant awnings must be fire-resistant. There are two basic ways to achieve fabric flammability: one is to use inherently fire-resistant fibers, and the other is to use fire-resistant PU coatings. Vega, a distributor of fire-resistant fabrics in the United States, said that manufacturers often add fire-resistant polymer yarn before producing woven or knitted fire-resistant fabrics. In the past few years, companies have been more inclined to use it for useful purposes. Inherently fire-resistant fibers create fire-resistant fabrics. Most theater curtains need to have a long lifespan. Fire-resistant fabrics made from inherently fire-resistant fibers retain their fire-resistant properties despite repeated cleaning and exposure to flames.
Renewable materials have a bright future
A new version of Firesist, a fire-resistant commercial sunshade fabric produced by American company Glenraven, is made from a proprietary fire-resistant material. The company used to manufacture fire-resistant products using fire-resistant polyester and fire-resistant acrylic resins. Bagwell, the company’s director of research and advancement, noted that Firesist (which also has a water-blocking PU coating) is made from renewable materials and can be recycled.
However, in some cases, fire-resistant fabrics are reprocessed. Newman, CEO of Canyon Company in California, USA, said: “You always don’t understand why some fire-resistant fabrics lose their fire-resistant properties. Sometimes floods, atmosphere and other conditions may change the flame spread level.”
For example, a school requested assistance from a company in cleaning and reprocessing fire-resistant curtains because they failed to pass the NFPA 705 combustion test. The curtain treatment gave a different tone along the bottom 5 feet. “It turns out the school janitor used degreaser when cleaning the bottom of the curtains, and it changed the color and properties of the curtains,” Newman said.
Fire resistance and safety go hand in hand
Bad, sales director of TSG Finishing Co., Ltd. in North Carolina, explained that priming fabric is like spreading butter on bread, while dipping is like putting donuts in a pan and frying them.
The fire-resistant PU coating is equivalent to a protective layer for the fabric, which can prevent the underlying fabric from catching fire. It can be used at different stages of the supply chain, and in other cases, distributors, manufacturers, installers or end users can also decide on its after-sales treatment.
In some applications, fire-resistant PU coatings also incorporate some other treatments (such as those that provide anti-fungal or anti-microbial properties), but this process must be done with caution. “When we provide a fire-resistant fabric, we will modify our PU coating formula to include fire-resistant properties.” said Allen, vice president of the Missouri Fabric Group, “This is not a simple matter of adding fabrics to the original formula. With new properties, we need to remove a series of factors that influence chemicals.”
“The problem now is that with so many chemicals on the market, fire-resistant fabric manufacturers can’t say their products will work with all stain cleaners,” Newman said. “The products have to be tested. Certification of a room is successful only if its fire-resistant properties are not suppressed.”
Safety plays an important role in the PU coating itself. The fireproofing process is non-toxic and does not produce hazardous waste. Industry insiders are working hard, and some organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will even ban the use of certain chemical agents.
Reusable and still meet the standards
Although flammability standards may vary in each municipality in the United States, flammability standards are common in most places on the market. These measures include: ASTME84 flame propagation rate determination of building materials; NFPA701 flame propagation test method standard for fabrics and films; CPAI-84: fire protection requirements standard for civil tents; CAN/ULCS-109 Canadian ULC fire protection, fire resistance test standard, etc.
These standards will promote a safer environment. Newman said: “I think there should be some standards to ensure fire safety while maintaining the fire resistance of the fabric. For example, ten years is a long time for a curtain to be exposed to dirt, dust, grease and grease for a long time. and moisture, all of which increase the spread of fire.”
A challenge for the future is whether there is any good way to guarantee the life of fire-resistant non-durable goods, Newman said: “If you set the warranty period of your fire-resistant PU coated fabric to one year and promise a warranty, But after a week, can you still prove that the fire retardant applied to the surface of the fabric meets the standard without having any way to verify what conditions the fabric surface may encounter. ”
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