The Flammability Aspects of Decorative Trimmings, Part 2: Decorative Trimmings Used on Soft Furnishings

Abstract

Fundamental studies carried out on the flammability behaviour of trimmings used on soft furnishings have shown that the performance stan dards, i.e., BS 5867: Part 2: 1980 normally used to assess the flammability per formance of fabrics for curtain and drapes is unsuitable for assessing such trim mings. Since trimmings used on soft furnishings are heterogeneous, low weight products, they comprise only a small fraction of the total mass of soft furnish ings to which they are attached and so the criteria applied to furnishing fabrics to assess their flammability do not apply to trimmings. A proposed test method takes into consideration the low weight heterogeneous nature of the trimming products in conjunction with their flaming characteristics, e.g., modification to the flame characteristics brought about by the incorporation of flame retar dants or flameproofing treatments.