Fire resistant or fire retardant fabrics are chemically treated to make them more resistant to flames or they are made out of certain fabrics that are inherently flame resistant. The term fire resistant or fire retardant doesn’t mean fire proof. Although these fabrics have slow burning rates, but they only work to curb starting fires; they’ll burn if the flames are bigger. The fabric has the ability to reduce the spread of fire but not prevent it totally. This is achieved by the charring affect, which does not support combustion by reducing the fuel source.

Flame Resistant Fabrics

All fabrics are combustible by nature, but many natural fibers, including cotton, can be treated with chemicals that reduce the fabric’s ability to catch flames so much so that it becomes close to non-combustible. Flame

Retardant attributes are embedded into the cotton fibers to make them permanently flame resistant. Fabrics that are artificially made flame resistant go through a manufacturing process with non-water soluble chemicals and are considered durably flame resistant.

Quality of a Fire Resistant Fabric

There are certain performance standards and methods that test the quality of Fire Resistant fabrics and there are particular measures that allow you to determine minimum and maximum performance of the fabrics. Conformance to such standards is voluntary if an employer wants to get them for his workforce; however, using Fire Resistant products that meet these standards ensure safety of the workers. High quality garments are approved by testing laboratories and labeled accordingly. These fabrics will have tags sewn into them that will verify the fact that they have passed certain standards and will depict their quality. These tags will indicate the ATPV or cal ratings of the fabric, as well as the standards that the garment conforms to.

Using Fire Blankets

Fire blankets are effective for combating small fires that may occur in homes or in work places. Safety issues regarding heat resistant fabric should never be taken lightly. Keep this in mind when you purchase a fire blanket online: Don’t buy second hand fire blankets because they may not all function as effectively as you might like and they maybe outside their guarantee. A fire blanket is crafted using non-flammable materials. They are mostly used for electrical fires that can’t be put out using water. Fire blankets can also be utilized to control grease and oil fires. Most of the times, it isn’t safe to use water to extinguish a fire. In these cases, fire blankets or fire extinguishers come in handy.

Advantages of using Fire Resistant clothing

Wearing clothes made out of fire resistant fabrics essentially gives a person more time to escape from a burning environment, considerably reducing the risk of burn injuries and increasing the chances of survival when trapped in a fire. An employer who provides Fire Retardant clothing to his workforce enhances their personnel safety and their morale, along with their productivity. People, who work in industries with combustion hazards like explosions such as petroleum, gas, chemicals and others, such as, those in manufacturing industries, are required to wear Fire Resistant clothing for their safety.