Originally Posted by
illinois
Due to Halloween, there has been a lot on the news about fiber content of costumes. The firefighters are saying to put the kids in non-flowing costumes made of non-cottons because they will melt and not continue to burn. I thought we were encouraged to make our quilts of cotton because the cotton was safer! I'm confused.
Quite honestly, I like a little polyester in fabrics (horrors!) because of the bit of sheen and they seem to be more color-fast than 100% cotton.
I understand why they are saying that because I saw a demo on tv once. They had a nightgown on two child mannequins. One nightgown was made of cotton; the other was made of polyester. They put a flame to the bottom of the synthetic nightgown and it turned into a fireball with flames shooting up immediately, engulfing the mannequin. When they put a flame to the bottom of the non-cotton nightgown, the fabric melted and there were no flames. The problem with the synthetic fabric, though, is that those melted balls are extremely hot and when in contact with skin quickly cause 3rd degree burns and, because the hot balls are sticky, they are impossible to get off the skin.
The reason the cotton fabric exploded into flame so quickly is because it was a thin fabric that had plentiful air on both sides. Quilts are different in that they are much thicker. A cotton quilt will not explode into flames the way a single layer of cotton fabric will (think curtains or draperies on a window -- lots of air on both sides of a thin fabric).
The real danger, in my opinion, is the open flame. I was at one Halloween house where they had lit candles on the floor. Talk about dangerous to children in flowing costumes! Candles inside pumpkins are much less dangerous, but still pose the possibility of a flame touching the bottom of a costume. I'm sure that's why the firefighters are making their recommendations. Once a flame touches the bottom of a single layer of cotton fabric, a child's body is engulfed in flames too quickly for even a nearby adult to help in time; the flames would have already singed the face and hair. Whole body burns like that are not good for survival.