Fabric burn chart
 

I found this very interesting chart for testing fabric content. Hope it is OK to post a link to it here.

http://www.ditzyprints.com/dpburnchart.html

I have used this method - and most of the time I can figure out...sometimes not sure what the smell is.

Thank you for the great information...and I especially like your portable burn test kit idea.

Many thanks for the chart - I got some interesting hanks of thread from St Vinnies for 50c the other day and would like to be fairly certain of their content before I utilise them. I suspected they were silk when I bought them. However, they did not smell like burning hair when I fired them up. Your comprehensive chart may give me a better idea.