Fabric for baby and child quilts
07-25-2010, 06:12 PM
#1
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Location: St. Louis Cnty, MO USA
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Happened to see on the selvage of a fabric that I'm using for most of the backing on a quilt for my 2 1/2 grandson - it says to not use for children's sleepwear. I wondered then if cotton quilts for little ones are not a good idea and that maybe a cotton/poly blend would be better since it doesn't burn like all cotton. The quilt I'm making is all cotton (the front is complete) and I was thinking of getting a poly batting instead of cotton batting.
Am I worrying for nothing or is there something to this?
Am I worrying for nothing or is there something to this?
07-25-2010, 06:21 PM
#2
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Maryland
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Poly melts and has the potential to stick to the skin...children's sleepwear is usually made from fire retardant material or at least treated with something that helps it be fire retardant. Same thing with Halloween costumes. Children's clothes are not fire retardant nor are the sheets/blankets on the beds.
07-25-2010, 06:31 PM
#3
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Location: Southern , Virginia
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I noticed that the last 2 quilts I got from WalMart said not to use for childrens sleepware on the selvage as well. One of them was a baby quilt (Cuddle Me) ??!! Does this make sense ? I was wondering about the safety of children with these quilts. The fabric for both quilts is from David Textiles, Inc. I plan on trying to contact them and see what the story is.
07-25-2010, 07:36 PM
#5
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Children's sleep wear only stays flame resistant for so many washings. After that? They are as flammable as anything else made out of that fabric.
One of the news shows ran a special on this and they said the flame retardant washes out way before the jammies even begin to show signs of wear.....
One of the news shows ran a special on this and they said the flame retardant washes out way before the jammies even begin to show signs of wear.....
07-25-2010, 08:03 PM
#6
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Cotton is not safe for a child's nightgown because air can reach the fabric simultaneously from both sides. If you touch a lit match to the bottom of a nightgown, it will engulf the child's body and set hair on fire within seconds -- too fast for anyone to react before the child has 3rd degree burns.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
07-25-2010, 08:58 PM
#8
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Brentwood, CA
Posts: 317
Originally Posted by Prism99
Cotton is not safe for a child's nightgown because air can reach the fabric simultaneously from both sides. If you touch a lit match to the bottom of a nightgown, it will engulf the child's body and set hair on fire within seconds -- too fast for anyone to react before the child has 3rd degree burns.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
07-25-2010, 09:17 PM
#9
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Union, Missouri
Posts: 1,542
Originally Posted by Prism99
Cotton is not safe for a child's nightgown because air can reach the fabric simultaneously from both sides. If you touch a lit match to the bottom of a nightgown, it will engulf the child's body and set hair on fire within seconds -- too fast for anyone to react before the child has 3rd degree burns.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
Cotton fabric and batting is perfectly safe for quilts. Quilts are thick enough so that air cannot reach all surfaces simultaneously. If a lit match is touched to a quilt, the quilt will not combust the way a nightgown would. Even if there is enough air to feed a fire in the quilt, the quilt will burn very slowly compared to the nightgown.
I once saw a demonstration on TV where they used a mannequin to show what happens to an untreated cotton nightgown, and why. The same would be true of loose pajamas, or non-flame retardant curtains. The thinner the curtains, the more quickly they will go up in flames. Thick curtains will burn more slowly.
Polyester is not necessarily better than untreated cotton because it melts. The droplets are sticky, like syrup, and can cause very deep burns quickly. At least cotton burns down quickly to an ash that can be brushed off the skin. The problem with cotton and fire occurs when the cotton is thin and therefore exposed to abundant air to feed a flame.
Incidentally, 100% cotton that has not been treated with flame retardant *can* be legally sold in the form of children's sleepwear as long as the cotton is form-fitting to the body (like long johns). A nightgown or loose jammies made from this fabric cannot be legally sold for children's sleepwear.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-54664-1.htm#1307205
this is my take on it!
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