Cautions on fabric etc.
 

I do approximately 20 Linus blankets a month. All machine made and usually using flannel on the back. I love the new "kiddy" flannel prints they sell in the fabric stores like JoAnns etc. There is a warning on the bolt end that says "this fabric should not be used in children's sleepwear". Am I missing something. Where would you use flannel, children's prints? Today I purchased a children's patttern for items that resemble hospital scrubs. I wanted it for a new chairity project to make hospital garb for children in the hospital in Haiti and other disadvantaged places. The pattern says not to be used for children's sleepwear. What are children supposed to wear to sleep? I know that cotton flannel is flamable but at least it flashs and then turns to fine ash. Fabrics with polyester melt when they burn and can stick to skin and flesh. Exactly what is suitable for children's sleepwear?

Saw a program on PBS earlier this spring that stated the chemicals used in flame retardant were unsafe for children's clothing/sleepwear due to so many allergies from long contact (?). They suggested 100% cotton since cotton has a slow burn rate.
Maybe the charities you quilt for will recommend fabrics?

It's one of those weird laws that don't make sense. There was a good reason maybe at the time, but you really have to wonder. Now it just freaks people out.

It's kind of like a lot of things such as drinking alcohol is bad for you, but wait...wine is good for your heart, eat fish because it is healthy, but wait.....fish can have high mercury levels which is bad for you, etc.

exactly. good examples ;-)

they need to update their statements on the fabric labels Over the years I've made oddles of baby quilt and other quilt for my 4-sons and many other people out of flannels.

I agree -100% cotton without flame retardant chemicals is really much safer

Several years ago, some foolish people put RAYON (an explosive) pjs on their kids with the predictable and horrible results. The outcome of this was laws requiring flame retardant (but unhealthy, IMHO) materials for kids. Yes, the laws need to be improved, but probably won't at this date. Yes, do make cuddly flannel backed quilts.

In case you have any doubt that rayon is explosive, try the experiment my father showed me. Put a scrap of rayon in the sink and add fire. My father, based on his scientific training felt rayon should be banned for all clothing, as a windblown spark from a passing smoker can turn your lovely blouse into a torch.

The warnings about sleepwear are because sleepwear can be baggy and the air all around the fabric increases the burning. Close fitting sleepwear is preferred for kids. It doesn't matter so much in quilts because they are close to the child with no air blowing underneath. I'm guessing that those scrub like things you're going to be making are baggy and that's why they're not recommended for kids.

Joann's has some of the flame retardant flannette stuff to make pj's out of but it feels & smells so icky there is no way I would buy it. Flannel nightgowns were good enough for me, mom, grandma, great-grandma, etc. and I felt lucky to get a new one.

As for the "flame-retardant" stuff we are supposed to use--aren't most fire related deaths caused by smoke inhalation? I would worry more about kids being allergic to the chemicals than being burnt by their own pj's.

You make very good points! I would have to agree.

Wouldn't flannel be too warm a fabric for Haiti?

Haiti=hot all year. 100% cotton should be fine for sleepwear.

Years ago I looked into this and read that it is okay for blankets because they can escape from the blankets but if it is PJs and they are on fire, they cannot get them off their bodies.

Many years ago a law was passed requring all children's sleepwear to have a flame retardent put on it. A second law was passed requiring fabric that did not have flame retardent be labeled that it was not safe to use for children's sleepwear. The law requiring flame retardent was done away with, but the law requiring labeling was not. If you conduct a burn test on 100% cotton pjs bought in any store and 100% cotton fabric from a fabric store you will find they burn exactly the same.

The labeling did accomplish one thing - it made us think about fire danger.

Guess the real answer is to keep kids & heaters apart.

love it!!!!!

IMHO - its just a preventative against lawsuits should a fire harm a child.

The manufacturers still put some kind of flame retardant on commercial PJ's and sleepwear...during the recent NATO summit there were Mom's picketing against this chemical being on the baby clothes.
I thought that it would wash out of clothing after several cycles in washer and dryer...

Interesting. I've often wondered that myself. Thanks for posting this. I dont do jammies but I do blankets. Good to know info. Thanks

All new fabrics have odors to them and after they are washed and dried they feel & smell much better......
flannel definitely needs to be laundered before using for quilts or any sewing project because it shrinks alot......

Yes that would seem obvious but it's not just heaters. Think of all the people you know that have candles burning though out their house, firepits in the backyard etc. even the candles in your jack o'lantern.
little kids like to spin and dance around and can easily fall in or on a flame. it's the "looseness" of a nightgown that will feed a flame.
It's not always a matter of people being careless, kids move fast and as careful as you try to be, things happen.

Any cotton I've ever seen burns rather fast. A cotton ball almost explodes.

The law came about when they started using a lot of synthetics in children's wear and believe me those went up in seconds when held near a flame. Always the best to use is 100 percent cotton. So if you haven't checked it beware of polar fleece boy does it melt and flame fast. Every where you look they use it in baby and children's blankets and clothing. I no longer use it for grand kids things when I saw what happened to hubby's shirt at work. He leaned against his hot roller and was on fire! fortunately he was not hurt just singed but that would have been a different matter for a child.

Sorry to play devil's advocate here........I just looked at a website for the Consumer Products Safety Division and they listed 100% cotton as the LEAST safe. The burn temp is hotter and there's very little smoke for you to notice. The flame resistant coatings were implemented to extend the chance of rescue, I think. I hear you about the allergy thing. There are always pros and cons. I guess people with allergies shouldn't have fires.

back in the days before the "YEPPY GENERATION" decided they were smarter then all our parents, we wore what ever we had to bed and that was it. NO CHEMICALS were added to our clothing to make them "BURN RETARDANT" or what ever else they now try adding to the fabrics to make them "SAFER".

I was in a house fire along with 10 of my brothers and sisters, I was only in 1st grade at the time. We had to fight our way out of the house on our own and we did not get burned or hurt from the clothing that we wore. Most of us came out with barely a scratch physically, mentally is another subject. I think all the "safety" crap they come up with now a days is just a gimmick to sell stuff and I refuse to except their so-called reasoning behind it. How many 100's of years did people do just fine without all the extra chemicals in their cloths and if you look at things now, how many more people have allergies to so many things that weren't a problem back then.

My only real question would be, "Do you really want your new born baby, small infant or even yourself to be sleeping with all the added chemicals in those fabrics?"
I think NOT!!!

I use 100% cotton and don't worry at all. It's been used for over 100 years. We live in a world that is too fast to sue for any little thing, I think it's just precaution on the manufacturer.

Exactly what I think, also!

Wow I am in awe of the number of blankets you are making for chartiy, do you buy the fabric yourself or do you get donations.

I feel the same as most. Use the cotton and don't make nightgowns too big and loose, not tight but, not to billowy.

When I was buying jammies for DGS a few years ago I discovered that one of the firs things to do when you buy the flame retardent PJs is wash them. If you wash them a half a dozen times you have removed most of the flame retardent so why bother with it in the first place. I think it would be better to insist that you use only cotton in kids PJs then you can save the money spent on chemicals and water to wash out the chemicals.