jacob r

Burning Questions

A 2012 Science Fair Project

By Jacob R.

How Flammable are different fabrics?

We burned various fabrics to see which ones burned the longest and how they burned.

How can clothing catch fire?

Common causes of clothing fires:

• Reaching over an open flame such as a stove or a barbecue

• Kids playing with matches or lighters

• Cigarettes

• Candles

• Space Heaters

Fabrics Tested

• 100% cotton – khaki, denim, jersey (t-shirt)

• 100% Polyester

• 100% Nylon

• Cotton/Polyester blends

• Wool

• Flame-resistant (chemically treated) 100% polyester

Some of our fabrics

Choosing the Fabrics

Setup for the burning

We burned the fabrics in the garage with the door open for ventilation. We used a metal dutch-oven table with the fabrics taped vertically to the back of the windscreen of the table. We kept a fire extinguisher nearby for safety. Fabrics were ignited with an open flame from a long butane lighter.

What we measured

• How long each fabric took to burn

• Qualities such as type of flame, smoke, smell and residue

Different Fabrics Burning

• 100% Polyester burned easily, with a bumpy flame. It smelled funny, like burning plastic and gave off black smoke. As it burned it dripped burning liquid that hardened and felt like a rock.

Burning 100% Cotton

• 100% cotton burned like paper. It left white ash behind and smelled like burning paper.

Burning Flame-Resistant 100% Polyester

• This fabric burned and curled up. The flames were bumpy, then stopped after a few seconds. It dripped a little before it stopped burning.

Burning Wool

• Wool burned out quickly with no dripping. It smelled really horrible like burning hair.

Cotton/Polyester Blends

• These fabrics burned very easily, like cotton and they dripped the hot liquid, like polyester.

Conclusions

• Flame resistant fabrics are worth buying because they don’t burn very easily or long so they are safer

• Wool burned the least but is usually itchy to wear

• Cotton/Poly blend would be the worst to have catch fire because it burns easily and drips hot liquid which would burn you even more