Understanding Flame Resistant Fabrics

Understanding How Flame Resistant Fabrics Work

Flame resistant (FR) clothing serves as a critical measure to protect employees from burns caused by flash fires, electric arcs, and combustible dust. These dangers are particularly common across various industries such as:

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• Oil and gas

• Electrical

• Welding

• Utilities

• Iron and steel

• Mining

Each profession and industry has specific legal requirements for safety workwear, tailored to the unique responsibilities of each role. As a result, multiple levels of flame resistance protection and a wide range of FR fabrics can be found on the market.

FR Categories and Regulatory Guidelines

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) establishes the standards and regulations that fire-resistant garments must follow.

NFPA 70E Requirements

Known as the Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, NFPA 70E outlines electrical safety measures for workers, emphasizing safeguards that enhance productivity in their job functions. This standard aims to ensure the practical protection of employees during activities such as installation, operation, maintenance, and demolition of electric conductors and equipment.

Essentially, NFPA 70E is there to shield electrical workers from the hazards posed by working near electricity or energized equipment that may cause an arc flash.

Complying with NFPA 70E

NFPA 70E is considered the most comprehensive standard for workplace electrical safety. FR clothing for electrical workers must meet these criteria, which define the arc rating level necessary for clothing to safely perform specific hazardous tasks. The standard specifies the types of fire-protective clothing needed for various job functions.

Key garment tests to comply with 70E include:

• Threads must be made from flame-resistant fibers that do not melt at 500°F.

• When exposed to flame for 12 seconds, garments must:

  • Self-extinguish in 2 seconds or less after the flame is removed.
  • Exhibit no char damage of more than 6 inches.
  • Not melt or drip.
  • Retain compliance with all standards after 25 wash and dry cycles.

NFPA Requirements

The NFPA standard pertains to clothing protection against flash fire hazards. This is primarily relevant to non-electrical work in the oil and gas sector but applies to any occupation where flash fire poses a risk.

The NFPA regulation aims to protect workers from burn injuries stemming from hazardous conditions in the workplace, outlining minimum requirements for the design, construction, evaluation, and verification of flame-resistant garments used by industry personnel.

FR clothing must be tested and certified by a third party prior to being sold commercially, ensuring they resist melting, dripping, and after-flame burning, similar to NFPA 70E. However, compliance with one standard does not imply compliance with the other.

Flame Resistance vs. Flame Retardant Fabrics

The terms "flame resistance" and "flame retardant" are often used interchangeably but represent different concepts. Flame resistance pertains to fabrics made from fibers inherently resistant to burning when exposed to flames. For instance, wool tends to self-extinguish, making it less likely to ignite.

Flame retardant fabrics, on the other hand, consist of fibers treated with chemicals that enhance their fire resistance. While these fabrics can burn, they do so at a slower rate and possess inherent self-extinguishing properties.

Both types will cease burning once the flame is removed, offering wearers added protection against ignition.

The Science Behind Flame Resistant Fabrics

Leading manufacturers, such as DRIFIRE® and SteelGuard®, design and innovate FR clothing by utilizing various fiber types and blends. While synthetic fibers dominate FR garment construction, everyday materials like cotton may also become flame-resistant when treated with flame retardant chemicals.

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The synthetic fibers nylon and polyester are popular in FR clothing due to their fire-resistant characteristics. These plastic-based fibers tend to melt rather than burn, offering excellent properties for FR fabrics.

Aramid fibers are known for high temperature and corrosion resistance, making them ideal for high-performance FR fabrics due to their lightweight and exceptional strength properties.

Modacrylic fibers provide durability, comfort, and protection, widely used in performance FR clothing due to their favorable characteristics such as quick drying and ease of dyeing.

Although natural cotton is highly flammable, when treated with FR chemicals, it exhibits flame-resistant properties and can meet various FR standards. Blending cotton with nylon creates an effective flame-resistant fabric favored by manufacturers.

Most FR fabrics represent specific blends of different fibers, coated with fire-resistant chemicals based on the garment's intended use and the NFPA standards required.

How Flame Resistant Fabrics Work

FR fabrics are composed of fibers that generally do not ignite. They often include flame retardant fibers or blends of both chemically treated and naturally resistant fibers. Manufacturers can mix different fibers to create innovative fabrics that enhance safety and garment performance, including features like moisture-wicking, comfort, airflow, and durability.

The performance attributes of these fabrics typically meet various standard requirements, including:

Self-extinguishing: Garments should extinguish themselves after 12 seconds of flame exposure.

Charring: Most FR fabrics should char without burning, which eliminates the fire's fuel source and insulates against heat.

Insulating properties: These properties are critical in environments where protection from heat and freezing temperatures is necessary.

Caring for FR Clothing

Maintaining FR garments requires special considerations to preserve their flame retardance. According to NFPA 70E, these garments should retain FR properties after 25 washes (and dries), which is possible only with meticulous cleaning practices. Proper laundering and maintenance are essential for extending the life of FR clothing while ensuring employee safety.

Stains must be thoroughly removed before FR clothing can be used. For example, an oil stain on flame resistant coveralls can significantly increase the risk of garment ignition. It's also crucial to keep FR garments clear of contaminants that may compromise safety, such as soap residues or mineral buildup from hard water.

Cleaning FR clothing can be more complex than standard cotton or polyester items, but a uniform rental service can simplify this process, delegating cleaning responsibilities to experienced professionals familiar with FR fabric care.

Benefits of Flame Resistant Uniforms from Vestis

Utilizing a Vestis uniform rental program can save businesses time and money while easing the burden of cleaning and maintaining safety apparel. By leveraging such a program, companies can enhance safety, ensure compliance with regulations, and enjoy peace of mind knowing that garment upkeep is managed by FR clothing experts.

FR Clothing from Vestis

Vestis proudly offers a variety of FR clothing options from leading manufacturers, ensuring superior fire protection alongside enhanced comfort and mobility. As the exclusive industrial laundry provider for rental DRIFIRE garments, we support your organization's compliance with all regulations related to flame resistant clothing based on specific protection needs.

This is how our FR uniform rental program operates:

1. A Vestis representative collaborates with you to assess your overall uniform requirements.

2. We deliver freshly laundered garments on your scheduled delivery day, or as needed for special circumstances.

3. We collect garments from your location and return them to our facility for inspection and maintenance.

4. We clean your uniforms using a specialized process to effectively eliminate tough stains without compromising flame safety. We also inspect, maintain, and replace garments as needed.

5. We monitor inventory levels to ensure you're adequately stocked when needed.

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NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 18, Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have developed four cotton lines that can create self-extinguishing textiles in the event of a fire, minimizing the reliance on chemical flame retardants in consumer goods, as detailed in a recent study published in PLOS ONE.

These cotton lines were bred from cultivated varieties, exhibiting a unique flame-retardant trait. Unlike regular cotton fabric, which burns rapidly, the new lines self-extinguish when exposed to an open flame.

"Utilizing these lines to develop commercial cultivars presents an opportunity to enhance the safety of cotton products while mitigating the economic and environmental impacts associated with chemical flame retardants," explained Brian Condon, senior author of the study and former research leader at the ARS Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research Unit in New Orleans. "These lines will greatly benefit growers, producers, and consumers."

Cotton typically consists of flammable fibers, necessitating chemical treatments to render it flame retardant for use in apparel, mattresses, upholstery, and carpets. The new cotton lines resulted from a multi-parent breeding approach that allowed natural gene interactions to foster this unexpected flame-retardant trait.

During standard flammability tests, regular cotton burned instantly upon contact with an open flame, while the fire-resistant cotton self-extinguished under the same conditions. (Video by Doug Hinchliffe)

ARS researchers Johnie Jenkins and Jack C. McCarty, supervisory research geneticists at the ARS Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research Unit in Mississippi, crossbred cotton lines to identify genes that influence agronomic traits such as yield, pest resistance, and fiber quality including length, strength, and fineness.

"ARS scientists study every aspect of cotton production, from 'Dirt to Shirt,' encompassing genetic diversity, field management, fiber quality attributes, and textile characteristics," stated Jenkins.

Though all parent cotton lines produced flammable fabric, researchers discovered that no single gene responsible for flame retardance emerged. Instead, they identified multiple genes inducing a phenotype with significantly lower heat release capacities. The new cotton lines also fulfill the desired agronomic and fiber quality traits, making them advantageous for breeding and consumer application.

"We evaluate fabric quality and chemical finishes that create properties like permanent press, wrinkle-free and flame-retardant capabilities. Now, we have identified lines with a novel and natural genetic mechanism for flame retardance," said Condon.

The Agricultural Research Service is the principal scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS's mission is to devise solutions for agricultural problems affecting America, yielding a $20 economic return for every dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research.

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