THE FLAMMABILITY ASPECTS OF DECORATIVE TRIMMINGS .2. DECORATIVE TRIMMINGS USED ON SOFT FURNISHINGS

Fundamental studies carried out on the flammability behaviour of trimm ings used on soft furnishings have shown that the performance standard s, i.e., BS 5867: Part 2: 1980 normally used to assess the flammabilit y performance of fabrics for curtain and drapes is unsuitable for asse ssing such trimmings. Since trimmings used on soft furnishings are het erogeneous, low weight products, they comprise only a small fraction o f the total mass of soft furnishings to which they are attached and so the criteria applied to furnishing fabrics to assess their flammabili ty do not apply to trimmings. A proposed test method takes into consid eration the low weight heterogeneous nature of the trimming products i n conjunction with their flaming characteristics, e.g., modification t o the flame characteristics brought about by the incorporation of flam e retardants or flameproofing treatments.