Yuck not I
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated
cellulose fiber. It is made from purified
cellulose, primarily from
wood pulp, which is chemically converted into a soluble compound. It is then dissolved and forced through a
spinneret to produce filaments which are chemically solidified, resulting in
synthetic fibers of nearly pure cellulose.
[1] Because rayon is manufactured from naturally occurring
polymers, it is considered a
semi-synthetic fiber.
[2] Specific types of rayon include
viscose,
modal and
lyocell, each of which differs in manufacturing process and properties of the finished product.
Examples of different materials held against a flame
MaterialTime to burst into flameNOTES (from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Flammable Fabrics Act)
Rayon3.0secRayon and other cellulosic fibers (cotton,linen, rayon, lyocell, ramie) ignite easily, burn with a bright flame, smell like burning paper, and leave a white feathery ash. Weave density has a big impact on burning time.
Cotton4.8secCotton and other cellulosic fibers (linen, rayon, lyocell, ramie) ignite easily, burn with a bright flame, smell like burning paper, and leave a white feathery ash. Weave density has a big impact on burning time.
Denim5.0secDenim is made from cotton in a twill weave. Because it is closely woven it will burn more slowly, but because of the quantity of material, they burn longer.
Silk7.6secWool and silk (protein fibers) shrink from the flame, are hard to ignite, smell like burning meat or flesh, sputter as they burn and leave a crisp, foamy crushable residue. Although these fibers have natural flame retardance because they are difficult to ignite and burn slowly, fabrics of these fibers often burn easily because of an open fabric weave or knit and dyes or finishes present.
50/50 Cotton/Polyester9.2secBlended fabrics -- cotton and polyester fibers together in one fabric, for example, combine to make a fabric that doesn't burn like either fiber. Blends sometimes are more dangerous than either individual fiber
Polyester*10secPolyester and nylon fibres may be slower to ignite, shrink and pull away from the flame source initially, but eventually will burn with a flame. As they burn, the melting residue holds heat and cools slowly to form a hard bead-like plastic melting residue holds heat and cools slowly to form a hard bead-like plastic residue. A chemical odor is given off. The melting residue is a very high temperature and can cause deep and severe skin burns. Acrylic fibers burn with a flaming, melting drip of molten material. All manufactured fibers burn at a high temperature and
*
can cause severe skin injury because they shrink as they burn and tend to stick to skin.
Additional tests performed by Pele
We always say..."wear natural fibres and you won't get burned". Yup, that's what we say.
So I was thinking about this the other day and grabbed bunches of different kinds of fabrics, a candle and Whipping Boy and we headed onto my front porch. Then I found some others materials and continued the experiments...
Here is what we found when I held the fabrics directly over the flame, the equivalent to a move gone wrong....
- Lightweight Cotton/Gauze: up in flames in three seconds
- Middle Weight Cotton(like a cheap t-shirt, not really tightly woven): up in flames in 3seconds
- Tight Woven Cotton (a nice t-shirt): up in flames in 6 seconds BUT once it was up in flames it was hell to put out..it just kept going. At first is smoldered to a little brown mark so we thought it wasn't going to go, then it burst into flames, literally! We did this a few times just to make certain.
- Tight Woven Heavy Cotton (Like Khaki pants): left it there 10 seconds and it didn't go up in flames but after 10 it would've. That was the point at which the brown scorch mark was working through the material.
- Denim (without frays): held it there for 10 seconds (if you're safety hasn't put you out by then you have big problems anyway). It left little black soot marks that wiped off.
- Cotton Corduroy: Held it there 10 seconds. It scorched abit because of the loose fibers being raised up but once it made it past those it didn't go.
- Wool (Light grade, loose weave): 10 seconds until scorch, much like the tight weave cotton.
- Wool (heavy grade, like a blanket): Worked better than denim.
- Flax (it tends to be light and airy, like a cotton): 3 seconds and it was history.
- Silk (the shiny, light refined stuff): It lasted about 5 seconds before it frizzled into a tiny flame.
- Raw Silk (the course, heavier one): This held up to a count of 8 seconds before it smoldered fiber by fiber...but it never really went poof.
- Leather: It doesn't actually burn, it more curls up into this little black roll, and that was the edge of the light weight leather after about 20 seconds (I was really curious with this one). The center never went up.
Moral of the story is that not *all* natural fibers are acceptable to spin in. The lighter the fabric and the looser the weave, the faster it goes up.
Now, keep in mind that you have about a two to three second grace period before you even catch, and then you have the oh, about one second grace while the fuel residue burns off. After that it's all the fabric. So for all of you who are safeties, you should give no more than 3 seconds warning before you step in. Keep that in mind.
Safe spinning to all
.
Pele
Additional notes: References: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Flammable Fabrics Act