Mattress Forum

Formaldehyde is the most common FR chemical used in beds today, wool has a higher burning point than formaldehyde.  

The 1633 CFR regulations do not require beds to be flame proof, they just require a certain rate of heat release and rate of how fast the fire spreads.

If you took the same piece of wool and tried to light it on fire from the top down it would self extinguish; the fire on these tests is applied to the surface of a mattress not the underside. 

No company has ever claimed that wool does not burn, but the laws have never required beds to be completely fire proof to begin with.  

tjstogner,

Please re-read my original post, as I never insinuated that wool is AS flammable as steel. I was just pointing out that almost everything IS flammable, and that just because it is flammable, it doesn't mean it can't be used as a fire retardant.

FWIW, antimony is a very commonly used fire retardant used in firefighter gear, and is also flammable: http://www.speclab.com/elements/antimony.htm  "BURNS WITH BLUISH-WHITE FLAME WITHOUT VOLATILIZING"

I used steel in my previous example, because most people aren't familiar with antimony.

"In conclusion 100% pure wool processed properly will perform very well as a FR barrier for CFR 1633 compliance. However it is a very expensive way to achieve it. Ultimately bedding manufacturers and their customers must decide whether it is worth the additional expense they must pay for an all natural solution for compliance to the law."

Interesting article there; thanks for the link.

From another article (Polyurethane Foam Application and Design in Mattresses) by the same author (Steve Holder) on that same site:

"...The temptation for manufacturers is to use cheaper less durable foams to achieve price competitiveness. There is a large risk here, since consumers cannot be fooled by these compromises made by bedding manufacturers for very long. In other words when consumers realize that the new mattress they recently purchased fails to hold up and loses it comfort performance, it may well come back to haunt those manufacturers who compromised the quality of their products by substituting cheaper poorer performing components. There is much evidence of these compromises being made, by the greater use of lower quality lower density polyurethane foams being used in mattresses today. Polyurethane foams as low as .8 lb – 1 lb density foams are being used in many mattresses today. These foams are formed with very weak polymer bonds and are mostly made up of foams formed with weak hydrogen bonds which will lose more than half of their IFD rating very shortly. Also, these foams are subject to compression set or collapse, bringing about massive body impressions in new mattresses in a very short period of time. It is very important for all legitimate bedding manufacturers to understand the destructive effects to the bedding products they are putting their reputation on. A better understanding of this very important component will not only enable manufacturers to build superior products, but also build better more durable products for their customers."