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DuPont enters FR arena

Giant targets bedding producers with family of products

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, December 21, 2003

Richmond, Va. — Corporate giant DuPont is entering the mattress flammability arena with a line of fire-resistant products that it says offer superior performance characteristics and can be used in a variety of ways by bedding producers.

The 201-year-old chemicals, materials and scientific company, which boasts one of the world's most recognizable names and already is a leader in the field of fire-science technology, has spent millions of dollars in research and development to bring its flame-resistant nonwoven mattress fabrics to the market.

The company, which adopted a low profile as it developed its products this year, is now ready to step into the spotlight and tell its FR mattress story.

"We are ready to accept an order now," said John Dottore, corporate accounts manager for new business development in DuPont's Advanced Fibers Systems unit, based in Richmond, which is marketing the products to bedding producers.

"We will have the material and the capacity to respond to the market," said James Ranson Jr., the new business development manager. DuPont is building inventory of its FR products to serve the market, he said.

DuPont executives say the company will support its push into the mattress FR category with a comprehensive effort that will involve DuPont facilities and partners from coast to coast.

The company's massive Spruance plant here, as well as other plants, will produce the raw materials and FR fabrics, which will be distributed through 10 distribution centers strategically located around the country.

Those products will be delivered on 24- to 48-hour notice to bedding producers across the country, DuPont officials said.

The company is drawing on its decades of experience with aramid fibers like DuPont Kevlar brand fiber and DuPont Nomex brand fiber, featured in a variety of life-protection uses, including body armor and firefighting gear. It is using those proven technologies to offer mattress FR fabrics that are inherently fire-resistant, it says.

At the heart of those technologies are synthetic fibers that are five times stronger than steel, on a comparable weight basis. DuPont research fellow Warren Knoff likens the molecular structure of those fibers to a pound of uncooked spaghetti, which draws strength from the alignment of its strands.

One family of products is designed for use under the mattress ticking or under a "sacrificial layer." Those products consist of two layers, the bottom of which is a para-aramid-rich base layer with a proprietary blend of fibers on the top layer.

The other product is a single-layer fabric containing para-aramid fibers and a char-forming fiber. It is designed to be used under a sacrificial layer that provides the aesthetics and feel of current mattress offerings but can burn off in a fire — without causing the mattress to fail California's FR test. The barrier fabric under that layer protects the rest of the mattress against ignition.

DuPont's fire-resistant material for mattresses performs three functions, according to the company.

First, the fabric provides structural integrity under severe thermal insult, helping to prevent air, which feeds a fire, from flowing into the mattress. Second, the fabric provides insulation for the mattress, helping to keep the interior from getting too hot and igniting. Third, special fibers in the fabric can help extinguish the flame, according to DuPont.

Mattresses that were properly designed, built and tested with the commercially available DuPont fire-resistant material have achieved 100% pass rates in internal testing. Hundreds of beds with DuPont FR materials have been tested for development purposes, officials said.

"We've seen other products," Dottore said, "and based on what we've seen we think these are the superior products."

He said the DuPont products are competitively priced and cost effective. They can be easily integrated into the mattress manufacturing process and are available in a variety of forms and performance levels, he added.

Selected mattresses with DuPont fire-resistant material will likely carry the DuPont label, which is a highly recognizable consumer brand.

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