Sealy line more fire-resistant
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 14, 2003
Trinity, N.C. — Sealy's new one-sided Posturepedic line uses an extruded thermo-plastic edge-support system and base that provides less fuel for a fire than polyurethane foam, the company says.
Sealy officials indicated that the system will be helpful as Sealy complies with stringent new open-flame mattress standards proposed in California.
President Dave McIlquham said Sealy will still need "some kind of barrier system" to pass the proposed standards, which have been challenged by the president of the International Sleep Products Assn.
Sealy's new UniCased Construction, in which the sides and base of the mattress are constructed of thermo-plastic material (polyethylene) welded together, is helpful because one of the burners in the proposed California open-flame test is aimed at the side of the mattress. Thermo-plastic provides "less fuel load" than polyurethane foam, McIlquham said.
He said the bedding industry is "very unanimous in its position" as voiced by ISPA that it would be unreasonable to meet new flammability standards by Jan. 1 if those standards are not finalized until November.
He added that Sealy Chairman Ron Jones has been "very active in helping to educate the California regulators on the issues."
