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Expert offers two hot tips on passing Calif. fire tests

David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, March 16, 2003

One of the world's leading experts on mattress flammability has some succinct advice for bedding producers who want to pass the tough new open-flame standards proposed by the state of California:

You must treat the foundation with flame-retardant materials.
You also must protect the border panel on the side of the mattress.

If you don't do both of those things, said Gordon Damant, a well-traveled flammability consultant, your products are likely to fail in spectacular fashion. Those aren't the only areas producers must address — the protection of filling materials is critical, of course — but they are two that can't be neglected.

Damant made those points earlier this month at a briefing that was part of the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo in Las Vegas. The session attracted a blue-ribbon panel of presenters, including top officials from California's Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation, the agency that proposed the open-flame standards.

Damant's presentation was worth its weight in gold for bedding producers, who will be required to meet California's stringent new standards on Jan. 1, 2004, as things stand now.

Take the foundation issue, for example. There's been uncertainty among producers on whether the foundation must be treated with FR materials. Damant said he's been asked that question a lot. His answer: "The foundation is very critical to whether you will pass the test. If you don't do anything to the foundation, you are likely to fail the test badly, even if the mattress is fire hardened."

The proposed test requires testing of the bed set, he noted.

On the subject of border panels, Damant said: "If you don't protect the border panel, you will get burning from the inside out. If that happens, forget it."

One of the burners in the test apparatus is aimed directly at the border panel. The other hits the top of the mattress.

This information is of vital importance to bedding producers across the country. That's why we have created a new information resource at Furniture/Today to keep our readers fully informed on the flammability issue.

This column will join the growing list of news stories, columns, directories and glossaries now available online. We've created a special mattress flammability page that makes all the information we've published available. The page is at www.furnituretoday.com/Flammability/index.shtml.

Or you can go to our Web site, www.furnituretoday.com, and look for the link that says, "Read the latest on Mattress Flammability."

Everything you need to understand this complex issue is online. We don't claim that we are experts on flammability. But we have put together a lot of information, in an easy-to-understand format, that you will find helpful.

And we'll be updating the page regularly, giving you the facts you need to make better business decisions.

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