Flammability Studies of 700 Articles of Upholstered Furniture

Abstract

In 1981 the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation began a study to evaluate the potential for cigarette ignition of residential upholstered furniture and to determine the percent of compliance with California's manda tory flammability regulations for materials used in upholstered furniture and the State's labeling requirements. This paper reports the results on 700 articles of upholstered furniture. The presence of labels and compliance with Califor nia's furniture flammability regulations is discussed. A summary of cigarette ignitions is given. The effect of cigarette test location, cover fabric weight, fiber content, resin backcoating and type filling material on cigarette ignition is dis cussed and the wide variety of material choices for cigarette ignition resistant residential upholstered furniture demonstrated.