| | Category | CH | P03 | Do Detergents Cause Flammability |
| | Abstract | Children’s pajamas are legally required to be nonflammable. Research |
| | shows that although there are guidelines for those garments to be |
| | nonflammable, children’s sleepwear still can ignite. The purpose of this |
| | project was to find if children’s sleepwear can become flammable after it |
| | is washed in different detergents up to three times each. |
| | 4.5” by 4.5” fabric squares of children’s nonflammable sleepwear were |
| | washed in four different detergents. The four detergents used were Up & |
| | Up for Delicates, Tide plus Febreeze, Arm & Hammer, and Eco Wash. Each |
| | fabric square was washed once, twice, or three times in one detergent. |
| | Each square was then put in a fire pit and was ignited using a lighter. The |
| | results measured were the time the fabric started to melt, the time the |
| | fabric started to ignite, and the time that the fabric stopped igniting. |
| | The data depicts that the Tide plus Febreeze caused the fabric squares |
| | to ignite for the longest amount of time. These results show that even |
| | though children’s sleepwear is legally required to be nonflammable, after |
| | washing the sleepwear, the fabric will ignite. |
| | Bibliography | Clothing flammability/cases. (2010). Retrieved from |
| | http://www.fosterfoster.com/CM/BurnInjuryFlammableProducts/ClothingFla |
| | mmabilityCases.asp |
| | Flammable fabrics. (2001). Retrieved from http://phoenix.gov/firefbrc.html |