Saturday, July 10, 2010

Surprising Fabric Burn Test

Who says science is boring !!??
As a project for my science class I am currently taking I decided to burn something I have a large supply of...fabric! Wow.. it proved to be interesting and fun.
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And I got to burn fabric!
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(but children don't try this at home! it can be very dangerous!! save it for science class)



My experiment consisted of 2" squares of various fabrics....natural and synthetic. Did you know rayon is a natural fiber made from wood pulp????? I just found that out.
Anyway, I took pieces of wool, cotton, silk, rayon, nylon, polyester and a piece that was a blend of poly/cotton.


With a lighter I lit each on fire in small metal dishes. I was surprized by my results!



Cotton---- burnt at 180 degrees F and burnt for 100 seconds (1.4 Minutes)

Wool------ burnt at 169 " " and burnt for 2.7 seconds

Silk------- got to 109 " " and would not ignite

Rayon---- burtn at 324 " " and burnt for 54 seconds (HOT!)

Nylon ---- got to 142.8 " " and melted/ would not ignite

Polyester - burnt at 103 " " and burnt for 12 seconds slightly melting

Poly/ Cotton blend-------WOW! HOT!! burnt at 405 degrees F and burnt for 37 seconds.

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So.......Looking at these results and knowing the worst burns would come from higher heat and longer exposure to your skin if you were to wear these fabrics when they caught on fire ...I decided I want to wear more silk!!!!!
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I'd say watch out for that Cotton, Rayon and Especially that poly/ cotton!!!
(although ya can't discourage me about those awesome cottons! I will still be using that wonderful cotton for my quilts)
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Leave me a comment and Let me know what you think
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Have a happy day!
..
Angie

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