Tsjerk - 25-3-2010 at 15:26
For an annual party I'm looking for a way to make a composition which can be used to make cotton less flamable for safety reasons ( I can't find the
english word for it). I know you can buy the stuff but it is pretty expensive.
What I have found so far is the following: http://www.repp.org/discussion/strawbale/200207/msg00410.htm... .
The article says (5.1) to use 7 parts borax, 3 parts boric acid and 60 parts water and to dilute it so you get a 15% solution. They also state that
magnesium chloride hexahydrate or urea can be used togheter with the previous.
I'm am going to test these solutions, but my question is; Can anyone tell me anything more about this subject? Every information is welcome!
Sedit - 25-3-2010 at 15:29
Ammonia phosphate is what they use on the bottom of matches and other flame retardent material. Perhaps thats a place to start.
not_important - 25-3-2010 at 16:45
The borate one is an old one, easy to do and fairly non-toxic.
Some mixtures are listed at the following URLs
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cloth-Fireproof
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie50140a005
(only the 1st page, but that's enough)
JohnWW - 25-3-2010 at 18:14
Thanks for telling me about that recipe and use. I happen to have a large quantity of boric acid sitting around at my place, which I bought at a local
garage/yard sale about 20 years ago. I have been planning to dissolve it in water, and spray it onto some untreated New Zealand native timbers (mostly
kauri) in the basement and roof of my house as a non-flammable and fire-retardant preservative retro-treatment. I was also going to soak some curtains
in the solution before hanging them.
However, I would not use MgCl2 in the mixture, because it is hygroscopic and it would promote the rusting of the old tinned (not zinc-plated) nails
in the timber. I might add Epsom salts (hydrated MgSO4) to the mixture, though, and I will also need some borax.
mnick12 - 25-3-2010 at 18:25
I have heard (not sure if it is true, sounds logical though) that cotton which is more thickly woven is very fire resistant, in fact I am pretty shure
that firemen's jackets are a type of thick cotton with some sort of fire-proofing agent. You may try something that carbonizes(if that is a word)
easily on exposure to heat.
mr.crow - 26-3-2010 at 17:37
How about some polybrominated diphenyl ethers?
chemoleo - 26-3-2010 at 17:46
Spraying/soaking it with dilute waterglass? (sodium silicate)?
Paperrolls (largely composed of cellulose) are, when painted with waterglass, used for amateur rockets...so pretty fire resistant. The finer the
cotton fibers, the better (better adsorption)
I'd rather not use 'polybrominated diphenyl ethers' - just in case you really catch some fire...
not_important - 26-3-2010 at 18:32
The use of waterglass is mentioned in one of the references I gave. It's disadvantage is the at the amounts needed it tends to make the material
treated rather stiff; not a problem for fireworks and rockets, but not so good for most uses of fabrics. It does have the advantage of being fairly
inexpensive.
PBEs are under suspicion re health effects, appearing to affect fertility at levels found in a large percent of the population and to concentrate in
children. Some locales have restricted or banned the use of some or all PBEs, and other places are considering following.