Wool is naturally flame resistant

Because of the way the wool fibre is structured, wool requires more oxygen than is available in the air to become flammable. Wool is accordingly an excellent fibre when it comes to fire safety. Furthermore, it does not melt, drip or stick to the skin when it burns.

Of the commonly used textile fibres (cotton, rayon, polyester, acrylic and nylon), wool is widely recognised as the most flame resistant.

Further to Bob's response, it is important to be aware of the following for aircraft furnishing matters (which I presume is the basis for your question).

(a) flammability tests are prescribed and need to be observed, for instance, if you are doing a cabin refurb.

(b) most fabrics can have their flame performance improved by using one of the commercially available flame retardant proprietary processes. One of the common agents is PFZ (potassium fluorozirconate) which is infused into the material during manufacture. Works a treat. There are others and, for most that I have done flame tests on in the past, they work pretty well.

(c) fabric laundering can be critical. Some treatments leach out very easily in water cleaning processes and must be reapplied post-cleaning to maintain the flame retardant qualities.

(d) some of the processes give a significant reduction in flame propagation but at the expense of significant contaminating products of combustion

Hi john,

Thanks for further elaborating more on Bob's response. Definitely enhances my knowledge more on the subject 🙂

Hi john,

Thanks for further elaborating more on Bob's response. Definitely enhances my knowledge more on the subject 🙂