What would be the best fire retardant cloth to make a childs jump suit with a non carcinogenic cloth?
Processed sheep's wool makes a good fire retardant cloth because it chars instead of burns when in contact with a flame. ( I assume you mean non carcinogenic when it is burned, as almost any fiber is chemically and bio logically inert when not on fire) Because aramid fibers are carcinogenic. Natural protein fibers, such as cotton are flammable, so that rules that out. However, silk chars a bit like wool, so that is an idea, but it is extremely expensive. Petrochemical polymers such as rayon, nylon, polyester, polypropylene and polyethylene fibers are highly flammable and produce carcinogenic and toxic smoke or fumes when combusted. So, don't use those. A new idea in flame retardancy is to either chemically or physically bind the fibers to a nonflammable, but wearable substance such as silver ions, or carbon/carbon nanotubules, which will prevent the cloth from either reaching ignition temperature through radical heat exchange moduli, or efficient fire tetrahedron prevention modalities, such as free oxygen absorption/inhibition or carbon dioxide releasing protein clusters. Another method would be for the cloth to be impregnated with thermally released water sources built into the fabric itself, so that when a fabric were to be exposed to heat or flame great enough to cause it to combust, the water in the fabric would be released or created to effectively snuff out the fire at the source, and as an added benefit, allow the wearer extra time to escape an imminently life threatening fire environment.
