Flannel

Okay, I went a little nuts after Thanksgiving at JoAnns and bought about
40 yards of flannel. My question is this, it is labeled "not intended
for children's sleepwear" does this include things like receiving
blankets? I want to make some light receiving blankets for two of my
employees, but I don't want to use something that may be dangerous.

BTW-Sorry for not posting in ages, my computer and I have been having
issues for about six months. It miraculously started working again,
although I am suspicious that the DH did something to it to ease the
whining.

--
Regards,

Angela

Remove "not" from address to reply.

"Angela Moak" wrote in message
news:y8FPb.99761$5V2.342900@attbi_s53...
Okay, I went a little nuts after Thanksgiving at JoAnns and bought about
40 yards of flannel. My question is this, it is labeled "not intended
for children's sleepwear" does this include things like receiving
blankets? I want to make some light receiving blankets for two of my
employees, but I don't want to use something that may be dangerous.

Awhile back the fabric of children's, under 12yo I believe, pajamas had to
be fire-proofed by Federal law. I'm not saying that it isn't a good thing to
be very careful with our precious children and do all we can to keep them
safe but, IMPO, it was just more hyped up fear tactics to make more money
and give the politicians some of those "Hey look what I have done by passing
a law for the good of the world and all the little children" vote getting
opportunities.

Anyway, the disclaimer "not intended for children's sleepwear" just means it
hasn't been impregnated with fireproofing chemicals. (there's also as many
screaming fearful warnings on the net about the chemicals used to fireproof
as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have made a lot of jammies, blankets
and stuffed animals out of the 'not intended' stuff and not a single child
recipient has, as yet, gone up in flames or been victim of spontaneous
combustion. I would, however use extreme caution if you are using this
material for a 2 year old who is known to have that one last cigarette while
propped in his crib before calling it a day. The other thing to take into
account is that after a number of washings this treated fabric is no longer
fire-proof anyway.

Val

Valkyrie wrote:
"Angela Moak" wrote in message
news:y8FPb.99761$5V2.342900@attbi_s53...
Okay, I went a little nuts after Thanksgiving at JoAnns and bought
about 40 yards of flannel. My question is this, it is labeled "not
intended for children's sleepwear" does this include things like
receiving blankets? I want to make some light receiving blankets
for two of my employees, but I don't want to use something that may
be dangerous.

Awhile back the fabric of children's, under 12yo I believe, pajamas
had to be fire-proofed by Federal law. I'm not saying that it isn't a
good thing to be very careful with our precious children and do all
we can to keep them safe but, IMPO, it was just more hyped up fear
tactics to make more money and give the politicians some of those
"Hey look what I have done by passing a law for the good of the world
and all the little children" vote getting opportunities.

Anyway, the disclaimer "not intended for children's sleepwear" just
means it hasn't been impregnated with fireproofing chemicals.
(there's also as many screaming fearful warnings on the net about the
chemicals used to fireproof as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have
made a lot of jammies, blankets and stuffed animals out of the 'not
intended' stuff and not a single child recipient has, as yet, gone up
in flames or been victim of spontaneous combustion. I would, however
use extreme caution if you are using this material for a 2 year old
who is known to have that one last cigarette while propped in his
crib before calling it a day. The other thing to take into account is
that after a number of washings this treated fabric is no longer
fire-proof anyway.

Val


Val, thanks for such a healthy dose of experience and common sense, and the
smile.

Penny S

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 17:12:24 -0800 in rec.crafts.textiles.sewing,
"Valkyrie" was alleged to have written:
as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have made a lot of jammies, blankets
and stuffed animals out of the 'not intended' stuff and not a single child
recipient has, as yet, gone up in flames or been victim of spontaneous
combustion.

Is it cotton or synthetic? For myself, since there is 40 yards of it, I
would cut a scrap from it and light it to see just how vigorously it
burns.

Flannel

(David=A0Harmon)
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 17:12:24 -0800 in rec.crafts.textiles.sewing,
"Valkyrie" was alleged to have written:
as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have made a lot of jammies,
blankets and stuffed animals out of the 'not intended' stuff and not a
single child recipient has, as yet, gone up in flames or been victim of
spontaneous combustion.
Is it cotton or synthetic? For myself, since there is 40 yards of it,
I would cut a scrap from it and light it to see just how vigorously it
burns.
---
Well, it's cotton, so it will burn. IMHO, this isn't a very good test.
Some poly and blends destruct equally fast, but instead of turning to
ash, as cotton does, they melt onto a gummy residue. Think what that
would do on a body.
I think the pj issue is a serious non issue. The bigger issue:
kid-proof the house. Matches, lighters, cigarette butts from the party
the night before, access to the stove knobs; put all flammables where
they cannot get to them, and DO NOT use portable gas or propane heaters
to warm the house in the wintertime. Every year here, children die
because they have over-turned a portable liquid-fuel heater.
Unfortunately, they provide cheap heat for poor folk, so they continue
to be used indoors.
Cea

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 00:25:24 -0500 (EST) in rec.crafts.textiles.sewing,
was alleged to have written:
Is it cotton or synthetic? For myself, since there is 40 yards of it,
I would cut a scrap from it and light it to see just how vigorously it
burns.
---
Well, it's cotton, so it will burn. IMHO, this isn't a very good test.
Some poly and blends destruct equally fast, but instead of turning to
ash, as cotton does, they melt onto a gummy residue. Think what that
would do on a body.

That is the point I had in mind, although I guess I didn't make it very
well. Both cotton and synthetics will burn, but cotton will often just
smolder, will not ignite from a spark as quickly as many synthetics, and
will never melt into a hot sticky burning glob on your skin.

Synthetics are typically forbidden for welders. Not counting special
things like Nomex. You can live with holes burned in your coat where
sparks landed, but once again hot sticky burning globs are a disaster.

I just pulled an old shirt from the rag bag and burned a scrap of it.
From the dripping globs of flaming goo, it obviously wasn't cotton.
If you don't know what a fabric is, then burning some of it is actually
a good test of how it will burn.

All I am asking is that anyone who wants to see the difference, try it
for yourself. Then make your own decisions. If I had a scrap of known
fire-resistant treated material to try, that would be very interesting.

Flannel

(Valkyrie)
Mega-snip
to fireproof as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have made a lot of
jammies, blankets and stuffed animals out of the 'not intended' stuff
and not a single child recipient has, as yet, gone up in flames or been
victim of spontaneous combustion. I would, however use extreme caution
if you are using this material for a 2 year old who is known to have
that one last cigarette while propped in his crib before calling it a
day.
---
ROTFLMAO!!!!!
Cea who shuns excess chemicals in children's
clothing, too.

Val, excellent common sense info on fireproofing kids' sleepwear. I've always
thought it was utter nonsense, and opted for clothing my own children in
something soft and snuggly, rather than the boardy, synthetic stuff that's
reportedly fireproofed.

However, I cringe when I see Polarfleece and similar materials used for
children's clothing, especially outerwear and camping equipment. That type of
fabric can melt relatively easy, which can seriously burn skin. Try lighting a
piece (under carefully controlled conditions, out on the driveway, say), and
see for yourself. It goes up like "whoosh". At least cotton, as long as it's
tight-fitting, will self-extinguish.

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

"Valkyrie" wrote in message
news:1074733944.202165@yasure...
Anyway, the disclaimer "not intended for children's sleepwear" just means
it
hasn't been impregnated with fireproofing chemicals. (there's also as many
screaming fearful warnings on the net about the chemicals used to
fireproof
as the dangers of flammable cloth) I have made a lot of jammies, blankets
and stuffed animals out of the 'not intended' stuff and not a single child
recipient has, as yet, gone up in flames or been victim of spontaneous
combustion. I would, however use extreme caution if you are using this
material for a 2 year old who is known to have that one last cigarette
while
propped in his crib before calling it a day. The other thing to take into
account is that after a number of washings this treated fabric is no
longer
fire-proof anyway.

Val

LOL!! Oh Val! Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite Bugs Bunny
cartoons. Remember the one with the pint sized bank robber? He dressed
himself as a baby to hide out from the police. Bugs hears a noise and peeks
through the bathroom door keyhole. He sees the "baby" shaving off his 5:00
shadow with an electric razor holding a lit stogie in the corner of his
mouth. That was the image that popped into my head when I read your post!!!
lol

To stay sorta on topic, all the receiving blankets I ever purchased for my
children were made from 100% cotton flannel. So if it's all right for mass
marketers like Toys R Us to sell 100% cotton flannel receiving blankets, I'm
sure it's more than for you, Angela, to make a few for your employees.

Also, there was a story on the news a while back about children's pajamas.
The gist of the story was that if they are loose fitting they have to be
flame retardant fabric. So the traditional shape for pajamas, button shirt,
baggy pants have to be flame retardant to be sold retail. If the pajamas
are very close fitting, they don't have to be flame retardant. So think
more along the lines of how insulated underwear fits on the body. Ribbing
cuffs on the tops and bottoms to make sure they fit close and don't flop
around. Etc.

There's my 2 1/2 cents. (got long winded for just 2 cents. lol)

Sharon
--
---
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and just annoys the
pig."

Angela Moak wrote:

Okay, I went a little nuts after Thanksgiving at JoAnns and bought about
40 yards of flannel. My question is this, it is labeled "not intended
for children's sleepwear" does this include things like receiving
blankets?

No. You can use it for blankets. Many blankets you find in the
stores are finished rectangles of cotton flannel.

I want to make some light receiving blankets for two of my
employees, but I don't want to use something that may be dangerous.

The only reason it's labeled 'not intended for sleepwear' is that it's
not been treated for flame retardation. That's really not a problem
with a blanket, since it's relatively easy to remove a blanket from a
person.

Jammies, otoh, are harder to get off. Generally, this is a good
thing, but you don't want to get stuck in burning jammies.

jenn
--
Jenn Ridley