Why are so many kids' pajamas made of polyester?
Asked by
Nimis (
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November 27th, 2013
from iPhone
Most of them seem to be made of polyester as a fire safety measurement. If they’re made of cotton, there’s always a disclaimer that it’s not flame retardant.
That seems counter to what we practice when blacksmithing, welding or working in the foundry.
You’re required to wear all natural fiber clothing when working near an open flame.
In fact, in all of my time working in the metal arts, the only incident involved a spark landing on a sock made of synthetic material. If it were a natural fiber, a little spark would have been no big deal. Instead, the spark burned right through the sock and more or less melted the synthetic fiber onto the skin.
It was awful.
Which makes me wonder why the heck so many kids’ pajamas are polyester. And the ones made of natural fibers have to carry a disclaimer. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
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12 Answers
From what I have found, cotton burns quite well, too, as does linen (because they are made from plant material, I guess).
It is wool you want for fire resistance.
Polyester is cheaper and wears longer than natural fibers. I was taught most synthetic cloth is made from petrochemicals and thus have less fire resistance than clothes made with natural fibers.
@ragingloli Yeah, natural fibers aren’t flame retardant. But they’re not going to melt into your skin if they catch on fire. shudders We also wore Kevlar gloves. Welding jackets were made of leather. Don’t think they’re going to start making kid’s pajamas out of leather and Kevlar any time soon.
@WestRiverrat I realize that polyester is used (in general) because it’s cheaper to make. What’s puzzling is that it’s favored in kids’ pajamas as some kind of flame-retardant, safety thing.
Polyester doesn’t burn as much as melts… So instead of your kid going up in flames the little bugger will have an extra layer of skin fused to his flesh! Actually, I don’t know what’s worse…
@DWW25921 As someone who’s seen both type of materials catch fire, I’d choose going up in flames. At least you’ve got a chance to stop, drop and roll. The spark went through that sock like butter. And it didn’t stop.
But, yeah. Not the best options.
That sounds pretty awful. Anyway, they added a bit. Now, it’s “stop, drop, cover your eyes and roll.” They’ve still failed to mention whereabouts little Timmy is supposed to roll to…
@DWW25921 Thanks for the update. I probably would have continued to do it the old school way.
My eyes! God! My eyes!
When wet, cotton will not keep you warm like polyester.
I was taught to wear cotton for welding (and other sparky work) too, but I think that may not actually be great advice. This is from a welding safety advisory:
• While cotton is a popular fabric in the workplace, it is highly flammable and welding sparks can ignite shirts and pants (especially if they are frayed).
• Wool is less flammable than cotton, but may not be as comfortable in some environments.
• Try to avoid synthetic clothing. Sparks can produce holes and when the fabric becomes ignited, it will melt into your skin.
As for PJ’s, there’s been a lot of adverse publicity recently about the health effects of flame retardants. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission set regulations for flammability of children’s sleepwear, and cotton and bamboo fabrics have a hard time passing those requirements without added flame retardants. Fearing consumer resistance to the retardants, manufacturers tend to go with polyester which is “inherently flame resistant” in that it’s way less flammable than cotton. Yes, it melts, but that’s not what the Safety Commission is looking at.
Just popping in to answer my own question…
From what I can understand, it seems that untreated synthetic clothing (like that sock) is more flammable than natural fibers. But the reason why polyester is often chosen as the material for children’s pajamas is because the synthetic nature of the textile makes it possible for flame retardants to be chemically-bonded to it.
Whereas, natural fibers are usually topically-treated, making them less effective with each laundry cycle. How many parents are going to dry clean their kids’ pajamas?
Mystery solved. Bam.
In case you’re curious:
Most synthetic fabrics, such as nylon, acrylic or polyester resist ignition. However, once ignited, the fabrics melt. This hot, sticky, melted substance causes localized and extremely severe burns. When natural and synthetic fibers are blended, the hazard may increase because the combination of high rate of burning and fabric melting usually will result in serious burns. In some cases, the hazard may be greater than that of either fabric individually.
I’m thinking the sock in question was a mix of natural and synthetic fibers. shudders again
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