rftekmember
101 posts
Location: college station, tx


Posted:
hey yall
i've been burning for over a year now, been around lots of safetynazis (luff yall!!) and should have known better. polyesters (non organics in general) are not safe burn clothing!! luckily my towel person noticed i was wearing a fleece long sleeve and asked me (nicely even) to please stop and remove it. i did so and shortly after got my ballchain all knotted up behind my back right next to my hands. whew.

so lesson here is,

#1 listen to your towelers! they have your best interest in mind. well mine does anyways. ; ) love you!

#2 cotton/leather/atleast >30% cotton clothing only! there are products (FlameX,etc) that you can treat nonorganics with to make them flameretardant. but as a general just havin fun burning rule, cotton only.

shadsmember
36 posts
Location: WA


Posted:
Just to add to this, I was reading through numerous pages of firetwirlers that had been smart and taken bits of different materials outside to see which ones wen up in flames faster. And in every case the polyesters and non-natural materials took longer to get to flaming. What none of them took into account was melt factor.

I used to run a costume house, and I am one of those safety nazis. I have seen people burn the shirts off their backs as they've played, I've seen pants catch on fire, I've seen alot of stupid things with fire.

A couple of things to watch for with clothes when playing.
#1 weight of material.
Keep in mind the heavier, or thicker the material the harder it is to catch alight. So a pair of jeans are less likely to go up in flames than a light cotton shirt, even it they are both 100% cotton. Similar affect with polyesters, If you REALLY have to wear a polyester make sure its thicker material.

#2 kind of material (natural vs non-natural fibre)
Polysters MELT and when plastics melt onto the skin you can get second and even third degree burns. It's not comfortable, and every now and then people need skin grafts because they've melted their clothes to their skin. Natural fibres when burning are easier to remove, and burn at a lower tempuerature usually (hence catching flames faster than polyesters) therefore the burns you do get from them usually aren't as severe, and the natural fibres are easier to put out when they are on fire.

And at the end of the day, always have a fire blanket or thick natural fibre blanket (that isn't soaked in fuel) and a fire extinguisher close by (especially when performing) And always take into account the kind of fuels your using.

Clothing often gets soaked with the fuel your playing with. So for asthetics go for something low odour, but look especially for a high flashpoint. For those that know Shellite with a flashpoint of something like 16C getting this stuff on your clothes means no matter the fibre your pretty flammable, kero has a higher flashpoint, making you less flammable, and if you can get your hands on a product like shellsol with a low odour, and a flashpoint of 58C then your less flammable again.

The bonus of Shellsol is that you are classed as flammable but non-explosive also, which makes it more attractive to alot of people owning venues, as it's VERY hard to light when its spilt on the ground. Plus it burns with less black smoke.

Think thats my 2 cents for now. Keep burning, but be safe, and then we can all be happy.

pkBRONZE Member
Lambretta Fanatic
4,997 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
kewl most benefitial

SpArKiE*shiny shiny*
218 posts
Location: Townsville, QLD, Aust.


Posted:
WOW... i learnt sumfin... again today!

thank you very much for all that info rftek and shads!

And wherever you've gone and wherever we might go. It don't seem fair. Today just disappeared.



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