Our fabric received a "B" Classification to meet the American Standard ULV-O Burn Test requirements, which resists smoldering cigarettes. Our material was tested to CFR Title 16 Part 1632 (FF4-72) Standard for the Flammability of Mattress and Mattress Pads - Ticking Substitution Procedure Part 1632.6. This federal mattress flammability standard requires that all mattress pads be cigarette-ignition resistant, effectively extinguishing three burning cigarettes before they burn the length of one inch.

Helping to Make a Difference

When cigarettes come into close contact with flammable products such as mattresses, bedding or upholstered furniture, they can start a smoldering process which may continue undetected for some time before bursting into flame. Smoke from the smoldering materials can render people in the vicinity unconscious, thus putting them at greater risk of injury or death from the ensuing fire.

On average, 380 people die and 1,580 are injured every year from 12,200 home fires started by bedding and mattresses according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Fire researchers credit the current federal flammability regulations with helping to reduce bedroom fire fatalities by two-thirds between 1980 and 1999.

• Mattresses and bedding, upholstered furniture, and trash are the items most commonly ignited in smoking-material home fires.
• Cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people - smokers and nonsmokers alike - per year.
• One-quarter of victims of smoking-material fire fatalities are not the smokers whose cigarettes started the fire: 34% are children of the smokers; 25% are neighbors or friends; 14% are spouses or partners; and 13% are parents.
• Between 1999 and 2003, almost half (43%) of fatal home smoking-material fire victims were sleeping when injured; one-third (32%) were attempting to escape, to fight the fire, or to rescue others.
• Property losses from smoking-material fires total hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
• Fires caused by smoking materials are actually on the decline, thanks in part to more stringent standards for fire-resistive mattresses and upholstered furniture, plastic education, and a dramatic decrease in the number of cigarettes consumed per adult in the United States.

Source: NFPA's Fire Analysis and Research Division