| "Every year in the United States, an estimated 28,000 mattress fires injure 3,000 people and kill 600 others."¹ These statistics propelled recent legislation to enhance the fire safety of mattresses and box springs.
To support the US bedding industry with this challenging issue, Stork Materials Technology has designed and built an advanced flammability laboratory at its Stork Twin City Testing facility in St. Paul, Minnesota. This facility, which opened in September 2003, is one of only a few in North America and handles testing for mattress manufacturers nationwide.
Stork experts currently conduct fullscale mattress flammability testing in accordance with national standards, including but not limited to:
- Federal Open Flame Mattress Flammability Standard 16 CFR Part 1633, Consumer Product Safety Commission. Effective July 1, 2007, the Federal Standard sets 2 criteria to limit the growth of fire in a mattress or mattress set. A mattress, futon, or mattress set shall meet the requirements for peak heat release and total heat release. Stork offers both the open calorimeter and the test room configurations for twin through king-size products.
- California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Technical Bulletin #603 (TB 603), Requirements and Test Procedure for Resistance of a Residential Mattress/Box Spring Set to a Large Open Flame.” TB 603 is based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Dual Flame Burner Test Protocol.
- California BHFTI TB 129 “Flammability Test Procedure for Mattresses for Use in Public Buildings.”
- ASTM E1590, “Standard Test Method for Fire Testing of Mattresses,” determines the burning behavior of mattresses used in public occupancies.
- Boston Fire Department, BFD IX-11 (1991), Mattress Fire Test, designed to evaluate mattresses intended for use in health care facilities, hotels and dormitories.
- Small-Scale Flame and Cigarette Ignition Testing Mattresses, mattress components and bed clothes are subjected to small flame or smoldering ignition (cigarette) testing. These tests include, but are not limited to CA TB 116, CA TB 117, 16 CFR 1632, CA TB 604.
Methodology
Stork utilizes mattress industry test methods such as AH&MA, ISPA, AIM, DOC/CPSC, and ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) for these and other methods of bedding evaluation:
- Hexagonal Roller
- Cornell Mattress Evaluation
- Octagonal Roller
- Firmness/ILD
- Comfort Profile & Interface Pressure Mapping
- MTS Testing (tear & tensile strength)
- Buyer Specification
- Failure Analysis
¹Reprinted from the California State Assembly website, 8/10/01 press release.
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