Fabric Burn Test
April 4th, 2007 by HeatherI’m a thrifty shopper and crafter, so I’m always looking for a good bargain. This always leads me to the remnant / discount section of my local fabric store. Unfortunately, they are all labeled as remnants, with no indication of the fabric content listed on them anymore.
I had bought a few really cute prints that I wanted to use as outers on fitted diapers, but I had no idea if they were cotton or polyester or a mixture of the two. A quick internet search led me to this great page, and I was able to identify my fabric contents in no time at all!
How to determine fabric content by using the burn test.
Snip a piece of fabric equivalent to 1″ square. Using a butane lighter and holding the fabric with a pair of tweezers ignite the fabric over a non-flammable surface in a well ventilated area.Examine the quality and color of the flame, the odor produced, and the quality of the resulting ash or cinder. Use this table to help determine your fabric’s content.
FABRIC FLAME
QUALITYODOR ASH
QUALITYCOMMENTS WOOL orange color
sputteryburning hair
or feathersblackish
turns to powder
when crushedflame will self extinguish
if flame source is removed
no smokeSILK burns slowly burning hair
or feathersgrayish
turns to powder
when crushedburns more easily than wool
but will self extinguish is flame
source removedCOTTON yellow to orange color
steady flameburning paper
or leavesgrayish, fluffy slow burning ember LINEN yellow to orange color
steady flameburning paper
or leavessimilar to cotton takes longer to ignite than cotton but otherwise very similar RAYON fast orange flame burning paper
or leavesalmost no ash ember will continue to glow after flame source removed POLYESTER orange flame, sputtery sweet or fruity smell hard shiny black bead black smoke ACETATE burns and melts,sizzly acidic or vinegary hard black bead will continue to burn after flame source removed NYLON burns slowly and melts, bluse base and orange tip, no smoke burning celery hard grayish or brownish bead self extinguish if flame source removed ACRYLIC burns and melts, white-orange tip, no smoke acrid black hard crust will continue to burn after flame source removed
A couple other sites I read noted that if you have a blend of fabrics (ie 50/50 cotton polyester) then you will see a combination of both types of flames / burning properties. While this wont tell you the exact percentage, at least then you know that it is a blend.
I thought this was a great resource, and I hope it can help someone else identify their unknown fabrics!
April 4th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Interesting, I never thought about that before but it’s a great resource for all us who like to use thrift stores.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I studied theatre in college, and we had to take a costuming class. Part of our final assignment was to burn random fabrics and identify them by the burn types. It was super fun, as were the profs demos (esp. burning polyester – eek!).
April 5th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I have an apparel degree. I had to take textiles classes and as a result I have a nice workbook for myself of the fiber burn test. It makes a good reference. Also if you can you should try to look at some of the fibers under a microscope…it is so fascinating to me.
December 22nd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
When I took an embroidery class as a child we were forced to make a book with burn test records. I now find it a very helpful too.
Test fabrics and yarns whose content you know. Place them in a book with information about the content. Then you can compare the results of unknown fabrics with those whose content you know.
January 16th, 2009 at 3:06 am
very very very very very very very baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad we are not getting true answer
April 26th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
very useful information and i have found it for a long time,thanks so much.