Flame / Fire Retardant Velvet - for walls, ceiling & curtains

[billiumb]

I'm currently planning a dual purpose bat cave / library room (it used to be a second sitting room).

Have been reading through loads of threads and am currently thinking of covering all of the ceiling and front screen wall with some sort of black, or possibly dark blue velvet and then using curtains of the same material to cover the screen when the room is being used as a library (getting the lighting right is also going to be an issue), and then pulling the curtains round (possibly automatically) to cover a fair bit of the side walls when using the projector (all still to be purchased). My concern is that the room has a wood burner (in an inglenook on one side wall) that we’ll continue to use and I'm keen to find a suitable velvet material that is fire / flame retardant.

I'm thinking of making an AT screen - and so an AT fire retardant velvet, at least for the front wall, might be even more useful!

Does anyone know of, or have used, any suitable material?

Thanks. Cheers. Bill

 

[gibbsy]

Commercially available.
Fire Retardant Curtains

 

[billiumb]

Thank for that gibbsy - have you tried any of their materials and compared with, for instance, Devore or other non-flame retardant materials that are 'really black'?

Cheers. Bill

 

[gibbsy]

Thank for that gibbsy - have you tried any of their materials and compared with, for instance, Devore or other non-flame retardant materials that are 'really black'?

Cheers. Bill

The only contact I've had with fire retardant material is through my work as a professional firefighter, now retired and know of their commercial availability. I came across your request through moderating the forum. So no, I have no experience with them in a home cinema sense, all my kit is set up in my living room.

No doubt someone will step in with further information and help.

 

[billiumb]

The only contact I've had with fire retardant material is through my work as a professional firefighter, now retired ...

As a firefighter, how important do you think it is to use fire retardant material in my application?

Cheers. Bill

 

[AV Happy]

Hi Bill,
I work in the contract furniture industry and for domestic use I believe the standard is whats called 'Cigarette and match' for fire rating. Within the contract sector we have to supply furniture one better which is called 'Crib 5'
If your looking for velvet's I would suggest either 'Sunbury Fabrics' or 'J Brown' fabrics. They both have a good selection on both crib 5 and cigarette and match velvet's.

Just be aware that some Crib 5 fabrics are back coated so they are thick and heavy to work with.

 

[gibbsy]

The curtains are fire retardant which basically means that they are harder to ignite if a cigarette or small flame is in contact with them. It's the same rule that is applied to all soft furnishings now sold in the UK.

I take it the worry comes from having a log burner in the room. Fire will start from a log burner in two ways, direct ignition and conduction. Direct ignition would be when burning embers are dropped onto a flammable surface when the door is open, your deep inglenook should have plenty of hard stone surfaces around the burner. Conduction would be when some material is placed on or too close to the burner and it ignites or through a fault in the chimney lining which usually manifests itself in a fire in the roof.

Good housekeeping and proper maintenance should allay those worries. As for the retardant properties then they would stop the errant cigarette but would have little effect in a well developed fire, even on the ceiling. Good housekeeping is your best form of fire prevention with a log burner or open hearth along with adequate smoke or heat detectors should the worse happen.

 

[billiumb]

Thanks very much AV - I'll have a good look at those suppliers.

Cheers. Bill

 

[billiumb]

Thanks very much gibbsy - food for thought. You're certainly right about the hard stone surfaces around the wood burner. We don't smoke and we do have a full system of connected mains powered smoke, heat and CO detectors throughout the house, which also has more than one route of escape from upstairs.

It’s possible that I don’t need to worry quite so much in relation to materials covering the ceiling and walls. Perhaps the curtains merit further thought though, as they will be closer to electrical sockets which in a failure mode might cause excess heat close to the material (I guess in this instance, fire retardant properties would be worthwhile).

Cheers. Bill