Many fibers used in home textile products and garment making are flammable. This is particularly dangerous for children and the elderly. To date, studies in the field of technology have been aimed at adding flame retardant properties to these materials by changing the molecular structure of the materials or by applying finishing processes. However, due to the nature of the fabrics, these fibers, which are flammable or have been subjected to flame retardant treatment, are always suitable for combustion. In addition, a number of chemicals used in finishing processes have cancer-causing properties and pose a danger to human health.

Today's technological approaches are therefore to determine how fabric structures affect the combustion behavior and to direct production accordingly. In this way, it is tried to produce fabrics with physical and combustion properties suitable for their usage areas and to ensure product safety.

The fact that fabrics are flammable is a matter of both fiber properties and fabric properties. Once the chemical structure of the fiber is flammable. In addition, the way the fabric is touched, its weight, finishing processes and surface smoothness are the factors affecting the flammability of the fabric.

According to the researches, among the textile products, garment fabrics are the first flammable and easiest burning products (91 percent). This is followed by bedding materials (6 percent) and upholstery fabrics (2 percent). Ignition and burning of garment fabrics so quickly cause loss of life and property. In the United States, in 1953, the Law on Flame Retardant Fabrics for the use of garment fabrics and upholstery fabrics was therefore enacted. In 1972, the Consumer Products Safety Act was enacted. There is no legal regulation in this country yet.

The following standards developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for combustion tests on garment and garment fabrics are applied by competent laboratories:

• ASTM D1230 Standard test method for flammability of textile textiles