Homemade Flame Retardant for Natural Materials

Many times in the course of building / re-purposing items for various projects I have encountered a
need to add some level of flame resistance to certain elements of the project.
hile this procedure !on"t ma#e any items flame proof$ it !ill minimi%e the probability of ignition
significantly. In this tutorial I !ill offer a possible solution for flammability problems along !ith the
recipe and the results from a &uic# and dirty e'periment. (his techni&ue !ill only !or# for natural
materials such as !ood$ cotton$ jute$ and paper or the li#e. It !ill not !or# for synthetic materials such
as polyester$ nylon$ polypropylene or anything else that did not originally come from a plant or tree.

Step 1: What you will need
)ora' *sodium borate+ laundry booster
, measuring cup
, - (ablespoon measuring spoon
,n old sauce pan
, storage container
.ome sort of applicator * paint brush$ spray bottle$ etc+

Step 2: Procedure
/ou !ant to ma#e a saturated solution
)oil - cup of !ater
,dd 0.1 tablespoons of )ora' to the boiling !ater
.tir until the )ora' dissolves
,llo! to cool to room temperature
2our into storage container or spray bottle.
Step 3: Application
/ou can use a spray bottle or brush
et the hec# out of the item to be protected. Ma#e sure it is saturated.
If you run out of solution$ ma#e more$ because the item has to be absolutely positively soa#ed.
hen you thin# its !et enough$ !et it some more
,llo! to dry
3nce the solution dries$ it is very important to #eep it dry as any !ater contact !ill !ash the protection
off.

Step 4: Experiment to verify effectiveness
4'perimental 5esign6
(!o --7 ' -7 !ide strips of printer paper !ere cut. 3ne strip !as soa#ed in the flame retardant *FR+
solution for 1 minutes to ensure total saturation of the paper fibers. (he other strip !as used as an
untreated control. (he treated sample !as removed from the solution and hung up to dry overnight. (he
untreated control !as #ept in close pro'imity to the treated sample to ensure that both samples !ere
e'posed to the same environment and that the only difference !as the )ora' treatment.
,fter drying overnight$ the treated sample !as cut into 8 roughly e&ual sections and the control !as
treated in the same manner.
4ach specimen !as then gripped in along handled pair of needle nosed pliers and lit !ith a match.
In every case the untreated specimens !ere completely consumed by the flame !hile the treated
specimens smo#ed$ generated a char and then self e'tinguished *right 8 specimens+. )elo! is an image
of the final results. In this image$ I !as only able to transfer the ash of one untreated control sample
**left side of the image+ to the cardboard for the photograph$ the other t!o controls disintegrated.
(his !or#s because the bora' forms a primitive form of glass as it is e'posed to the heat of the flame.
(he glass acts as an insulator$ protecting the paper fibers from the heat and allo!ing them to char
instead of burn. (he char acts as an additional insulator. 4ventually there is not enough heat to support
combustion and the fire goes out.
Step : !inal "omments
,s I said in the beginning of this article$ this !ill only !or# for natural materials$ synthetics !ill not
form a char$ they !ill melt and drip. 3nce the solution is applied and dried it is important to #eep the
protected item dry or the protection !ill !ash off. hile I have used this method successfully in
projects as varied as shop bullet traps to paper decorations$ your mileage may vary.
2lease do not use this info as a substitute for common sense.