Batting Question
12-03-2011, 02:06 PM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Coastal Bend of TX
Posts: 375
The Dream batting is great. I use it all the time and particularly like the green recycled. It lays nice and my LA loves working with it. I order mine from Hancocks of Paducah. I like to do it when they have free shipping and order a couple.
12-03-2011, 02:49 PM
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,688
I agree whole-heartedly! I love the stuff. Their website has a ton of information...descriptions of each type, a users guide, and a list of places that sell it. I got mine from my longarmer...she's the one that turned me on to it. http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/
Last edited by ghostrider; 12-03-2011 at 02:59 PM.
12-03-2011, 03:05 PM
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nebraska..The Good Life
Posts: 2,102
Prism99, Would you mind printing some links to where you got your information from? My daughter and I were just discussing this the other day and I'd like to send her the links. Thank you.
I haven't used Dream battings yet, but have always heard good things about them. One thing to consider is that it is really not necessary to use flame retardant battings in quilts. A quilt is not going to go up in flames the way a nightgown would, because the quilt is thick. Nightgowns are a flame hazard because air is accessible to the fire from both sides of the fabric simultaneously. The thickness of a quilt means that less air is available to flame, so a fire will move more slowly through it.
There is a trade-off with using flame retardant batting, and that would be the chemicals in the batting. These chemicals are worth the trade-off in loose children's PJs, but not IMO in quilts. If a quilt starts on fire, you have time to get it away from a child. With loose PJs, the child is engulfed in flames before anyone can move. So, my choice for a quilt would be the 100% cotton batting. Cotton gets softer with every washing too. As for the treated batting, the chemicals eventually wash out. With the amount of washing that a child's quilt gets, my guess is that flame retardant qualities typically last less than a year.
There is a trade-off with using flame retardant batting, and that would be the chemicals in the batting. These chemicals are worth the trade-off in loose children's PJs, but not IMO in quilts. If a quilt starts on fire, you have time to get it away from a child. With loose PJs, the child is engulfed in flames before anyone can move. So, my choice for a quilt would be the 100% cotton batting. Cotton gets softer with every washing too. As for the treated batting, the chemicals eventually wash out. With the amount of washing that a child's quilt gets, my guess is that flame retardant qualities typically last less than a year.
12-03-2011, 03:40 PM
#15
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Out searching for some sunshine :-)
Posts: 58,856
Children's sleepwear only stays flame retardant for so many washings... and that depends on how closely you follow the manufacturer's washing instructions. The use of bleach, spot removers, Clorox II, etc, shortens the life of the retardant. Most kids wear their jammies a lot longer than the retardant lasts.
So my question is, how long does the flame resistant properties last in this batting?
I found this information on a government website a couple of years ago
So my question is, how long does the flame resistant properties last in this batting?
I found this information on a government website a couple of years ago
12-03-2011, 03:59 PM
#16
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Snohomish WA
Posts: 884
12-03-2011, 09:08 PM
#17
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
http://www.pediatricsafety.net/2009/...me-retardants/
http://www.essortment.com/flame-resi...rsy-56191.html
Years ago I saw the flamability of a child's nightgown demonstrated on tv on a mannequin. They touched a lit match to the hem of a cotton nightgown and the nightgown exploded upwards to engulf the mannequin in something less than 3 seconds -- much too fast for an adult to drop and roll the child; hair would have already been on fire by that time. The same problem would occur with boy's loose-fitting PJs made out of cotton. That's the primary reason legislation was passed in the 70's to reduce children's deaths from fire. Statistics show that the legislation was effective, as child deaths from fire were reduced significantly in subsequent years. I'm sure there is a government website with that info online; I just don't have time to look for it tonight. Anyway, that's why so much of the flannel sold in stores is labeled "not for children's sleepwear".
In the same tv demo, they showed the problems with synthetic fabrics for sleepwear. It's true that they do not flame the way untreated cotton does; however, polyesters and other synthetics "melt". The resulting beads of liquid synthetic are very sticky and therefore can create very deep burns wherever they touch the skin.
As you can see from the websites above, there are also problems with the chemicals used to treat cotton fabric to make it flame retardant.
As for cotton quilts not burning in the same way that loose cotton nightgowns do, this can be tested with a sample. It will burn, but it will burn slowly; the quilt will not burst into flames the way flimsy draperies will. This is because a quilt is thick and air cannot reach the fabric from both sides simultaneously. Fire needs air to burn.
Everyone needs to make their own decisions. For children's sleepwear, my preference is for close-fitting 100% cotton that is not treated with flame retardant. (It is legal to sell untreated cotton sleepwear for children as long as it is close-fitting to the body, because this prevents both sides of the fabric from being exposed to air.) For quilt batting, my preference is for 100% cotton without flame retardant. I think it's a good idea to reduce children's exposure to chemicals in the environment whenever it is safe to do so.
Hope this helps!
Last edited by Prism99; 12-03-2011 at 09:12 PM.
12-04-2011, 10:20 AM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Snohomish WA
Posts: 884
Thank you for the extensive information, and all the time it took you to compile and type it for everyone's benefit.
Question re: poly battings -- Wondering if the chemicals in their manufacturing will "wash out", and if so, if that takes several washings or just one or two. I suppose even the cotton batts have some processing chemicals on them.
Question re: poly battings -- Wondering if the chemicals in their manufacturing will "wash out", and if so, if that takes several washings or just one or two. I suppose even the cotton batts have some processing chemicals on them.
12-04-2011, 10:31 AM
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
I just finished quilting a 60-inch square quilt using the 100% cotton and it is a Dream. SO SOFT!!! I did my very first FMQ on that quilt - large stippling in the background blocks - and it is still nice and softl. It wasn't difficult to munge the quilt around my machine to quilt it, much softer than Joanne's 80-20 and even softer than warm-natural. I can't wait to finish the binding and wash it and see how it puffs up! 
12-04-2011, 10:47 AM
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Snohomish WA
Posts: 884
I just finished quilting a 60-inch square quilt using the 100% cotton and it is a Dream. SO SOFT!!! I did my very first FMQ on that quilt - large stippling in the background blocks - and it is still nice and softl. It wasn't difficult to munge the quilt around my machine to quilt it, much softer than Joanne's 80-20 and even softer than warm-natural. I can't wait to finish the binding and wash it and see how it puffs up!
Looking forward to seeing the finished results. I like the idea of cotton batting but am not thrilled with how flat the Warm & Natural or Warm & White finishes out.
Thanks for posting.
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