How Do Carbon-based Flame Retardant Fabrics Work?

carbon benefits

The goal of carbon-based fiber is to provide better protection at a lower weight. Companies such as TECGEN®, Spentex®, and CarbonX® have made fibers that "wrap" carbon in other flame-retardant fibers. The use of carbon can save about an ounce of fabric weight while maintaining protection parity, which means more protection per unit weight. In fact, carbon-based fiber is more resistant to flames, arc flashes and other extreme fire conditions than traditional flame retardant products because of its higher density than other fibers.

In addition, because carbon itself is flame-retardant, flame-retardant clothing made of carbon will not degrade with washing. This means that the flame retardant qualities of the garment will not be washed off or worn out over time.

carbon limit

Carbon-based fabrics face some textile challenges:

Manufacturing/Cost - A large amount of energy is used to achieve the high temperatures required for the production process to make carbon fiber. This results in a relatively high cost of carbon compared to other materials.

Color – Carbon-based fabrics are more difficult and costly to dye. Because the carbon is "wrapped" in other flame-retardant fibers, there are limitations to the colored carbon fibers that can be achieved through the dyeing process.

Garment cutting - The properties of carbon make garment cutting more difficult than other fabrics. This leads to more errors, more mistakes and more waste in the manufacturing process than other fabrics used in garment production.

Conventional Sewing Techniques - The equipment used to sew garments is not made for carbon-based fibers. Carbon can wear equipment faster, dull needles and cause other difficulties in the sewing process.