How does fabric softener affect flammability in fabrics? Which is my science fair question..What would be 3 methods that i could use for this??

Question

aaronq · Answer

Do you know what fabric softener is (chemically)?

aaronq · Answer

i'm asking because i don't

haileyd · Answer

um no it is for the liquid kind..

aaronq · Answer

the liquid kind is also a chemical.. everything is made of chemicals lol

haileyd · Answer

ik but i am not sure i tried googling it and nothing helpful came up

aaronq · Answer

same. i guess, find out what's in it first?

haileyd · Answer

wait if i looked on the back of a bottle would that help maybe cause i think i got some

aaronq · Answer

yeah, it'll probably list the ingredients.

haileyd · Answer

thought so..

haileyd · Answer

Dipalmethyl Hydroxyethylammoinum Methosulfate
Fatty Acid
Polyester Substrate
Clay
Fragrance this is in downy btw

aaronq · Answer

hm I know that polyester fabrics are really flammable, but fatty acids aren't really flammable, nor Dipalmethyl Hydroxyethylammoinum Methosulfate because it's really big and not volatile neither is clay. The fragrance could add to the volatility of the solution though, they often contain alcohol. Sorry i can't be of much help. You should look into polyesters and the fragrance used.

anonymous · Answer

You should conduct an experiment to determine how flammable the fabric is. Buy three different types of fabric, silk, wool, and cotton. Treat some with fabric softener and leave the other fabrics alone. Conduct a flammability tests on them to determine the temperature at which they ignite and how quickly they burn once they have caught fire. Conduct multiple tests and compare the rate at which they burn on average. See if there is a significant difference (use statistics) between the fabrics treated with the softener and the fabrics without the softener.