"SAFE" FLANNELETTE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12683, 22 December 1906, Page 7

"SAFE" FLANNELETTE.

. Just as bread is the "staff of life," so 18 flannelette the universal material which many choose for all suitable household uses. It is owing to its moderate cost, the oomfort derived from it, and the good appearance it makes before the nap is raised by wear, that"it is so often employed. Against all these qualities, which appeal to the modern test© of many hundreds of thousands of purchasers, comes the danger of ita inflammability, which is very great. In fact, hundreds of lives are annually kKt through the readiness with which flannelette catches fire. It is, as is wellknown, made wholly of cotton, bnt, unlike most cotton goods, where the fibrous surface is flattened, that surface is raised into a soft, woolly nap, which ignites easily, and quickly spreads, into flame. Nevertheless, it is recognised pretty well all over the world that in spite of this serious drawback flannelette is chosen for tho clothing of millions of people. Therefor© it is not surprising to find that tha manufacturers of the article _bave_ offered large rewards to such ingenious chemists as could guarantee a treatment which should render aq pQpular a material' sb far harmless, and the effect of which would not coma out in the washing. After years of experimenting, surti a result haa at list been achieved,, and not only will the new makes of flannelette bo perfectly safe as regards fire, but so antiseptic that germs cannot exist in,it. Most interesting tests have been applied to the new make and in all cases tho material was merely scorched, just aa any other material' would be under similar circumstaneoea. Of course no one with any sense would assume that flannelette could ever equal real flannel, hut mas--much aa there are a hundred and one uses for flannelette for which flannel ■could never be employed, it know that shortly a perfectly aafe article will be nlaced upon the market.