These days, everything is about health and safety. Sometimes this can be over the top and only serves to create work for the paper-pushers, but in terms of carpet fire resistance, nothing could be more important.  Your home and your workplace need to be kept safe from fire, so if possible, you should choose carpets which offer the most fire resistance. We at Carpets Direct mobile showroom will come to your London home or office to help you save money and make the right choice for your carpets!

We all are aware of what damage a fire can do, and we take as many steps as possible to prevent fire from breaking out in our homes or workplaces. So it only follows that if choosing a new carpet, we should check to see what fire regulations the carpet adheres to.

In the UK, look out for two British Standard marks. BS5287 and BS4790. These should be clearly visible on labelling and instructions. If the carpets comply with these, they correspond with the latest guidelines for carpet safety. Whilst most carpets will catch fire given enough heat, modern carpets are designed to resist ignition, and if set alight they are designed to resist further burning, and in most cases a patch of burning carpet will extinguish itself in under a minute.

Fairly obviously, different types of carpet have different levels of fire resistance. You may find that acrylic carpets are less resistant than wool for example. So if fire resistance is important to you, this may be a consideration when choosing your carpet. Remember, it only takes a second to start a fire, so having a good fire resistant carpet is important, especially if you are more likely to be around flames, such as being a smoker. You will be unsurprised to learn that a significant number of deaths and serious injuries are caused by smokers’ accidently setting light to their carpets at home. Choosing a fire resistant carpet can help prevent you becoming a statistic.

In commercial carpet and contract carpet situations, a fire resistant carpet may be needed for insurance purposes. This isn’t usually a problem, as commercial carpets are generally tougher than residential, as they need to cope with much heavier traffic. They also have much smaller piles than more luxurious residential carpets, which make them less susceptible to fire.

If you already have a carpet, and you’re not sure of its fire resistance, it can sometimes be difficult to find out. You may need to contact your carpet supplier to find out, or check the documentation which came with your carpet. If you can’t do either, or want to be doubly sure you are protected, there are a number of products which can add further fire resistance to your carpet. These usually come in sprays which when applied will add a protective layer to stop a fire starting or spreading. If you purchase a fire retardant spray, make sure it complies with British Standard BS5438-1989 and is tested to BS 4790. This should be clearly marked. You should also find these sprays are odourless and non-hazardous to pets, but make sure on the packaging. Usually a 500ml bottle will cover approximately four metres squared of carpet.

Let Carpets Direct help you by visiting your home or office in Kensington, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Mayfair or city of London with its mobile showroom.