[Title 16 CFR 1610.61]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 2002 Edition]
[Title 16 - COMMERCIAL PRACTICES]
[Chapter II - CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION]
[Subchapter D - FLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONS]
[Part 1610 - STANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF CLOTHING TEXTILES]
[Subpart C - Interpretations and Policies]
[Sec. 1610.61 - Clarification of flammability standard for clothing textiles (CS 191-53).]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


16COMMERCIAL PRACTICES22002-01-012002-01-01false1610.61Sec. 1610.61COMMERCIAL PRACTICESCONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSIONFLAMMABLE FABRICS ACT REGULATIONSSTANDARD FOR THE FLAMMABILITY OF CLOTHING TEXTILESInterpretations and Policies
Sec. 1610.61  Clarification of flammability standard for clothing textiles (CS 191-53).

    (a) Background. (1) The Flammable Fabrics Act, which became 
effective July 1, 1954 (Pub. L. 83-88, 67 Stat. 111-15), adopted 
Commercial Standard 191-53 as a mandatory flammability standard to be 
applied under that act (CS 191-53 had been a voluntary commercial 
standard, entitled ``Commercial Standard 191-53, Flammability of 
Clothing Textiles,'' which became effective January 30, 1953).
    (2) On August 23, 1954, the Flammable Fabrics Act was amended (68 
Stat. 770) to reduce the burning time for flame spread as provided in CS 
191-53.
    (3) As amended and revised December 14, 1967 by Public Law 90-189 
(81 Stat. 568-74), the Flammable Fabrics Act no longer specifically 
referred to CS 191-53; however, Public Law 90-189 contained a ``savings 
clause'' (section 11), which continued the applicability of any standard 
effective under the act theretofore until superseded or modified. No 
such change occurred thereafter to CS 191-53 which, accordingly, 
continues to be a mandatory flammability standard under the act.
    (b) Need for clarification. It has been brought to the attention of 
the Consumer Product Safety Commission that lack of clarity in CS 191-53 
regarding (1) the positioning of the stop cord, (2) the technique for 
brushing fabrics with raised-fiber surface, and (3) the criterion for 
failure of a fabric with a raised-fiber surface results in variations in 
the way tests are conducted or results are interpreted under the 
standard, thereby making both compliance with and enforcement of the 
standard under the Flammable Fabrics Act needlessly contentious.
    (c) Clarifying interpretations. To alleviate this situation, the 
Consumer Product Safety Commission adopts the following interpretations 
on these subjects for CS 191-53:
    (1) Stop cord. The stop cord shall be three-eighths of an inch above 
and parallel to the lower surface of the top plate of the specimen 
holder. This condition can be achieved easily and reproducibly with the 
use of L-shaped guides and an additional thread guide popularly referred 
to as a ``sky hook.'' The essential condition, however, is the uniform 
height of three-eighths of an inch for the stop cord and not the number, 
placement, or design of the thread guides.
    (2) Brushing. Brushing of a specimen shall be performed with the 
specimen mounted in a specimen holder. The purpose of the metal plate or 
``template'' on the carriage of the brushing device is to support the 
specimen during the brushing operation. Accordingly, such template 
should be one-eighth of an inch thick.
    (3) Criterion for failure. In the case of those fabrics having a 
raised-fiber surface for which a flame spread time of less than 4 
+seconds occurs and is the result of surface burning (sometimes referred 
to as ``surface flash''), the additional finding of base fabric ignition 
or fusion that is required to establish a failure shall have to be 
associated with the propagating surface flame and not the igniting 
flame.

(Sec. 1, et seq., 67 Stat. 111-15, as amended, 68 Stat. 770, 81 Stat. 
568-74 (15 U.S.C. 1191-1204, note under 1191))

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