Styrofoam fire hazard

B

Bloomington

New member
I am very new to recording and am too pondering sound deadening booths and materials. I want to add one word of caution regarding using typical building materials such as styrofoam or foam furniture cushion material.

These materials are not designed to be placed on walls or ceilings and left exposed (that is not covered with sheetrock). If ignited their flame spread rate and smoke production rate is astronomical. I am a 27 year veteran firefighter by trade and can well attest to the hazards of these materials when used for other than designed purposes.

Yes I sometimes "cheat" and do things not entirely correctly (trying to save money) - but if you do, take extreme precautions to make sure no ignitions sources are present and try not to leave these materials hanging exposed on ceilings and walls when not in use.

Have fun but stay safe!!!
 
Greats advice Bloomington!

When I was a little kid a couple friends of mine, brothers, were playing with an old foam mattress. They liked the cool whizzing sounds the foam made as it burned and dripped. I watched in terrifying amazement as the younger one locked his brother in a big dog cage in the back yard and threw the burning mattress on top. Sticky, flaming, black whizzers rained down on him as he screamed and scampered in the cage. Luckily I got him out before he was seriously hurt. I hate to think what a room full of that stuff could do to someone.

Thanks,
barefoot
 
I agree completely - we had a house burn due to a foam mattress catching alight. The cleanup was mainly getting rid of the black scum covering everything.

Yes - take note of Bloomingtons excellent advice.

Cheers
john
 
Yes, indeed: excellent point. Thanks for bringing it up!

There are a bunch of different specs for flammability of acoustical treatments, and everybody who uses them should at least cast an eye towards what they mean. Especially if you homebrew absorbers and gobos, you should spend some time thinking about this. If your room isn't strictly nonsmoking, and isn't strictly private, is is *extremely* important to consider this.

For buying commercial products (like foam damping materials), the most common UL spec is UL-94HF1. You want a foam that is rated at least Class B. Your local building codes may require Class A, and if you're in California and use the room commercially (paying customers), they may require CA Fire Code Spec #117 Class A. Consult your local building codes, no matter how much it may suck to contemplate such a thing... Auralex is class B, as is Sonex. That's part of why the damned stuff is so expensive.

Foam stuff that is only rated Class C will spread flame relatively quickly and produce some pretty gnarly smoke muy pronto. Stuff that is not rated at all will probably go _real_ fast (possibly too fast to even let you exit safely!), and believe me when I say that urethane and/or styrene foam smoke is not your friend. Polyester batting can be nasty too, but at least you usually cover it with fabric- so you can pick a more fire-retardant fabric (think upholstery cloth!) to cover it with.

There's nothing like a bored roadie with a Bic Butane to *seriously* fuck up your whole evening. Been there, done that, had to pitch the t-shirt because it stunk so bad afterwards. Play safe, folks!
 
Ours is covered with hemp cloth skippy - You're welcome to join us as we breath in the fumes. ;)

Cheers
john
 
foam & fire

Skippy

Thanks for adding to my letter the UL specifications to look for with sound deadening materials - this will give folks some quantitative info to compare to. You are absolutely correct why products such as Auralex is so expensive - it is to get an acceptable and safe flame spread and smoke generation rating.
 
I can't count the number of times I've stressed the exact same point. It's the exact reason I so strongly recommend companies like Auralex for foam, because part of their extensive research was figuring out how to make their foam flame retardant. You could use their foam to put out a small fire and it won't burn. Try doing that with cheap bed foam! In my opinion there's no excuse for putting bed foam on the walls, or to use anything that you had to settle for and get for cheap. Even some of the "studio foam" out there will burn, so buyer beware.
Nothing ends a session like the practice room going up in flames.

Later,
-Brian
 
DIY Flame Retardant

If your studio already has risky foam installed, all is not lost. There is something you can do to reduce the hazard. Here is a recipe for a do-it-yourself flame retardant:

Mix a solution of nine ounces Borax and four ounces boric acid in one gallon of water (70ml Borax and 30ml boric acid in 1 liter of water). Take down the foam, saturate it in the solution, squeeze out the excess then let it dry. If you can’t take down the foam, wetting it with a spray bottle might be an alternative?

You can buy boric acid at any home supply store. It’s sold as an ant and roach killer (so keep the babies and pets away). The only drawback I can think of is it might give an uneven chalky appearance to dark foam. This will work for fabric too, and will stop any little critters from nibbling at you infrastructure!

barefoot
 
Oh yeah. Wear rubber gloves when using this stuff. There are no fumes, but be very careful not to inhale the mist if you try the spray idea.
 
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