Some suite covers are treated with a flame retardant back coating, some of which can be recognised by their white colour.
Many of these do not withstand drycleaning in perc, especially after a couple of years use in the home. The most striking failures exhibit total breakup of the back coating with little white bits everywhere. It is as if the coating gets brittle with age and is then unable to withstand the combination of solvent action and mechanical action necessarily present in a standard household textiles drycleaning cycle.
Fabrics treated in this way are really designed for in-situ cleaning using a light, water-based upholstery cleaning process, not a total immersion cycle, whatever it may say on the label.
It is possible to apply Proban or Pyrovatex treatment to a cotton upholstery fabric. If the label mentions these then the fabric has probably been designed to withstand 75 washing or drycleaning cycles and tested to 150 cycles. There is therefore little risk of losing the retardancy finish during cleansing. Provided these covers are cleaned thoroughly they should be safe in use after cleansing.
There are also a number of semi-durable flame retardant finishes in use. These survive for between one and five drycleans. They do not have the characteristic white back-coated appearance, but they were very common a few years ago and some are probably still in use. If you are uncertain as to the durability you are best advised to re-apply protection after cleaning. Try your detergent supplier first for a suitable product. If they do not have one there are specialist suppliers.
Make it clear that you wish to apply the product in a drycleaning machine and that the fluid will be purified by distillation in the still of the machine.
Richard Neale
Drycleaning Technology Centre
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