07-24-00
Reply to question about applying Flame retardant business.

Yeah, check with your local fire marshall, and see exactly what the laws and restrictions are.

In 1986, I started doing this. Then I found out from somewhere I had to have a license to be an applicator. OK, I get the license. To get a license, I had to take a test. OK, I take the test. I pass the test. Fairly strict, about combustion temperatures, the chemicals in smoke, etc, etc. OK, I did know all that. I get the license. They tell me I must provide certificates of flame retardancy. I go to my printers and have them made up. I apply stuff to a booth backdrop. It goes to New York, Madison Square Garden. They won't even unpack the booth because my certificate is no good in New York. The customer is MAD!! Cannot display. Blames me!! Wants his money back. I don't give it to him. Unhappy customer.

OK, I go to the fire marshall, and ask what is needed in all 50 states. Well, I gotta take the test and get licensed in all 50 states!! Hmmm... OK, forget it. I will only apply in Oregon. Fine. I limit to Oregon, and start doing OK. About half the potential customers want stuff for out of state. They wind up shipping whatever to someone in another state who has all the licenses. Costs them a bundle for this. Not one really satisfied customer. I do stage drapes for a school. Does not pass the test. Get another chemical, re-do it. Lose money for doing it twice. AARGH!!

I do some drapes for a restaurant. The color changes because the fabric is a INDICATOR DYE material. Another unhappy customer. Flame retarded just fine, but the WRONG COLOR now!! I do an art fabric picture  for another restaurant. It SHRINKS!! AARRGGHH!!Supposed to be 8 x 10 feet, now 7 x 9. Now, does not fit the place made for it!! Another unhappy customer.

And so on, for 3 years. An entire 100 yard bolt of drapery fabric. It shrinks about 10 feet!! Another drapery job, the flat finish resembles a coating of salt. All crystals. The fabric would not absorb the flame retardant chemical because it had Scotchgard on it.

So... does the product work as advertised? Yup. Is there business that needs it? Yup. Am I gonna do any more, and lose money almost every time? Nope. Forget it. I still must save every treated swatch of fabric, ten years, and all of the records that go with it. Is it worth the aggravation? Nope! Not to me.