Fire safety rules made British sofas safer, but also far more reliant on chemical treatments. Now, after decades, that is finally starting to change…
Update: We’re pleased to confirm that Schplendid’s wool barrier cloth has now been approved. This means our sofas can now meet UK fire safety requirements without chemical flame-retardant treatment.
You may have seen the recent headlines about sofas, such as:
The Times - Sitting comfortably? Your sofa is among the most toxic on Earth
The Guardian - Outdated furniture fire safety rules putting people at risk, MP warns
The Telegraph - Why your sofa may be a cancer risk
For nearly 40 years, the UK has had some of the strictest fire safety regulations in the world for upholstered furniture. They were introduced for entirely sensible reasons (to reduce the risk of house fires) and they have affected practically every sofa sold in this country ever since.
The reality is that this touches almost every sofa on the market, regardless of brand or price point.
Now, after a long period of review, those regulations are on the verge of changing. That’s not because fire safety no longer matters – quite the opposite – but because the way we’ve been achieving it has come under increasing scrutiny.
How we got here
The current rules date back to 1988, when a tragic fire in a Manchester Woolworths prompted the introduction of a particularly demanding “open flame” test for furniture.
In simple terms, sofas had to be able to resist a direct flame.
That sounds reasonable enough. The difficulty is that it’s an extremely hard test to pass without the heavy use of chemical flame retardants – particularly in foam fillings and treated fabrics.
Over time, that has become the default solution across the industry, and specifically for the UK. Many manufacturers produce one version of a sofa for Britain and Ireland, and a different, less chemically treated version for the rest of the world.
It is a curious situation, and one that has, in fact, been questioned for years.
Why the conversation is changing
More recently, that questioning has become much more public.
There is now a growing body of concern about the long-term health and environmental impact of certain flame retardant chemicals, particularly those used in foam. Government reviews have acknowledged this, and proposals are now underway to move towards a different testing regime – one that focuses on smouldering ignition (more like a dropped cigarette) rather than an open flame.
That would bring the UK more closely into line with Europe and the US.
A large part of this change is down to the persistence of campaigners such as Delyth Fetherston-Dilke, who have spent years highlighting the unintended consequences of the current system and pushing for a more balanced approach.
The direction of travel now seems clear: maintain high fire safety standards, but reduce reliance on chemical treatments where possible.
The wider issue: a chemically engineered sofa
Fire retardants are only one part of a broader pattern.
Modern sofas are often built around convenience and cost efficiency rather than materials. Foam, synthetic fibres, stain-resistant coatings... layer upon layer of treatments and additives designed to make manufacturing easier or to tick a particular box.
We wrote recently about so-called “smart fabrics”, which are often coated to repel stains. They work, up to a point, but they also change the character of the material itself, and tend to wear off over time. It’s a similar story here: solutions that solve one problem, while inadvertently creating another.
Very few people ever look “under the bonnet” of a sofa. If they did, they might be surprised at what they found.
Our approach (as things stand today)
At Schplendid, we’ve tried to take a more considered route.
We fully support the need for fire safety, and we build our sofas to meet UK regulations. That part is non-negotiable.
Where we differ is in how we meet those standards.
Rather than treating the outer fabrics – the linen or velvet you actually sit on – we keep those completely natural. No sprays, no coatings, no “clever” finishes.
Instead, we use a fire-retardant cotton interliner, hidden inside the upholstery, which allows the sofa to pass the required tests without altering the feel of the surface.
Internally, that layer is treated using a formulation called CETAFLAM PD3300, developed by UK textile specialists Avocet and designed specifically for use with natural fibres.
More broadly, we apply fire-retardant treatment as sparingly as the law allows. It is limited to certain internal components – such as the barrier cloth and parts of the core structure – and never applied to the outer fabrics or the cushion fillings you come into contact with.
So a Schplendid sofa is safe, compliant and legal – but the part you live with, touch and sit on remains exactly what it should be: natural fabric.
What has changed
The interesting part is what happens from here.
If the proposed regulatory changes go through, the reliance on chemical flame retardants across the industry should reduce quite significantly. That would be a positive transformation, and long overdue.
At the same time, we’ve now made our own next step.
Our wool barrier cloth (see white layer between the cushion and the coconut husk above) has been approved, which means Schplendid sofas can now meet fire safety requirements without chemical flame-retardant treatment.
Wool has an inherent resistance to flame – it chars rather than ignites – which means it can perform the same role naturally, rather than relying on added chemical treatment.
In practical terms, this means the last remaining treated layers inside our sofas can now go.
The outer fabrics, cushion fillings and wool were already untreated. Now, with the approved wool barrier cloth, the fire-safety layer itself is natural too.
In other words, we are building sofas that meet fire safety requirements using natural materials, rather than having to 'work around' them.
A more sensible balance
Fire safety matters, of course it does. That hasn’t changed, and it certainly shouldn’t.
What is changing is the recognition that how we achieve it matters too.
For a long time, the industry default has been to add more – more chemicals, more treatments, more layers – in order to pass a particular test. The result has been sofas that are technically compliant, but often a long way from what most people would instinctively choose if they understood how they were made.
There is now an opportunity to reset that balance.
For now, we meet the law in the most responsible way we can.
And as the regulations finally begin to catch up with common sense, we intend to be one of the first ready for what comes next.
Fire Retardants, Chemicals and British Sofas: What’s wrong, and what’s changing
Fire safety rules made British sofas safer, but also far more reliant on chemical treatments. Now, after decades, that is finally starting to change…
Update: We’re pleased to confirm that Schplendid’s wool barrier cloth has now been approved. This means our sofas can now meet UK fire safety requirements without chemical flame-retardant treatment.
You may have seen the recent headlines about sofas, such as:
The Times - Sitting comfortably? Your sofa is among the most toxic on Earth
The Guardian - Outdated furniture fire safety rules putting people at risk, MP warns
The Telegraph - Why your sofa may be a cancer risk
For nearly 40 years, the UK has had some of the strictest fire safety regulations in the world for upholstered furniture. They were introduced for entirely sensible reasons (to reduce the risk of house fires) and they have affected practically every sofa sold in this country ever since.
The reality is that this touches almost every sofa on the market, regardless of brand or price point.
Now, after a long period of review, those regulations are on the verge of changing. That’s not because fire safety no longer matters – quite the opposite – but because the way we’ve been achieving it has come under increasing scrutiny.
How we got here
The current rules date back to 1988, when a tragic fire in a Manchester Woolworths prompted the introduction of a particularly demanding “open flame” test for furniture.
In simple terms, sofas had to be able to resist a direct flame.
That sounds reasonable enough. The difficulty is that it’s an extremely hard test to pass without the heavy use of chemical flame retardants – particularly in foam fillings and treated fabrics.
Over time, that has become the default solution across the industry, and specifically for the UK. Many manufacturers produce one version of a sofa for Britain and Ireland, and a different, less chemically treated version for the rest of the world.
It is a curious situation, and one that has, in fact, been questioned for years.
Why the conversation is changing
More recently, that questioning has become much more public.
There is now a growing body of concern about the long-term health and environmental impact of certain flame retardant chemicals, particularly those used in foam. Government reviews have acknowledged this, and proposals are now underway to move towards a different testing regime – one that focuses on smouldering ignition (more like a dropped cigarette) rather than an open flame.
That would bring the UK more closely into line with Europe and the US.
A large part of this change is down to the persistence of campaigners such as Delyth Fetherston-Dilke, who have spent years highlighting the unintended consequences of the current system and pushing for a more balanced approach.
The direction of travel now seems clear: maintain high fire safety standards, but reduce reliance on chemical treatments where possible.
The wider issue: a chemically engineered sofa
Fire retardants are only one part of a broader pattern.
Modern sofas are often built around convenience and cost efficiency rather than materials. Foam, synthetic fibres, stain-resistant coatings... layer upon layer of treatments and additives designed to make manufacturing easier or to tick a particular box.
We wrote recently about so-called “smart fabrics”, which are often coated to repel stains. They work, up to a point, but they also change the character of the material itself, and tend to wear off over time. It’s a similar story here: solutions that solve one problem, while inadvertently creating another.
Very few people ever look “under the bonnet” of a sofa. If they did, they might be surprised at what they found.
Our approach (as things stand today)
At Schplendid, we’ve tried to take a more considered route.
We fully support the need for fire safety, and we build our sofas to meet UK regulations. That part is non-negotiable.
Where we differ is in how we meet those standards.
Rather than treating the outer fabrics – the linen or velvet you actually sit on – we keep those completely natural. No sprays, no coatings, no “clever” finishes.
Instead, we use a fire-retardant cotton interliner, hidden inside the upholstery, which allows the sofa to pass the required tests without altering the feel of the surface.
Internally, that layer is treated using a formulation called CETAFLAM PD3300, developed by UK textile specialists Avocet and designed specifically for use with natural fibres.
More broadly, we apply fire-retardant treatment as sparingly as the law allows. It is limited to certain internal components – such as the barrier cloth and parts of the core structure – and never applied to the outer fabrics or the cushion fillings you come into contact with.
So a Schplendid sofa is safe, compliant and legal – but the part you live with, touch and sit on remains exactly what it should be: natural fabric.
What has changed
The interesting part is what happens from here.
If the proposed regulatory changes go through, the reliance on chemical flame retardants across the industry should reduce quite significantly. That would be a positive transformation, and long overdue.
At the same time, we’ve now made our own next step.
Our wool barrier cloth (see white layer between the cushion and the coconut husk above) has been approved, which means Schplendid sofas can now meet fire safety requirements without chemical flame-retardant treatment.
Wool has an inherent resistance to flame – it chars rather than ignites – which means it can perform the same role naturally, rather than relying on added chemical treatment.
In practical terms, this means the last remaining treated layers inside our sofas can now go.
The outer fabrics, cushion fillings and wool were already untreated. Now, with the approved wool barrier cloth, the fire-safety layer itself is natural too.
In other words, we are building sofas that meet fire safety requirements using natural materials, rather than having to 'work around' them.
A more sensible balance
Fire safety matters, of course it does. That hasn’t changed, and it certainly shouldn’t.
What is changing is the recognition that how we achieve it matters too.
For a long time, the industry default has been to add more – more chemicals, more treatments, more layers – in order to pass a particular test. The result has been sofas that are technically compliant, but often a long way from what most people would instinctively choose if they understood how they were made.
There is now an opportunity to reset that balance.
For now, we meet the law in the most responsible way we can.
And as the regulations finally begin to catch up with common sense, we intend to be one of the first ready for what comes next.