Some people shrink from the joy of running from nursery store to nursery store and searching for the perfect Christmas tree. Frequently such individuals decide to purchase an artificial tree. Those who think that buying an artificial tree should simplify their life have much to learn In fact the stores normally have in stock many different types of artificial Christmas trees.
If one recognizes the fact that 80% of all fires are apt to happen in the home, then one begins the search for an artificial tree by looking at the chemical make-up of each tree on the floor of any retail store. Some artificial Christmas trees burn faster and/or quicker than others. The safest tree to buy is one made of glass fibers or a moacrylic material. These artificial Christmas trees are practically flame resistant.
What makes the above trees so safe? The synthetic process for making the fibers used in the above-mentioned artificial Christmas trees has been designed to create fibers with the greatest resistance to fire. Of all the artificial Christmas trees on the market, the glass fiber and moacrylic trees offer the strongest ability to resist and retard the spread of a fire.
If among the artificial Christmas trees on display one can not find a glass fiber or moacrylic tree, then the next best thing is a tree made with wool fibers. Wool fibers are fairly flame retardant. Once wool becomes ignited, then it burns very slowly. This fact is very important. Fibers that burn rapidly only guarantee affirmation of the claim that 110% of the fire damage could occur within the first four minutes of the fire.
Some artificial Christmas trees do not catch fire quickly, but these same artificial trees exhibit unpleasant characteristics when and if they are made to start burning. Nylon , polyester and acrylic trees fall into that category. Although slow to ignite, these trees melt rather than burn. The fibers on the melting trees then drip slowly onto any nearby surface.
Artificial Christmas trees that contain fibers made of either acetate, triacetate, cotton or linen need to be treated with a flame retardant in order to insure their safety in the home setting. Of all the available artificial Christmas trees on the market, those with fibers made of silk appear to pose the greatest danger. Silk is highly flammable, and the burn rate of the silk tree increases following treatment with dyes.
Perhaps the most attractive Christmas tree is the tree that has become covered with snow, the white Christmas tree. Still, not every white Christmas tree serves as a fitting perch for a Bald Eagle. Live trees that grow in regions touched by waters containing polybrominated biphenyl ether, a recognized flame retardant, underscore the degree to which that chemical could present a danger. It poses a danger to Eagle eggs in their nests and to fish in the forest waterways.
In other words, both artificial Christmas trees and on occasion the white Christmas tree have the potential to cause harm to either man or beast.