Skip over navigation

Care & Maintenance for New & Used Drapes

This document is produced by N.Z. Fire-Shield Ltd in conjunction with John Herber Ltd, to give Facilities a guide to the general care and maintenance of there draperies.

If you have received new drapes from John Herber Ltd these drapes are flame retardant for 5 years, your facilities details and its drapes will have automatically been entered into N.Z. Fire-Shields data base for tracking and your facility will be contacted prior to your drapes flammability certificate expirers. All drapes from new should have a manufacturers label sewn into the bottom hem giving such details as the company that manufactured the drape, what type of drape it is (i.e. leg, border, tab) What fabric that the drape is made of, the size of the drape, the flame retardant standard that it complies to (i.e. AS1530.2) the date of manufacture, the date of expiry for flammability compliance, and the person who made the drape.

In accordance with section B2.3.1 of the building code that relates to durability of the product, It requires that:

Building elements must, with only normal maintenance, continue to satisfy the performance requirements of this code for-

(c) 5 years if:

(i) The building elements (including services, linings, renewable protective coatings, and fixtures) are easy to access and replace.

John Herber Ltd guarantee the flammability of their drapes under normal conditions for the required minimum at which time they will need to be cleaned and re fire treated to be re certified for the minimum 5 year period.

General annual maintenance

All drapes should be programmed into a annual cleaning schedule involving a general inspection and vacuum, an inspection of the drape to look for any signs of wear, like tears that may leave frayed ends exposed which can be easier to ignite or catch fire if exposed to a heat source (i.e. lights) if damage is found arrange to have repaired or replaced. While inspecting look for any signs of water stains or evidence that the drape has been wet as this will have negated the effectiveness and warranty of the flammability, if evidence is found arrange to have drape fully re cleaned and re fire treated. A good all over vacuum to remove any dust build up should be also done on an annual basis as this dust build up is the main cause of ignition when exposed to an external heat source (i.e. lights).

Cleaning & Re Fire Treating

All drapes will need to be cleaned and re fire treated every 5 years from manufacture to maintain A suitable compliant flammability standard. The current standard in New Zealand according to the New Zealand Building Code for flexible fabrics is a flammability index of 12 or less and the test to assess this is the AS1530.2.

A clean should consist of wet spray extraction so the fluid can bond to the dust particles removing the dust upon extraction using a commercial quality and strength extractor. After cleaning the drape needs to be re fire treated using a class "A" fire retardant enabling the drape to be re certified for five years. The drape is then re labelled with the date, the certification number, the name of the qualified applicator and the standard it has been treated to. The drape and its details will then be data based for tracking over the 5 years to ensure that the drape is maintained and always kept in compliance with the minimum standard.

Important Factors

Please note that dust build up, the adhesion of flammable substances, wetting or cleaning, long term exposure to high humidity may effect the flammability rating of new and re treated material and will void any warranty or guarantee of performance.


Copyright © 2010 ETNZ | admin | website by Messiah Ltd.