Removing fire retardant chemicals from fabric is possible, but the effectiveness depends on the type of retardant used and how it was applied. Some flame retardants are topical coatings that wash out gradually with repeated laundering. Others are chemically bonded to the fiber itself and are much harder to remove completely. A combination of baking soda, vinegar, and multiple wash cycles is the most common approach for household fabrics like pajamas, bedding, and clothing.
Why Fire Retardants Are Worth Removing
The chemicals used to make fabric fire-resistant can be absorbed through your skin. The two main families of flame retardants found in household textiles are PBDEs (older, now mostly phased out) and their replacements, organophosphate esters. Both enter the body through skin contact, inhalation of dust from treated fabrics, and accidental ingestion. Organophosphate flame retardants in particular have been linked to neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, reproductive harm, and cancer development in research studies.
Dermal absorption is a major and often underestimated exposure route. Chemicals migrate from treated fabric onto your skin, especially with prolonged contact like sleepwear or upholstered furniture. For children’s pajamas and bedding, this concern is particularly relevant since kids spend long hours in direct contact with these materials.
How to Check if Your Fabric Is Treated
California’s SB 1019, effective since 2015, requires upholstered furniture sold in the state to carry a label stating whether the product contains added flame retardant chemicals. Look for a label on the underside or back of furniture that reads either “contains added flame retardant chemicals” or “contains NO added flame retardant chemicals.” The threshold for this labeling is 1,000 parts per million.
For clothing, especially children’s sleepwear, check the care tag. Tight-fitting children’s pajamas in the U.S. are exempt from flame retardancy requirements because the snug fit itself reduces fire risk. Loose-fitting children’s sleepwear, however, must meet flammability standards and is more likely to be chemically treated. If a garment’s tag says “flame resistant,” it contains retardant chemicals either in the fabric coating or woven into the fibers.
The Baking Soda and Vinegar Method
For washable items like pajamas, sheets, and clothing, this multi-step process is the most practical approach:
- First wash: Add half a cup of baking soda directly to the drum along with the fabric. Run a full warm-water cycle. The baking soda helps break up chemical residues on the surface of the fibers.
- Second wash: Run another cycle, this time adding one cup of white vinegar to the rinse compartment or directly into the drum at the rinse stage. The acidity of vinegar helps dissolve and lift retardant compounds that baking soda loosened.
- Deep soak for stubborn residues: Mix one cup of vinegar with two cups of water and submerge the fabric for 30 minutes to an hour. Vinegar breaks down chemical bonds more effectively during a prolonged soak than in a standard wash cycle. Follow the soak with a regular wash.
- Repeat: Plan on washing the item at least three to five times before significant reduction occurs. Each cycle removes an additional layer of surface chemicals.
Use a mild, fragrance-free detergent. Harsh chemical cleaners or bleach can react unpredictably with flame retardant compounds without necessarily removing them.
Why Some Retardants Won’t Fully Wash Out
The chemistry of the retardant matters enormously. Topical treatments, where the chemical is sprayed or coated onto finished fabric, are the easiest to reduce through washing. These sit on the surface and gradually release with water and agitation.
Reactive flame retardants are a different story. These are chemically bonded to the polymer chains of the fabric itself during manufacturing. You cannot wash them out without destroying the fabric, because the retardant is part of the fiber’s molecular structure. Polyester and nylon blends often use this approach. If the care label describes the fabric itself as “inherently flame resistant,” the retardant is built into the fiber and washing will not remove it.
Older brominated retardants (PBDEs) are nonpolar compounds with low water solubility, which means plain water and detergent are less effective against them. Their replacements, organophosphate esters, are actually more water-soluble, which is a double-edged sword: they wash out of fabric more readily, but they also dissolve easily into waterways when your laundry wastewater reaches treatment plants.
Washing Larger Items Like Mattresses and Furniture
Mattresses in the U.S. must meet two federal flammability standards: one for smoldering resistance and one for open-flame resistance. Some manufacturers meet these standards using barrier fabrics or naturally fire-resistant materials like wool rather than chemical treatments. If your mattress contains chemical retardants, you cannot effectively wash them out since you can’t submerge a mattress.
For mattresses, the practical options are using a tightly woven mattress encasement to create a barrier between you and the treated materials, or replacing the mattress with one that uses non-chemical fire barriers. Several manufacturers now advertise meeting flammability standards without added chemicals.
Removable furniture covers and cushion covers can go through the baking soda and vinegar washing process described above. For fixed upholstery, steam cleaning with a mild detergent can reduce surface-level retardant residues, though it won’t eliminate chemicals embedded deeper in foam padding. The foam inside cushions is typically where the heaviest concentration of retardants lives, and replacing the foam is often more effective than trying to clean it.
What Happens to the Chemicals You Wash Out
When you launder flame-retardant-treated fabrics, those chemicals enter your household wastewater. A study analyzing homes in Washington state found that 18 of the 21 flame retardant compounds detected in household dust also showed up in laundry wastewater. Concentrations ranged widely, and the researchers concluded that laundry wastewater may be the primary source of flame retardants entering wastewater treatment plants in the communities studied. One treatment plant’s discharge carried up to 114 kilograms per year of a single chlorinated flame retardant into the Columbia River.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wash these chemicals out of your family’s clothing and bedding. The trade-off between direct skin exposure and downstream environmental impact generally favors reducing your household’s contact. But it’s worth noting that conventional wastewater treatment does not fully remove these compounds, so they do end up in waterways.
Choosing Untreated Fabrics Going Forward
The most reliable way to avoid flame retardant exposure from textiles is to buy products that were never treated in the first place. For children’s sleepwear, choose snug-fitting pajamas, which are exempt from chemical treatment requirements under U.S. safety rules. For furniture, look for the SB 1019 label confirming no added flame retardant chemicals. Many manufacturers now use wool, silica-based barriers, or tightly woven fabrics to pass flammability tests without chemical additives.
Natural fibers like untreated cotton, wool, and linen are generally not treated with flame retardants unless specifically labeled as flame resistant. Wool in particular has natural fire-resistant properties and is increasingly used as a chemical-free barrier material in mattresses and upholstered furniture.