Have you seen these things, like a traditional Bean Bag but filled with "memory foam" chunks? They come in various sizes but the one in this instance was huge, maybe 6ft long x 4ft wide x 18" deep flattened out, maybe 70lbs. You could, of course, reshape it into more chair or bench like shapes like any bean bag.

Anyway, about a year ago a friend offered me one, something they'd ordered for themselves but found to be way too big for the space they had in mind, a space next to their fireplace... they tried it there for about a month, but it kept getting in the way, and was too big and heavy to easily move, so it was offered to me.

I had space in the room with my Playstation so I decided to give it a go as a gaming chair of sorts.

Worked great, super comfortable, frankly - I loved the damn thing.

About a month ago the microfiber cover split, revealing that the inside bag holding the foam chunks had also split, so little bits of foam started to leak out and make a little mess. I looked at the splits, looked at the cheap fabric, decided fixing it wasn't worth it, so I decided to throw it out.

I drove the atv and trailer to the nearest exterior door, drug the giant bag out and onto the trailer (it took two guys to load it into my vehicle initially, being so big and amorphous) and I drove it across the property to the burn pile, and that's when things got interesting...

I wish I'd had my phone.

It caught fire better and faster than just about any "fire starter" I've ever seen. In seconds, catastrophically fast, it was raging hot and thoroughly engulfed and in less than a minute had burned away into nothing. The idea of sitting on one adjacent to a fireplace was suddenly legitimately horrifying.

My friends are looking into where they got it from, but it was surely whatever google result they found easily back when buying it last year.

Regardless, I am now extraordinarily suspect of any similar product, and I encourage you to double check any similar products that you, your kids, or your pets may use.

It was crazy flammable. Scary. (insert string of colorful euphemisms)

Be careful...

I wish I had more details to share. Will update the thread if they find the company name.

This was a ~$250 item, btw.

Wow! I thought all furniture had to be somewhat fire resistant, but maybe that falls in a different category than a couch. OTOH: I wouldn't be surprised if China just ignores it.

This is the difference between modern and legacy furnishings. It is also why you now only have 3 minutes to escape a house fire instead of the 12 minutes like in the past. Remember grandmas or great grandmas couch ? The one that took 3 people to move. Solid wood and natural batting and fibers. Now you can pick up a new couch with one hand and vacuum under it. When stuff is made from petrochemicals, it is highly flammable. Coverings are supposed to be somewhat flame resistant. TEST your smoke detectors and have an escape plan.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Wow! I thought all furniture had to be somewhat fire resistant, but maybe that falls in a different category than a couch. OTOH: I wouldn't be surprised if China just ignores it.

Yeah, I would not call a bean bag a piece of furniture.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

This is news? All the "hottest" orgies feature a beanbag or twenty.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikus36:
Now you can pick up a new couch with one hand and vacuum under it.

Ha!

Tell that to my 300+ pound Flexsteel couches.

Somebody call Ralph Nader!

Several years ago I gave my parents a memory foam mattress, the brand is the one you most associate with this type of high end mattress so no need to mention the brand. Just a few weeks ago they got a new mattress and dragged the old one out to the burn pile. The results alarmed my dad to the point that he called me immediately and encouraged me to get rid of our mattresses of the same type/brand. He said he has never seen anything catch so fast and burn so hot.

And the fumes and smoke from this stuff is toxic is addition to the high burn rate.

Where is David Horowitz when you need him most ?

Somebody call Johnny Carson

Sign in a military barracks: "Don't smoke in bed -- the ashes on the floor may be you".

flashguy

Like this or worse?

Yeah, pretty much that, maybe a bit faster.

Same with carpet padding and if a burning hunk of that gets on your skin you can’t get it off. Got the scar to prove it.