Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I've been pondering (and stressing) in days for a topic to my Science Investigatory Project which is kinda like the things in science fairs but more of exhibition of a physical product, not just presenting observations.

After fruitless and desperate searching of ideas from the internet, I'm suddenly hit by a weird inspiration from a drama about firefighters. I explored from that idea and ended up with the concept of fire retardant treatment for fabrics.

I only came up with that idea on this day and I already hit a roadblock. First, I cannot find any available source for these chemicals in my country Philippines. Second, sites claimed many harmful causes of fire retardants such recreating it will ultimately be useless. Third, I'm not sure how to set it up in the competition, afterall it is kind of an exhibit (should I still have to create something to hold close the treated fabric near the flame?). Fourth, if I in some way able to locate a place to obtain the chemicals, time may not be in my favor as I'm sure that no where near my area have these materials (I live in a secluded province) therefore shipment may take long and I only have a maximum of two weeks to prepare.

Is a project like this is still feasible? Are there ways to create this with no harmful effects and using common materials? Are there other alternatives? Or just discard this idea and come up with a new one? Though, I'm really interested in these topic so it would really make me happy to stick in this area.

Thank you very much in advance and please respond quickly!

Hello,

I love that you were inspired by something you saw and want to turn it into a project! That's great!

You are correct, fire retardant chemicals are difficult to obtain and can be dangerous to handle. Perhaps you could test different types of fabrics? Or event natural fire retardants you might have around the house?

I live in California where there have been a number of horrible wildfires recently where people were racing to escape the flames. Could your project investigate what type of fabric clothing you should wear if you were escaping a wildfire? Or things in your house you could use as a fire retardant in an emergency? Just a few ideas.

Good luck,

Audrey