SilicaPro

They do opposite jobs. A fire blanket extinguishes a fire that has already started, by covering it and cutting off the oxygen. A welding blanket prevents a fire from starting, by containing sparks and molten spatter during hot work.

Substituting one for the other causes real problems. A fire blanket used to catch welding slag gets destroyed by repeated spatter and then is not available when a fire actually happens. Buy each for its purpose and store them separately.

Because high temperature fabric is difficult to sew well. Inorganic thread has very low elongation and breaks under tension settings that suit polyester, machines need slowing down, and any worn guide in the thread path will cut the thread within a few metres.

Setting a workshop up for that takes time and trial. If your volume justifies the investment we will happily sell you the fabric and the thread. If it does not, buying finished removes the problem and usually costs less overall.

Most fire blanket suppliers are converters. They buy cloth from one company, coating from another and thread from a third, then sew the pieces together. We weave the cloth, apply the coating, produce the thread and do the conversion at our own plant.

That matters in two ways. One company answers for the whole product if something fails, and specifications can be matched deliberately rather than by coincidence. Fabric and thread from the same base chemistry shrink at the same rate and behave the same way under heat.

Our own high silica sewing thread, rated for continuous service at 900 degrees Celsius, as standard on everything we sew.

This is worth asking any supplier, because a blanket rated to 1000 degrees stitched with polyester is a 250 degree product. Polyester softens there, the seam opens, and the blanket comes apart while the fabric itself is undamaged. It is the most common failure mode in this category and it is entirely avoidable.

Yes, and a large share of what leaves our workshops is made this way rather than to a catalogue specification. Custom sizes, profiled shapes, hardware, colour and packaging are all available.

Because we weave the cloth ourselves, an OEM programme can also specify the base fabric and coating rather than only the finished article. Most converters cannot offer that, since they are buying whatever their cloth supplier stocks.

Also called a weld safe habitat, it is a full enclosure that isolates a hot work operation from the surrounding atmosphere, so that welding or cutting can proceed in an area where flammable vapour may be present.

The alternative is usually shutting the facility down for the duration of the work, which in a refinery or offshore installation costs vastly more than the enclosure does. That economic comparison is why the product exists.

Because valves, flanges and instruments have to be accessed for inspection and maintenance. Permanent insulation gets cut away to reach them and is rarely reinstated properly, so the surface stays uninsulated for years afterwards.

A removable cover comes off in minutes, gets refitted in minutes, and keeps working across many maintenance cycles. The energy saving over the life of the equipment usually pays for the covers several times over.

Yes. Colour, packaging, marking and presentation are all customisable for distributors and safety brands selling under their own name.

Our fabrics are produced in multiple colours rather than grey alone, which is worth considering if you are building a product line. Differentiating on the shelf is difficult when you are buying converted goods from the same cloth mills your competitors use.

It depends almost entirely on exposure rather than on time. The base fabric is non-combustible by composition and does not degrade. What wears is the coating and the hardware.

A curtain hanging in a workshop lasts a very long time. A blanket taking direct molten spatter several times a day shows coating damage within months. Inspect for coating loss, burn through, seam damage and hardware wear at the points of heaviest exposure, and replace on condition rather than on a fixed schedule.

Yes. For finished goods we would rather you handled the product than took the specification on trust, because weight, drape and hardware quality are difficult to judge from a photograph.

Tell us the application when you request a sample so we send something matched to it. A sample in the wrong size or specification tells you less than you would think.

Standard sizes in standard specification carry a lower minimum. Custom sizes, custom fabric, private label packaging or non standard colours each need their own production run, which raises both the minimum and the lead time.

Tell us the specification and your rough volume and we will confirm the exact figure with your quotation rather than quoting a generic minimum that may not apply to your order.

Payment is normally by T/T, structured as a deposit with the balance settled before shipment. We confirm the exact split with your quotation.

EXW, FOB, CIF and DAP terms are all available, so you can pick whichever fits how your freight is already arranged. If you have a nominated forwarder we will work with them directly.