Hi, I am desperately seeking fire safety advice for the use of electric blankets being used with memory foam mattresses or memory foam toppers.

I moderate a static caravan forum, and there are a large amount of members planning to do this in their static caravans.

As the season has just begun, I need to find this safety information asap to keep everyone safe.

Can you help please? can you point me in the right direction of fire safety advice in this subject?

All mattresses are subject to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988/1989, 1993 and 2010 ( Guide to the Regulations ) and the The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 so providing it meets those regulations then it should be safe.

Further to my above posting I have done further research and found, my own memory foam mattress has a label that states electric blankets should not be used. But I do not know if this is because it is a fire risk or because memory foam is harder below 18degrees C and as it warms up become softer and if you use an electric blanket it may become too soft. I think it needs more research.

More information from FIRA (horses mouth)

"Technically, only the filling material of a mattress needs to comply with the FF(FS) regs. The rest of the mattress is subject to GPSR. The decision lies with Trading Standards, who only seem to accept BS 7177 Low Hazard as proof of compliance with GPSR and so this approach has been adopted by the industry as best practice. It is known that products without labelling to BS 7177 are often subject to seizure by Trading Standards and they would perform spot check tests on such items to ascertain whether or not they comply with BS 7177. However it is not actually written down anywhere that a mattress must comply with BS 7177"

If you purchase Contract Mattresses then you will have no problem getting them to comply with the Regulations. If you purchase from the domestic retailers then you will have more difficulties and you should quiz the retailer on what standards the mattresses conform to in fact any mattress I was to purchase I would quiz the seller. Also find out if electric blankets can be used.

I bought a slumberland electric blanket and it states on the box compatible with memory foam

Suggest you contact the manufacturer of the memory foam mattress this should then take away any uncertainty about the compatability.

DO NOT BUY THEM. I bought one for my teenage son and it set his bed alight with him in it! Luckily he wasn't injured but he could have been.

Tarnya you say your son wasn't injured, thank god, but was this because the mattress self extinguished or was there other reasons.

Thank you for the information, Tom.