Master Flame - Class A Fire Retardant - 1 Gallon

Before spraying this on a piece of plywood that I wanted to protect, I sprayed it on a big piece of corrugated cardboard. Which is what I use as kindling to start fires. And then I tried to light it with an Aim & Flame. It did not burn. I don't know how it works, and it's a tad pricey, but if you want to make something fireproof, this stuff seems to get the job done. I also mixed it with some primer on another project (which they say you can do). Made the paint thinner, which I expected. But then it started to really thicken up after awhile, like Thompson's waterproofing product. I applied it, and it went on fine, but a little grainy. I assumed from this that it has some active ingredients that really harden surfaces and paint. So I think this was a good buy. If it ever has to stop a fire, it's a great buy.

Flame tested and this product is great. Sprayed with HVLP gun on seat material and wool product. Will not burn even with constant fire by blowtorch.

I bought this to mix with paint to paint my exposed basement posts, beams, and joists. I mixed a full gallon of this with a little less than a gallon of latex paint. I did a couple tests on some scrap boards first, and it didn't work when I first tried it, but I missed the part about waiting 24 hours. Tried it again the next day and board turned a little brown, but would not burn and hardly even smoked. This seems to work exactly as described and is way better than nothing. I used a small foam roller to apply this to the exposed wood in my basement, to give it a nicer finished look, while adding fire protection without having to wrap everything in a bunch of drywall. This product makes the paint super thin and watery, and it drips EVERYWHERE, so I ended up masking things off almost as much as i would have if spraying. Also, because of how thin it is, it takes many many coats to achieve a uniform opaque color. I think I did 5 coats before I couldn't see the old paint colors where some of the wood had been painted decades ago. This product also separates from paint really easily, so you have to keep mixing it throughout your project if using very much. It probably separates as much as 90% after sitting for just an hour, and after being left overnight I could probably pour the Master Flame back into the bottle, leaving the paint behind. I'm glad i found this product as it's saving me from having to wrap things in metal or drywall, and gave me justification for painting the entire basement ceiling (instead of just the areas that were previously painted blue, green, or cream. I used up the first jug and just bought another, I'll probably need a 3rd to finish the entire project, it's an 1100sf basement with 100 year old wood that sucks up the first 2 coats of paint. I took 1 star off for how thin it makes the paint and how quickly it separates. It would be nice if they had a thickening agent you could add or they could get it to bond with the paint.

Couldn’t be easier to apply, covers a lot of area thoroughly. Haven’t tested its fire resistance however. Appreciate that the chemicals don’t seem particularly dangerous to work with.

Though the instructions leave a bit to be desired; through a little research and trial by fire, we were able to get things moving with this stuff pretty quickly. We have currently used about 25 gallons and have not been disappointed. We use it 3 ways ---- We dip some articles, we spray wood and walls with a spray gun and compressor, and we mix it in our paint and roll it on. The best method is spraying, but if mixing in paint and using a roller, make sure to use a very thick nap roller. This stuff is the consistency of water and requires a 50/50 mix with latex paint. However, not all latex paints are created equal when it comes to this. There is one brand that we have found works the best. And another brand that doesn't work at all. The brand that doesn't work at all caused us to lose about 4 gallons of the retardant because the paint had a bad reaction to it. This is definitely the best buy for your buck when it comes to fire retardant and is the most versatile.

Didn't mix well with the paint I used, Valspar Duramax. I wasted a half gallon of paint and a half gallon of Master Flame. That was an expensive lesson. Worked well on raw wood.

It works for us

Combustion test with a pine 1x4 sample pretreated with linseed oil showed that it prevented ignition with a propane torch.