the rate of evaporation of gasoline from 18 fabrics varying widely in fiber composition and construction was measured and found to be inversely related to fabric weight, and directly related to the area wetted by the gasoline. for a given fabric weight, knitted fabrics tended to have a lower rate of evaporation than more compact, woven fabrics. the fiber composition seemed to have relatively little effect on rate of evaporation. fabrics which did not ignite from exposure to a tesla coil leak spot detector did ignite when there was as little as 0.1 cc of gasoline present. additional experiments would be required to determine the relative safety of fabrics in various scenarios in which gasoline, garments, and fire are involved