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Polybestos (Raybestos-Manhattan)

Polybestos was a woven asbestos cloth made by the Asbestos Textile Division of Raybestos-Manhattan.1 As Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, explained in 1964, it was an asbestos cloth in which polyester fibers took the place of the cotton used in ordinary asbestos-cotton cloth.2 The magazine said those fibers were not materially damaged at temperatures up to 500°F, which in 1967 it called 250°F more than the usual blend of asbestos and cotton could achieve.1,2 An R/M catalog of asbestos cloths, reported in the magazine in 1966, listed Polybestos among its specialized fabrics with Glassbestos and Silvabestos.3

An insurance company's 1981 list of asbestos products, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, gives Polybestos as a cloth made from 1955 to 1981 and puts its asbestos content at 85%.4

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Where it was used

In 1964 the magazine reported that safety garments of Polybestos cloth were being worn by molten metal handlers at Bethlehem Steel's plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and had proved 20% to 50% more durable than the asbestos-cotton garments used before.2 In 1967 it described Polybestos mittens made by the Glofane Company for foundry workers handling ceramic shell molds at Arwood Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, and in 1968 it reported that Keller's new Kelnit asbestos gloves and mitts were made of Polybestos.1,5

R/M's own customer price cards show Underwriters Grade Polybestos cloth, Style 10P225, sold to Bethlehem Steel at Sparrows Point from 1963, with the last Polybestos line on the card dated July 1972.6

What each document says

Every statement about Polybestos (Raybestos-Manhattan) in the documents, in each document's own words.

Asbestos Magazine, 1967, October 1967

  • Use: “Glofane Polybestos mittens for foundry workers handling ceramic shell molds at Arwood Corporation, Groton, Connecticut” (sales to Glofane Company, Whitestone, New York (mitts); Arwood Corporation, Groton, Connecticut (user)), p. 51
  • Description: “Polybestos woven asbestos-polyester cloth, produced by the Asbestos Textile Division of Raybestos-Manhattan”, p. 51
  • Temperature limit: “Polybestos fibers not materially damaged by temperatures up to 500°F, 250°F more than the usual asbestos-cotton blend”, p. 51

Asbestos Magazine, 1964, July 1964

  • Use: “safety garments for molten metal handlers at Bethlehem Steel's Bethlehem, Pennsylvania plant” (sales to Bethlehem Steel Company, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania plant), p. 122
  • Description: “an asbestos cloth in which polyester fibers are substituted for the cotton fibers used in asbestos-cotton cloth”, p. 122
  • Ingredient: “polyester fibers”, p. 122
  • Temperature limit: “polyester fibers not materially damaged by exposure to temperatures up to 500°F”, p. 122

Asbestos Magazine, 1966, August 1966

  • Description: “one of R/M's specialized fabrics (with Glassbestos and Silvabestos) in its asbestos cloths catalog”, said by Raybestos-Manhattan, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 183

The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981)

  • Made from: “55”, p. 74
  • Made until: “81”, p. 74
  • Asbestos content: “85”, p. 74
  • Form: “CLOTH”, p. 74

Asbestos Magazine, 1968, September 1968

  • Use: “Kelnit asbestos gloves and mitts made of Polybestos” (sales to Keller Glove Manufacturing Company), said by Keller Glove Manufacturing Company, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 245

Raybestos-Manhattan Sales and Price Records for Shipyards, the Navy and Other Customers (1948-1974)

  • Use: “Polybestos Cloth sold to Bethlehem Steel, Sparrows Point” (sales to Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrows Point, Maryland), p. 566
  • Use: “polybestos asb. cloth still sold to Bethlehem Steel, Sparrows Point in 1972” (sales to Bethlehem Steel Corp., Sparrows Point, Maryland), p. 606
  • Fiber grade: “Und. Gr. (Underwriters Grade)”, p. 566

USPTO trademark case files (Trademark Full Text XML Data, Annual Applications, 2025 edition)

  • Sold from: “first used in commerce 1961-05-31”, said by RAYBESTOS-MANHATTAN, INC., as recorded by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office7
  • Description: “ASBESTOS CLOTH, WOVEN FROM ASBESTOS YARNS, BEING INCOMBUSTIBLE, WITH THERMAL STABILITY, AND INSULATION QUALITIES”, said by RAYBESTOS-MANHATTAN, INC., as recorded by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office7
  • Description: “asbestos polyester or dacron fabric” (as of 196?, 1964, 1970), p. 1018

Kind of product

We list Polybestos (Raybestos-Manhattan) with cloth, tape and other textiles, from how the documents describe its form. That page explains how such products exposed workers.

Other cloth, tape and other textiles by Raybestos-Manhattan (37)

Pyrotex · Novabestos · Novatex · Glassbestos · Speedlag · Eleven-thirty-three · Flourobestos · Gatortape · Glasbestos · Goldbestos · Green Shield · Greenshield · Quik Flame Oil Stove Wicking · R/M Glassbestos · R/M Green Shield · R/M Style 25 Thermal Insulating Tape · R/M Style 41-Rpd Pyrotex Yarns · Raybestex · Rhinobestos · RM 24 H120 · and 17 more on the company's page

Cloth, tape and other textiles by other makers (264)

Min-k (Johns-Manville) · Thermobestos pipe covering · Sal-mo (Nicolet) · Insutape (Unarco) · Thermomat (Johns-Manville) · Nu-Flex (Car-Mon Products) · Old Hickory (Industrial Gloves Company) · Palmetto Cabcock (Greene Tweed & Co.) · Pars (Pars Manufacturing) · Perf-a-tape (U.S. Gypsum) · Philbestos (Pacor) · Polybes (Sun Chemical) · Porterlag (H. K. Porter) · Portersite (H. K. Porter) · Protector Gold Cross (Protector Safety Industries) · Quietline (Amatex) · Quilon (E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And) · Quinorgo R-4 (Johns-Manville) · Quinterra 71 (Johns-Manville) · Quinterra Type 3 (Johns-Manville) · and 244 more: all cloth, tape and other textiles

See also

References

  1. Asbestos Magazine, 1967, October 1967 (October 1, 1967), p. 5.
  2. Asbestos Magazine, 1964, July 1964 (July 1, 1964), p. 12.
  3. Asbestos Magazine, 1966, August 1966 (August 1, 1966), p. 18.
  4. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 7.
  5. Asbestos Magazine, 1968, September 1968 (September 1, 1968), p. 24.
  6. Raybestos-Manhattan Sales and Price Records for Shipyards, the Navy and Other Customers (1948-1974) (April 18, 1963), pp. 56, 60.
  7. USPTO trademark case files (Trademark Full Text XML Data, Annual Applications, 2025 edition) (July 3, 1961). Not yet published in our library.
  8. Sourcebook on Asbestos Diseases: Medical, Legal, and Engineering Aspects, Volume Two (1986), p. 101. Not yet published in our library.

Cite this page

“Polybestos (Raybestos-Manhattan).” AsbestosClaims.Law Library. https://asbestosclaims.law/library/products/raybestos-manhattan-polybestos.

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This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Every asbestos case turns on its own facts, exposure history, diagnosis, deadlines, available evidence, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.