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Insubestos (Unarco)

Insubestos felt was a flexible insulating blanket sold by Union Asbestos & Rubber Company (Unarco) of Cicero, Illinois.1,2 Unarco applied to register the name on March 13, 1939, "for woven insulating blankets of amphibole insulating fibres utilized for insulating steam turbines and the like."1 Unarco's sworn answers in the Borel lawsuit in 1970 described it as "a thermal insulating blanket composed primarily of amosite asbestos woven with asbestos yarn reinforced with copper."3 An insurance company's 1981 list of asbestos products, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, gives it as blankets and felt, "AMOSITE WOVEN W/ASBSTS."4

A 1971 company history in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, says Rudi Wild developed Insubestos woven felt for the U.S. Navy in 1934-36.5 The magazine's 1952 obituary of Wild credited him with conceiving the blanket and said it was "used on practically every U. S. Navy combat vessel during World War II."2 The 1971 history said the same of Insubestos and Unarco's Unibestos pipe insulation together: "These lightweight Amosite insulations were used on most naval vessels constructed during World War II."5

The sources give different starting dates. Unarco's 1970 answers list it among materials "manufactured previous to 1940 and ... continued through the present dates," and the insurer's list gives 1940 as the year it was first made, with no end year.3,4 In December 1969, answering questions in the Potter lawsuit, Unarco named its Insubestos felt among the products it was then making, "used in insulating large areas."6 Unarco's ads in the magazine listed Insubestos felt in 1954.7 A June 1962 purchase agreement between Pittsburgh Corning and Unarco lists Insubestos felt among the "insulating and packing products, containing asbestos, which UNION sells," and acknowledges that Unarco would go on selling them.8

See also: Unibestos, Insutape, Wovenstone, Insutube.

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What each document says

Every statement about Insubestos (Unarco) in the documents, in each document's own words.

Asbestos Magazine, 1939, June 1939

  • Asbestos fiber: “amphibole insulating fibres”, said by Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), Trade Marks column, p. 401
  • Description: “For woven insulating blankets of amphibole insulating fibres utilized for insulating steam turbines and the like”, said by Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), Trade Marks column, p. 401
  • Use: “utilized for insulating steam turbines and the like”, said by Union Asbestos & Rubber Company, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), Trade Marks column, p. 401

Asbestos Magazine, 1952, February 1952

  • Use: “flexible insulating blanket ... used on practically every U.S. Navy combat vessel during World War II” (sales to U.S. Navy), p. 362

The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories

  • Made from: “manufactured previous to 1940 and were continued through the present dates unless otherwise noted”, p. 13
  • Made until: “continued through the present dates” (as of 1970-04-01), p. 13
  • Use: “used in insulating large areas”, p. 103
  • Description: “a thermal insulating blanket composed primarily of amosite asbestos woven with asbestos yarn reinforced with copper”, p. 13
  • Ingredient: “reinforced with copper”, p. 13
  • Asbestos fiber: “composed primarily of amosite asbestos”, p. 13

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

  • Made from: “40”, p. 54
  • Description: “AMOSITE WOVEN W/ASBSTS”, p. 54
  • Form: “BLANKETS AND FELT”, p. 54

Asbestos Magazine, 1971, September 1971

  • Made from: “In 1934-36 Rudi Wild developed ... INSUBESTOS woven felt for the U.S. Navy”, p. 65
  • Asbestos fiber: “These lightweight Amosite insulations”, p. 65
  • Use: “used on most naval vessels constructed during World War II” (sales to U.S. Navy), p. 65

The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories

  • Made from: “manufactured previous to 1940”, p. 16
  • Use: “used in insulating large areas” (as of 1969-12-01), p. 126
  • Description: “a thermal insulating blanket composed primarily of amosite asbestos woven with asbestos yarn reinforced with copper”, p. 16
  • Asbestos fiber: “composed primarily of amosite asbestos”, p. 16

Asbestos Magazine, 1954, June 1954

  • Form: “Insubestos felt”, p. 317

The Tomplait v. Combustion Engineering Case File (1962-1969), Answers to plaintiff's third interrogatories with exhibits

  • Asbestos content: “insulating and packing products, containing asbestos, which UNION sells” (as of 1962-06-30), said by Pittsburgh Corning Corp. and Union Asbestos and Rubber Co. (Agreement of Purchase), as recorded by Pittsburgh Corning Corp. (exhibit to interrogatory answers, Tomplait), p. 188
  • Sold until: “lines ... which UNION sells” (as of 1962-06-30), said by Pittsburgh Corning Corp. and Union Asbestos and Rubber Co. (Agreement of Purchase), as recorded by Pittsburgh Corning Corp. (exhibit to interrogatory answers, Tomplait), p. 188

Travelers Asbestos Products Printout, July 1981

  • Made from: “40”, p. 219
  • Description: “AMOSITE WOVEN W/ASBSTS”, p. 219
  • Form: “FELT,BLANKETS”, p. 219

Union Carbide Chemicals Company: Thermal Insulation and Accessories Manual (1962)

  • Temperature limit: “40 to 90”, p. 8310
  • Description: “Identical to item above except that blanket is treated to repel water. For cold water. Can be enclosed in cotton muslin.”, p. 8310
  • Temperature limit: “Atmos to 750”, p. 8310
  • Asbestos content: “Asbestos, Woven.”, p. 8310
  • Asbestos fiber: “Amosite Fibers”, p. 8310
  • Form: “Felt”, p. 8310
  • Description: “Lightweight, flexible blanket woven from Amosite Fibers and bound together by brass wire inserted asbestos yarn.”, p. 8310
  • Description: “amosite product developed for use during WWII: blanket, felt, textiles; later made of chrysotile” (as of developed 1934-1936), p. 8611

Kind of product

We list Insubestos (Unarco) with paper, felt and millboard, from how the documents describe its form. That page explains how such products exposed workers.

Other paper, felt and millboard by Unarco (6)

Wovenstone · Stonefelt · Unarco · Unarco Asbestos Blanket · Ambestos Felt · Amoside Felt

Paper, felt and millboard by other makers (293)

Min-k (Johns-Manville) · Pyrotex (Raybestos-Manhattan) · Limpet (Keasbey & Mattison) · Novabestos (Raybestos-Manhattan) · Sal-mo (Nicolet) · Gum-Bestos Asbestos Paper Tape (Grant Wilson) · Herco (John Herman) · High Strength Fibroid Asbestos Paper (Johns-Manville) · High Temperature Flexible Min-k Blankets (Johns-Manville) · Homart (Sears) · Houservice (O'Neill Lumber Co.) · Hydrocord (Armstrong Cork) · Insubestos (Union Asbestos & Rubber Co.) · Insul-attic (Nicolet) · J-m Built-up Roof (Johns-Manville) · Johns-Manville Jm (Johns-Manville) · K & M 101 (Keasbey & Mattison) · K & M 104 (Keasbey & Mattison) · K & M 201 (Keasbey & Mattison) · K&M Best in Asbestos (Keasbey & Mattison) · and 273 more: all paper, felt and millboard

See also

  • Unarco: the company's history, documents, people, products and plants
  • Unarco on our products page: what the documents say about the company's asbestos products, with sources

References

  1. Asbestos Magazine, 1939, June 1939 (June 1, 1939), p. 40.
  2. Asbestos Magazine, 1952, February 1952 (February 1, 1952), p. 36.
  3. The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories (April 1, 1970), p. 1.
  4. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 5.
  5. Asbestos Magazine, 1971, September 1971 (September 1, 1971), p. 6.
  6. The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories (December 1, 1969), pp. 1, 12.
  7. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, June 1954 (June 1, 1954), p. 31.
  8. The Tomplait v. Combustion Engineering Case File (1962-1969), Answers to plaintiff's third interrogatories with exhibits (June 30, 1962), p. 18.
  9. Travelers Asbestos Products Printout, July 1981 (July 1, 1981), p. 21.
  10. Union Carbide Chemicals Company: Thermal Insulation and Accessories Manual (October 1, 1962), p. 83.
  11. Sourcebook on Asbestos Diseases: Medical, Legal, and Engineering Aspects, Volume Two (1986), p. 86. Not yet published in our library.

Cite this page

“Insubestos (Unarco).” AsbestosClaims.Law Library. https://asbestosclaims.law/library/products/unarco-insubestos.

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