The dangerous substances regulations of 1986 posit threshold levels of formaldehyde emissions from wood products, but not from home textiles. An attempt was made to develop a test method capable of being easily and inexpensively carried out at all finishing plants. Well-known methods of testing emissions were compared to a proposed test chamber method. The influence of air humidity, loading, and air exchange rate was also investigated. The size of the test chamber had no influence on performance so long as an equivalent chamber loading level was maintained. The moisture content of the air was decisive to the performance of the test. Formaldehyde concentration must be stable for the test to be accurate.