Cashmere Scarf and Pashmina Testing

Cashmere scarf and shawl inspection mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on fibre composition and content testing, colour fastness testing, pilling performance testing, dimensional stability, formaldehyde content and pH value testing, and decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dye testing, objectively assessing the product quality grade and issuing a detailed test report, providing a basis for manufacturers' quality control and downstream users' product acceptance.

Testing Items

Fibre composition and content testing: This is the core of the cashmere product testing. Through the quantitative chemical analysis or microscope observation method, the actual content percentage of the cashmere fibres in the product is precisely determined, as well as whether the other fibres such as the wool, mulberry silk and chemical fibres are blended. The accurate composition content marking is the key to safeguarding the rights and interests of the consumers and eliminating the shoddy substitution or counterfeit and shoddy products.

Colour fastness testing: Evaluates the colour retention ability of the cashmere scarf/shawl during the processing and use. The main items include the colour fastness to rubbing (dry and wet rubbing), colour fastness to soaping, colour fastness to perspiration, colour fastness to water staining and colour fastness to light. The poor colour fastness will cause the product to fade or contaminate the other clothes after washing, friction or sun exposure.

Pilling performance testing: Due to the scale structure on the surface of the cashmere fibres, they are easy to entangle into pills after friction. This testing simulates the friction during wearing through the specific pilling box or Martindale abrasion tester, and then compares with the sample photos under the standard lighting conditions, rating the pilling grade. The higher the grade, the better the anti-pilling performance.

Dimensional stability (shrinkage) testing: Detects the dimensional change rate of the cashmere product after washing or steaming. The sample is usually subjected to the standard washing or relaxation treatment, and then the changes in its length and width are measured, calculating the shrinkage. This item is directly related to the use experience and appearance retention of the product, and is an important wearing performance indicator.

Formaldehyde content and pH value testing: They belong to the ecological safety indicators. The formaldehyde may remain after the dyeing and finishing process, and the excessive formaldehyde is harmful to the human body. The pH value reflects the acidity and alkalinity of the fabric. The human skin is weakly acidic, and the textile with the pH value exceeding the limit (too high or too low) may irritate the skin. These two items are the mandatory requirements for ensuring the safety and harmlessness of the product.

Decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dye testing: Some azo dyes can decompose and reduce to produce the carcinogenic aromatic amine substances under certain conditions. Through the precision instruments such as the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer, this testing carries out the qualitative and quantitative analysis of whether the cashmere product contains the 24 kinds of decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amines explicitly prohibited by the national regulations. It is the bottom-line testing of the textile safety.

Odour testing: Through the sense of smell of the professional inspectors, it is judged whether the cashmere product has the abnormal odours such as the musty smell, high-boiling petroleum smell, fishy smell and aromatic hydrocarbon smell. These odours usually originate from the use of the unqualified dyes and auxiliary agents in the production process or improper storage, and the textile with the odours may cause the potential harm to the human health.

Testing Scope

Pure cashmere scarves/shawls: Referring to the products with the cashmere content reaching or exceeding 95%. The testing requirements for this type of high-end products are the strictest, especially the identification of the fibre composition, which needs to exclude the mixing of any form of wool or other animal fibres, ensuring its "pure" identity.

Cashmere blended scarves/shawls: Referring to the products blended with the cashmere and other fibres (such as the wool, silk, cotton and acrylic) in a certain proportion. The testing needs to precisely determine the percentages of the component fibres, verify the accuracy of the marking, and evaluate the influence of the blending on the overall performance (such as the strength and pilling).

Products of the different weaving processes: Including the cashmere products made by the different processes such as the woven, knitted (flat knitting and circular knitting) and hand knitting. The different processes will affect the density, thickness, elasticity and appearance style of the fabric, and the testing emphasis may be different, for example, the knitted products pay more attention to the bursting strength and loop density.

Products of the different finishing processes: The products that have undergone the special finishing processes, such as the anti-pilling finishing, waterproof and oil-proof finishing, softening finishing and anti-shrinkage finishing (such as the "machine washable" cashmere). The testing needs to verify whether these functional finishings are effective, and evaluate whether they have the negative influence on the other properties (such as the colour fastness and hand feel).

Dyed and printed products: Including the various cashmere products such as the plain colour, gradient colour, jacquard, direct printing and discharge printing. In addition to the conventional testing, special attention needs to be paid to the colour fastness (resistance to rubbing and soaping) of the printed parts, dye migration and the safety of the printing pastes.

Import and export trade products: For the cashmere products exported to the regions such as the EU, the US and Japan, in addition to meeting the Chinese national standards (GB), the regulations and standards of the target markets also need to be complied with, such as the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 ecological textile certification and REACH regulation of the EU, and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of the US. The testing scope needs to cover the relevant chemical substance limits.

Products sold on the e-commerce platforms: To cooperate with the quality supervision of the e-commerce platforms and the consumer rights protection, the conformity sampling inspection is carried out on the cashmere scarves/shawls sold online. The testing items usually focus on the quality problems that the consumers are most likely to perceive and complain about, such as the fibre composition, pilling and colour fastness.

Testing Methods

Microscope observation method (fibre identification): A biological microscope or scanning electron microscope is used to observe the longitudinal morphology and cross-section characteristics of the fibres. The scale edges of the cashmere fibres are smooth with the wider spacing, and the medulla layer is mostly discontinuous; while the scale edges of the fine wool are sharp with the denser spacing. This method is intuitive and accurate, and is one of the gold standard methods for identifying the cashmere and wool.

Chemical dissolution method (component quantification): In accordance with the series standards such as GB/T 2910, the quantitative analysis is carried out by utilizing the difference in the solubility of the different fibres in the different chemical reagents. For example, the sodium hypochlorite solution is used to dissolve the cashmere and wool (protein fibres), and the remaining substance is the other fibres, thereby calculating the blending ratio. This method needs to be combined with the microscope method to improve the accuracy.

Standard adjacent fabric friction method (colour fastness): In accordance with the standards such as GB/T 3920, the specimen is respectively rubbed with the dry and wet standard white cotton adjacent fabrics under a certain pressure for the specified number of times, and then the grey scales are used to rate the staining grade of the adjacent fabric. The grades are divided into 1-5, and the higher the grade, the better the colour fastness.

Box pilling method (pilling): In accordance with the GB/T 4802.1 standard, the specimen is installed on the polyurethane carrier tubes, placed in a square pilling box lined with the cork pads, and rotated at a fixed speed for the specified time, simulating the rolling friction in the daily wearing. After the testing, the rating is carried out by comparison with the standard sample photos in a standard light source cabinet.

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method (prohibited dyes): In accordance with the GB/T 17592 standard, this is the method for detecting the decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes. The sample is subjected to the reduction treatment to cleave the possible prohibited dyes into the aromatic amines, and after the extraction and concentration, the separation is carried out with the high-performance liquid chromatography, and the mass spectrometry detector carries out the qualitative and quantitative analysis, with the extremely high sensitivity.

Martindale method (abrasion and pilling): In accordance with the GB/T 21196 (abrasion) and GB/T 4802.2 (pilling) standards, a Martindale abrasion tester is used. The specimen is relatively rubbed with the standard abrasive in the Lissajous trajectory under a certain pressure, which can be respectively used to evaluate the abrasion cycles of the fabric (until the holes appear) or the pilling performance, closer to the friction state in the actual wearing.

pH value determination method (extraction method): In accordance with the GB/T 7573 standard, the specimen is cut into pieces, oscillating-extracted in the deionized water for a certain time to prepare the extract. A calibrated pH meter is used to measure the pH value of the extract. To ensure the accurate results, the extraction temperature, time and the ratio of the specimen mass to the solution volume need to be strictly controlled.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

1. GB/T 18267, Cashmere

2. GB/T 2910, Textiles — Quantitative chemical analysis

3. GB/T 4802.1, Textiles — Determination of fabric propensity to surface pilling — Part 1: Circular locus pilling tester method

4. GB/T 4802.2, Textiles — Determination of fabric propensity to surface pilling — Part 2: Modified Martindale method

5. GB/T 21196, Textiles — Determination of the abrasion resistance of fabrics by the Martindale method

6. GB/T 17592, Textiles — Determination of prohibited azo dyes

7. GB/T 2912.1, Textiles — Determination of formaldehyde — Part 1: Free and hydrolysed formaldehyde (water extraction method)

8. GB/T 3920-2024, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Colour fastness to rubbing

9. GB/T 7573-2009, Textiles — Determination of pH of the aqueous extract

10. GB 18401-2010, National general safety technical code for textile products

International Standards:

1. ISO 17751, Textiles — Quantitative analysis of cashmere, wool, other special animal fibres and their blends

2. ISO 12945-1, Textiles — Determination of fabric propensity to surface pilling, fuzzing or matting — Part 1: Pilling box method

3. ISO 13934-1, Textiles — Tensile properties of fabrics — Part 1: Determination of maximum force and elongation at maximum force using the strip method

4. ISO 105, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness

Note: The applicable standard can be selected according to the product use and customer trade requirements; standards agreed in the contract take precedence over general standards.

Testing Instruments and Equipment

Biological microscope and scanning electron microscope: The core equipment for the fibre composition identification. The biological microscope is used to observe the longitudinal morphology of the fibres; the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can provide the three-dimensional images with higher magnification and depth of field, clearly showing the subtle differences between the scale structures of the cashmere and wool, and the identification results are more convincing.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer: The "sharp tools" for detecting the hazardous chemicals. The GC-MS is commonly used to detect the formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds; the LC-MS is mainly used to detect the non-volatile substances such as the decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, pesticides and phenolic compounds, with the characteristics of high selectivity and high sensitivity.

Standard light source colour matching cabinet: The key auxiliary equipment for the colour fastness rating, pilling rating and colour comparison. It provides the various standard light sources such as the D65 daylight, TL84 store light and UV ultraviolet light, ensuring that the inspectors carry out the visual evaluation under the consistent and stable lighting conditions, avoiding the misjudgement caused by the light source differences.

Fabric pilling tester and Martindale abrasion tester: The main instruments for evaluating the durability of the fabric. The box pilling tester has a simple structure and good reproducibility; the Martindale abrasion/pilling tester has more comprehensive functions, and can adapt to the various testing standards by changing the abrasives and pressures, simulating the actual wearing abrasion more precisely.

Colour fastness tester series: Including the rubbing fastness testing machine, soaping fastness testing machine and perspiration fastness testing machine. These equipment can precisely control the key parameters such as the pressure, temperature, friction times and solution ratios during the testing, ensuring the reliability and comparability of the test results.

pH meter and UV-visible spectrophotometer: The pH meter is used to precisely measure the acidity and alkalinity of the extract. The UV-visible spectrophotometer is commonly used for the quantitative analysis of the formaldehyde content. After the specific colour development reaction, the absorbance of the solution is measured at the specific wavelength, and the formaldehyde content is calculated according to the standard curve.

Fabric shrinkage testing machine and oven: The shrinkage testing machine is usually an automatic or semi-automatic washing equipment, which can execute the standardized washing, spinning and drying procedures. The oven is used to dry the washed specimen at a specific temperature to a constant weight, for the precise dimension measurement and the shrinkage calculation.