Dress Testing

Dress inspection mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on fibre composition content, formaldehyde content, pH value, decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, colour fastness and odour, 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 content: The fibre types and percentages of the dress fabric are determined through the chemical or physical methods (such as the dissolution method, microscope method and infrared spectroscopy method). This indicator is the core basis of the product marking and pricing, and is related to the right to know of the consumers and the authenticity of the product. The false marking is a serious quality problem.

Formaldehyde content: The free formaldehyde content in the fabric is determined in accordance with the standard methods (such as the water extraction method). As a crosslinking agent in the textile finishing, the formaldehyde may be residual, and its release will irritate the skin and respiratory tract. It is a mandatory safety indicator at home and abroad, and needs to be strictly controlled.

pH value: Detects the acidity and alkalinity of the aqueous extract of the textile. The surface of the human skin is weakly acidic. If the pH value of the garment is too high or too low, it may destroy the acid-base balance of the skin, causing the allergy or itching, especially for the dress products directly contacting the skin.

Decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes: Detects whether the fabric contains the prohibited azo dyes, which can decompose to produce 24 kinds of carcinogenic aromatic amines prohibited by the regulations under the specific conditions. This item is the "red line" indicator in the ecological safety field, and is directly related to the long-term health risks of the wearers.

Colour fastness: Evaluates the firmness degree of the dyes on the dress, mainly including the colour fastness to rubbing (dry/wet), perspiration, washing, light and saliva. The poor colour fastness will cause the dye shedding, contaminating the other clothes or the skin, affecting the appearance and use safety.

Odour: The sense of smell of the professionals is used to judge whether the textile has the abnormal odours such as the musty smell, high-boiling petroleum smell, fishy smell and aromatic hydrocarbon smell. The odours may originate from the chemical auxiliary agent residues in the processing or improper storage, and it is an intuitive sensory safety indicator.

Extractable heavy metals: Determines the contents of the heavy metal ions such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromium and cobalt in the textile that can be extracted by the artificial acidic perspiration. These heavy metals may be absorbed and accumulated by the human body through the skin contact, causing harm to the systems such as the nerves and hematopoiesis.

Testing Scope

Applicable scope: The testing is applicable to all the finished dresses made by the woven, knitted or other processes, covering the products of the different uses and age groups such as the daily wear, formal wear, work wear, maternity wear and children's wear. It is the basic object of the market access and quality supervision.

Fabrics and auxiliary materials: The testing is not only for the main fabrics, but also includes the decorative materials such as the linings, interlinings, laces and trimmings, as well as the auxiliary materials such as the sewing threads, buttons, zippers, sequins and appliques. The quality and safety of the auxiliary materials cannot be ignored.

Production and circulation links: Covering the whole chain from the raw material incoming inspection, production process quality control to the finished product ex-factory inspection. At the same time, it is also the core scope of the market spot checks, risk monitoring by the market supervision departments and the consumer rights protection inspections.

Performance and safety dimensions: The testing scope includes the multiple dimensions such as the physical and mechanical properties (such as the strength and pilling), chemical safety properties (such as the hazardous substances), ecological and environmental properties (such as the biodegradability) and use properties (such as the dimensional stability).

Products with specific functions: For the dresses claiming the special functions, such as the antibacterial, UV protection, non-iron and waterproof, the testing scope needs to be extended to the corresponding functional indicator verification, to prevent the false advertising.

Children's and infant products: For the children's dress, the testing scope is stricter, adding the physical and mechanical safety item testing such as the cord safety, small parts tensile strength, sharp points and sharp edges, to prevent the risks such as the suffocation and scratching.

Testing Methods and Standards

GB/T standard system: The dress testing in China mainly follows the national recommended standards, such as GB/T 2660-2017 "Shirts" and GB/T 2664-2017 "Men's suits and coats", as well as the general textile basic method standards, constituting the complete technical basis.

Mandatory safety standards: GB 18401-2010 "National general safety technical code for textile products" is the mandatory standard that must be complied with, specifying the limit requirements of the formaldehyde, pH value, colour fastness, odour and decomposable aromatic amine dyes, and grading into the categories A, B and C.

Ecological textile standards: For the products with the environmental protection requirements, the testing can be carried out in accordance with the GB/T 18885-2020 "Technical requirements for ecological textiles" or the international OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, and their restrictions on the hazardous substances are more comprehensive and stricter.

International and foreign advanced standards: The exported products often need to comply with the standards of the target markets, such as the ISO international standards, EU EN standards, US AATCC (test methods) and CPSC (safety regulations) and Japanese JIS laws, ensuring compliance with the international trade rules.

Physical property testing methods: Such as the breaking strength testing (GB/T 3923.1), tearing strength (GB/T 3917.2), pilling (GB/T 4802.1) and dimensional change rate (GB/T 8628-8629), carried out with the dedicated equipment under the standard environmental conditions.

Chemical safety testing methods: Such as the formaldehyde content determination (GB/T 2912.1), pH value determination (GB/T 7573) and heavy metal extraction (GB/T 17593), usually completed in the laboratory through the chemical analysis instruments (such as the spectrometers and chromatographs).

Functional testing methods: For the special functions, the corresponding methods are adopted, such as the UV protection performance (GB/T 18830), antibacterial performance (GB/T 20944) and wrinkle resistance performance (GB/T 13769), verifying the authenticity of the functional claims with the data.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

1. GB/T 2660-2017, Shirts

2. GB/T 2664-2017, Men's suits and coats

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

4. GB/T 18885-2020, Technical requirements for ecological textiles

5. GB/T 3923.1-2013, Textiles — Tensile properties of fabrics — Part 1: Determination of breaking force and elongation at breaking force using the strip method

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

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

8. GB/T 17593, Textiles — Determination of heavy metals

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

International Standards:

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

2. 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

Climate environmental test chamber: Used to carry out the constant temperature and humidity conditioning treatment (such as 20±2 ℃ and 65±4% RH) on the samples before the testing, ensuring that all the physical tests are carried out under the unified air conditions, guaranteeing the comparability of the results.

Electronic fabric strength tester: Used to test the mechanical properties such as the breaking strength, tearing strength and seam performance of the fabric. The equipment stretches the sample to break through the fixtures, and the maximum force value is recorded by the sensors. It is the key equipment for evaluating the durability.

Rubbing fastness tester: Used to evaluate the colour fastness to dry/wet rubbing. The instrument rubs the standard white cotton cloth with the sample at the specified pressure, number of times and trajectory, and then the staining grade of the white cloth is rated with the grey scales.

Perspiration fastness tester: Simulates the human perspiration environment. The sample is combined with the standard adjacent fabric, immersed in the acidic or alkaline artificial perspiration containing the histidine, placed under a certain pressure for a certain time, and then the change in colour and staining grades are rated.

UV-visible spectrophotometer: Crucial in the chemical safety testing, used for the quantitative analysis of the formaldehyde content (determined after the colour development of the acetylacetone method), the pH value determination (comparison with the buffer solutions) and the analysis of the concentrations of some dyes.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer: As a high-end precision analysis instrument, mainly used to detect the trace hazardous substances such as the decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, prohibited flame retardants and pesticide residues, with the high sensitivity and accurate qualitative and quantitative capabilities.

Martindale abrasion and pilling tester: Used to evaluate the abrasion resistance and pilling performance of the fabric under the controlled friction. The sample moves in the Lissajous trajectory with the standard abrasive under a certain pressure, and after the specified number of times, the surface change is observed and rated.