Garment Fabric Inspection

Apparel fabric inspection mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on fibre composition and content, colour fastness testing, physical and mechanical properties, dimensional stability and appearance durability, 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: Through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the types and proportions of the natural fibres (cotton, wool, silk and flax) and chemical fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic and viscose) in the apparel fabric are determined. This is the basis of the trade settlement, labelling specification and the consumers' right to know, and is directly related to the value, handle and performance of the apparel fabric.

Colour fastness testing: Evaluates the stability of the colour of the textile under the action of various external factors. It mainly includes the colour fastness to rubbing (dry/wet), colour fastness to soaping, colour fastness to perspiration and colour fastness to light. Unqualified colour fastness easily causes the dyes to fall off and stain other clothes or the skin, affecting the use safety and aesthetics.

Physical and mechanical properties: Inspects the performance of the apparel fabric under force, and is the key to measuring the durability. The core items include the breaking strength and elongation, tearing strength, bursting strength, abrasion resistance, seam slippage and yarn slippage, to ensure that the garment is not easily damaged during normal wearing and washing.

Dimensional stability: Simulates the change in the size of the apparel fabric after washing and drying, commonly known as the "shrinkage". It includes the dimensional change in washing, dimensional change in dry cleaning and the dimensional stability to steaming. This indicator is crucial for the fit and appearance retention of the garment, and directly affects the consumer experience.

Appearance durability: Evaluates the appearance retention ability of the apparel fabric after multiple washes. The main items include the pilling, appearance smoothness after washing and the seam appearance after washing. This inspection is directly related to the long-term aesthetics and quality sense of the garment, and is an important basis for evaluating the medium and high-grade textiles.

Testing Scope

Woven fabrics: Refers to the fabrics formed by the interweaving of warp and weft yarns perpendicular to each other, such as poplin, khaki, denim and gabardine. During the inspection, attention needs to be paid to the property differences in the warp and weft directions, the fabric surface style and the possible weaving faults (such as broken warp, broken weft and float skip).

Knitted fabrics: Formed by the interlooping of stitches, with good elasticity, such as single jersey, interlock, rib and velvet. The inspection focus is on the stitch density, bursting strength, transverse and longitudinal extensibility, and the evaluation of their raveling and edge curling properties.

Nonwoven fabrics: Formed by consolidating the fibre web through mechanical, thermal bonding or chemical methods, such as garment interlinings and thermal batting. The main inspections are the tensile strength, tearing strength, mass per unit area and heat shrinkage.

Coated/laminated fabrics: Formed by coating a polymer layer (such as PU and PVC) on the base fabric or laminating with other materials. In addition to the conventional items, special attention needs to be paid to the coating peeling strength, flexing endurance, moisture permeability and the peeling strength of the laminated fabric.

Functional fabrics: Fabrics with special properties, such as waterproof and moisture permeable, flame retardant, UV resistant, antibacterial and moisture absorbing and quick drying. The testing scope needs to be extended to their claimed functional indicators, and the verification tests are carried out in accordance with the relevant product standards.

Testing Methods

Chemical analysis method: Used for the quantification of the fibre composition. Mainly in accordance with the standard series such as GB/T 2910, the dissolution method is adopted, using the difference in the dissolution characteristics of different fibres in specific chemical solvents to separate and calculate the mass percentage of each component. This method is the benchmark method for arbitration inspection.

Instrumental analysis method: Including the use of the scanning electron microscope/infrared spectrometer for the fibre qualitative identification, and the use of the rubbing fastness tester, Martindale abrasion tester and universal material testing machine for the physical property tests. The instrumental method has the characteristics of objectivity, accuracy, quantification and good reproducibility.

Standard environmental conditioning and pretreatment: Before all the physical property tests, the samples must be equilibrated under a standard atmospheric environment (such as temperature 20±2 ℃ and relative humidity 65±4%) for at least 24 hours. This step is crucial, aiming to eliminate the influence of the environmental temperature and humidity differences on the test results and ensure the comparability of the data.

Simulated use test method: The actual use conditions are simulated through dedicated equipment. For example, a washing machine and dryer are used for the dimensional stability test in washing; a xenon arc lamp weathering test chamber is used to simulate the light aging; and a perspiration tester is used to evaluate the influence of the perspiration on the colour fastness.

Sensory evaluation method: Trained inspectors rate the indicators such as the colour difference, pilling grade and appearance smoothness of the sample through vision and touch under a standard light source cabinet (such as the D65 light source). This method needs to be compared with the standard photos or scales, has a certain subjectivity, and needs to be rated by multiple people and take the average value.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

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

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

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

4. GB/T 3921-2008, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Colour fastness to washing with soap or soap and soda

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

Electronic fabric strength tester: Used to test the breaking strength, tearing strength, bursting strength and seam performance of the fabric. The equipment can automatically plot the stress-strain curve, precisely record the maximum force and elongation, and is the core equipment for the physical and mechanical property tests.

Rubbing fastness tester: A standard rubbing finger (dry state and wet state) is used to rub back and forth on the specimen surface for a certain number of times with the specified pressure and stroke, and then the staining grade of the rubbing cloth is rated with the grey scales. The equipment is simple to operate and is the essential instrument for the basic colour fastness testing.

Martindale abrasion and pilling tester: Used to evaluate the abrasion resistance and anti-pilling performance of the fabric. The specimen is rubbed with the standard abrasive in a Lissajous trajectory under the specified pressure, and after the specified number of times, the grade is rated by observing the surface change or mass loss of the specimen.

Standard light source cabinet: Provides a stable and uniform standard light source (such as D65 daylight and TL84 shop light), used for the colour comparison, colour difference evaluation and the visual inspection of the colour fastness rating of the textile. It can avoid the "metamerism" phenomenon caused by different environmental light sources, ensuring the accuracy of the colour evaluation.

Perspiration fastness tester: Used to simulate the influence of the human perspiration on the colour of the textile. The combined specimen is wetted in a test solution containing the standard artificial perspiration, placed between the pressure plates of the instrument, kept for a certain time under the specified temperature and pressure, and then dried and rated for the change in colour and staining.