The Ultimate Guide: What is Colorfastness Testing
In this article, we’ll go into detail about the importance of color fastness testing and how to perform this test, as well as what its criteria are to ensure that your backpack, or any textile for that matter, will retain its original color during use or cleaning. Let’s take a closer look.
I. Understanding the Basics of Colorfastness
When you consider the durability and user satisfaction of textiles, it is important to understand how textile dyes resist different conditions, such as washing, light and friction. The following will give you a better understanding of color fastness in several ways:
What is color fastness?
Color fastness is the property of textiles to retain their color without loss or fading. This quality ensures that textiles retain their color vibrancy and integrity even after repeated use and exposure to adverse conditions.
Common Colorfastness Tests
Guidelines for various tests are provided by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These tests include wash fastness, rubbing fastness, and light fastness, standardized assessments to evaluate a textile’s color steadfastness.
The importance of backpack color fastness to consumers
For consumers, the color fastness of a backpack is synonymous with quality. A backpack with high color fastness will retain its original color even under extreme conditions, such as prolonged exposure to sunlight. This shows the importance of color fastness.
II. Types of Colorfastness Testing
Color fastness testing is essential to ensure that any product retains its color under any conditions. And using specific test methods, it is possible to determine the ability of a product or fabric to retain its color under rubbing, washing and light.
Washing Fastness
Washing fastness testing is designed to assess the ability of textiles to resist color loss or change during the washing process. The process uses standard test methods, such as the AATCC test method, to simulate a range of washing conditions. The results of the final test are graded to indicate the level of fastness.
Rubbing Fastness
Rubbing fastness, sometimes referred to as the color removal test, is an important indicator used to assess the ability of a fabric to prevent color transfer during rubbing. For products made from textile fabrics, rubbing fastness is often a major concern as it is directly related to the quality of the product. This test is usually conducted in two different environments, dry and wet conditions, to ensure the durability of the product under all conditions.
Light Fastness
Light fastness tests are designed to assess whether a fabric’s color will remain intact after prolonged exposure to light. Typically, this test is performed with the aid of a xenon arc color-fading lamp to simulate the conditions of sunlight exposure. The results of a light fastness assessment are usually categorized in a hierarchy, using different categories such as AATCC 16 to describe the options and results of the test.
Sweat Fastness
The sweat fastness test is also used to determine the effect of sweat on the color of fabrics. It focuses on checking how the fabric interacts with acidic and alkaline sweat. The results of these tests help determine the care labeling of the product, thus assisting the manufacturer in ensuring the durability of the garment in daily use.
III. Testing Standards
To assess the color fastness of textiles, there are many standards to choose from, but at the same time, specific guidelines and regulations exist for conducting the assessment. Below is a brief description of some of the major standards organizations and rating systems:
AATCC Standards
The test methods developed by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) are widely recognized internationally, and the AATCC standards are often regarded as the benchmark for color fastness testing. As an example, AATCC TM15 is a test method for evaluating color fastness to perspiration, while AATCC TM133 covers color fastness to heat and heat.
ISO Standards
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has also developed a series of standards for color fastness testing. As the name suggests, ISO standards are international in scope and the textile industry in many countries follows them to the letter. Some of the key standards include the likes of ISO 105, which is used to assess the light fastness of fabrics under different environmental conditions and helps to understand their performance.
Quality Ratings
Also when performing color fastness testing, a quality rating can be used, which helps to communicate the results of the test. A commonly used rating scale is the gray scale, which rates from 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent). Higher ratings indicate higher quality, which also means that the material has a greater ability to hold its color under a variety of conditions.AATCC and ISO also often use this scale to describe test results.
IV. What are the types of tests and standards used in the bag industry?
In the bag manufacturing industry, there are specific tests and standards that are used to ensure that fabrics are durable and that colors do not fade. These tests are designed to take into account the stresses that bags are typically subjected to, including friction and exposure to different conditions in real-world applications.
Types of tests used
In the bag industry, color fastness tests, in particular the ISO 105 X12 standard, are mainly used for a wide range of applications to assess the ability of fabrics to resist color transfer when rubbed. This test is important for fabrics that are in constant contact with other surfaces and simulates the friction process with the help of a tribometer (also known as a rubbing meter).
Machines used for testing
As mentioned earlier, color fastness testing usually requires the use of machines such as tribometers or abrasion testers. A tribometer applies controlled pressure and movement to the fabric to simulate friction in everyday use. These machines can reliably produce consistent test results and can be evaluated against industry standards.
V. How to determine the color fastness of fabrics?
To evaluate the color fastness of a fabric, we need to use a rubbing tester where an adjusted white rubbing cloth is applied to the test specimen and rubbed in a straight line with a downward force for 50 cycles. Typically, we need to perform two tests, one with a dry rubbing cloth and the other with a wet rubbing cloth.
When the test is complete, we need to place the rubbing cloth under a sufficient light source to evaluate it against a gray scale. Color fastness ratings are usually on a scale of 1 to 5, with higher numbers indicating better color fastness.
Although ideally we would like to not have any color transfer, in reality it is very difficult to achieve no transfer at all. So what level of color transfer is acceptable? Here are the criteria that most companies typically use:
| Dyed Textiles and Synthetic Leather |
Dry: 4.0 (Minimum) Wet: 3.0 (Minimum) |
|
Print Textiles, Denim & Velvet Textiles and Genuine or Suede Leather |
Dry: 3.0 (Minimum) Wet: 2.0 (Minimum) |
For dyed fabrics, such as polyester and nylon, and synthetic leather materials, such as PVC and PU, the usual standard is Dry rub: 4.0, Wet rub: 3.0.
For printed fabrics, denim, canvas, velvet fabrics and leather or suede, the usual criteria are dry rub: 3.0 and wet rub: 2.0.
VI. External factors affecting color fastness
In this section, we will take an in-depth look at the various external factors that may affect color fastness, including exposure to different environmental conditions and how they may affect the service life of textiles.
Material Factors
Various materials react differently to external factors. For example, natural fibers may be more susceptible to fading in sunlight than some synthetic fibers. In addition, the type of colorant or mordant used for dyeing can also have a different effect on how a material reacts when exposed to physical and chemical stresses.
Physical Factors
In addition to material factors, physical factors can also have an effect on the color fastness of a product. For example, factors such as light, temperature and mechanical movement. Sunlight may cause colors to fade or change, while high temperature ironing may alter colors. In addition, repeated washing and mechanical manipulation during normal use may cause color wear or transfer.
Chemical Exposure
It is a very common occurrence for textiles to come into contact with various chemicals in daily life. For example, bleach and detergents, which are commonly used chemical products, have the potential to significantly affect color. There are also other factors such as perspiration, seawater or chlorinated swimming pool water, which may have an effect on the color of textiles.
Environmental influences
Finally, environmental factors are also very important, including situations such as exposure to atmospheric pollution or extreme weather. These factors may also accelerate color fading or alteration when used in conjunction with cleaning products that potentially contain strong chemicals, or when exposed to soap or other cleaning products on a regular basis.
VII. Conclusion
As times change, thinking about color fastness testing continues. While we want fabrics to retain their original color, achieving 100% color fastness can be a challenge in real life. Therefore, it is important to understand what level of color fastness is acceptable and what criteria to use to assess color fastness.
At Songhome, we demonstrate quality visibility in action. We have an independent professional bag laboratory equipped with a variety of specialized testing equipment, including bag shock tester, friction tester, tensile tester, high and low temperature humidity and heat alternating test chamber, wire bending and swaying tester, and more. If you are looking for a bag supplier or backpack supplier that can enhance your brand image and quality, contact us immediately. Just tell us your idea and leave the rest of the professional affairs to us.
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