Analysis of Different Multifibre Standard Adjacent Fabric on the Colorfastness Test to Washing

This paper analyses the influence of various factors on the colorfastness test results to washing by comparing the composition and specifications of DW and TV multifibre standard adjacent fabric and gives some suggestions for the selection of standard adjacent fabrics.

★ Why study the effect of different multifibre adjacent fabric on colorfastness test to washing?

At present, multifibre adjacent fabric represent the way forward in colorfastness testing, most testing institutes tend to use multifibre standard adjacent fabric to evaluate the staining performance of fabric in colour fastness testing. From a technical point of view, the multifibre standard adjacent fabric provides more detailed information on the staining performance. From a user point of view, the multifibre standard adjacent fabric is also more user-friendly.

The international standard ISO 105 F10 “Tests for Colour fastness – Part F10: specification for adjacent fabric: multifibre” specifies that the multifibre adjacent fabrics are of type DW and type TV, and in the general requirements it is stated that “some colour fastness test procedures cannot be performed in the presence of wool and/or secondary acetate. In this case, type TV multifibre adjacent fabric shall be used in place of type DW “.

As the use of different multifibre adjacent fabric for colour fastness testing can lead to differences in the results obtained, affecting the final evaluation of the colour fastness of the fabric and even lead to disputes. It is therefore extremely important to study the influence of the DW and TV types of multifibre adjacent fabrics on the colour fastness test results to washing.

★ Analysis of the composition and structure of multifibre standard adjacent fabric

1 Composition of multifibre standard adjacent fabric

Multifibre adjacent fabrics

Multifibre DW	Multifibre TV
Secondary acetate	Triacetate
Bleached cotton	Bleached cotton
Polyamide	Polyamide
Polyester	Polyester
Acrylic	Acrylic
Wool	Viscose

The main difference between the DW and TV multifibre adjacent fabrics is that the DW type contains wool and secondary acetate, while the TV type contains viscose and triacetate fibre. The remaining four fibres have the same composition and are arranged in the same order.

Alternatively, fabrics of other constructions, but having the same width of strip and exhibiting the same staining characteristics as the multifibre adjacent fabric described in this part of ISO 105, may also be used, but such use shall be noted in the test report.

2 Structure analysis of multifibre adjacent fabric

Width in the loom at the reed: 127cm
Weave: 6/6 in the filling stripes, 1/1 in the cutting stripes
Number of warp 35.4 per centimetre
threads: weft 29.5 per centimetre (average)
Each weft stripe measured in the warp direction shall be 1.5cm in width. The cutting stripe shall be 0.5cm of the spun polyester.

Weaving pattern

Type DW	Type TV
62 threads spun secondary acetate	62 threads spun triacetate
48 threads bleached cotton	48 threads bleached cotton
56 threads spun polyamide	56 threads spun polyamide
48 threads spun polyester	48 threads spun polyester
44 threads spun acrylic	44 threads spun acrylic
60 threads worsted wool	60 threads spun viscose
16 threads spun polyester (cutting stripe)	16 threads spun polyester (cutting stripe)

For more detailed information, please refer to part 4 of standard ISO 105 F10: characteristics of the fabrics.

★ Test section

1 Test apparatus and materials

Testing apparatus: washing fastness tester TF418.
Materials: DW type multifibre standard adjacent fabric, TV type multifibre standard adjacent fabric, standard soap flakes (not containing optical brightener), anhydrous sodium carbonate, grey scale for assessing colour staining, color matching cabinet TU300.

2 Colorfastness testing to washing

Select 23 samples randomly, which numbered 1 to 23, and the basic information of the fabrics is shown in the table below.

No.	Basic information	Composition
1	Black woven fabric	Cotton 65%, Polyester 33%, Spandex 2%
2	Laminated fabric: black knitted backing, black woven top	Base fabric: polyester, top fabric: viscose
3	Woven fabric with grey flocked black backing	Polyester 100%
4	Black knitted fabric	Polyester 89.5%, spandex 10.5%
5	Coated black woven fabric	Polyester 94%, spandex 6%
6	Black woven fabric	Polyester 100%
7	Dark blue woven fabric	Polyester 90%, spandex 10%
8	Dark blue woven fabric	Polyester 88.8%, spandex 11.2%
9	Black knitted fabric	Nylon 51.1%, polyester 37.8%, spandex 11.1%
10	Black woven fabric	Cotton 63.9%, polyester 33.9%, spandex 2.2%
11	Black woven fabric	Polyester 88%, spandex 12%
12	Black woven fabric	Polyester 100%
13	Black woven fabric	Polyester 100%
14	Blue woven fabric	Wool 51.0%, polyester 37.5% Viscose 9.4%, spandex 2.1 %
15	Black flocked fabric	Polyester 100%
16	Black woven fabric	Viscose 76.6%, nylon 19.2%, spandex 4.2%
17	Laminated fabric: black knitted backing, black woven top	Base fabric: polyester 94%, spandex 6% Top fabric: polyester 88%, spandex 12%
18	Burgundy woven tweed	Wool 70%, polyester 30%
19	Dark blue tweed woven fabric	Wool 51.0%, polyester 37.5% Viscose 9.4%, spandex 2.1
20	Red woven fabric	Wool 50.5%, polyester 49.5%
21	Black woven fabric	Polyester 70%, Viscose 30%
22	Blue woven fabric	Polyester 70%, Viscose 30%
23	White, orange interlock knitted fabric	Recycled cellulose fibres 100%

Cut two pieces of fabric measuring 40mmx100mm in accordance with ISO 105-C10. One piece was sewn together with the DW multifibre adjacent fabric to form a combined specimen for testing, and the other piece was sewn together with the TV multifibre adjacent fabric to form another combined specimen for testing. Then, place the two combined specimens in a standard washing soap solution at a temperature of (60±2)℃ and a bath ratio of 50:1 for 30 min, then washed and dried. At the end of the test the use the grey scale to rate the staining and the results are shown in the table below.

No.	DW type multifibre adjacent fabric						TV type multifibre adjacent fabric
	wool/acrylic/polyester/nylon/cotton/acetate						viscose/acrylic/polyester/nylon/cotton/triacetate
1	3	4~5	2~3	2	4~5	2~3	4	4~5	3	2	4~5	3~4
2	3~4	4~5	3	2~3	4	2~3	4	4~5	3~4	3	4	3
3	3~4	4~5	3	2~3	4	2~3	4	4~5	3~4	2~3	4~5	3
4	2	4~5	2	2	4	2	3~4	4~5		2	4	2~3
5	3~4	4~5	3~4	3	4~5	3	4	4~5	3~4	3	4~5	3~4
6	4	4~5	3~4	3	4~5	3	4	4~5	4	3	4~5	3~4
7	3	4~5	3	3	4	3	4	4~5	3~4	3	4	3~4
8	4	4~5	4	2~3	4	3	4	4~5	4	2~3	4	4
9	2	4~5	4	2	4~5	3~4	3	4~5	4~5	2~3	4~5	4
10	2~3	4~5	3	2	4	2~3	4	4~5	3~4	2	4	3
11	2~3	4	2~3	2	3~4	2	3~4	4	3	2	3~4	3
12	4	4~5	4	2	4	3~4	4	4~5	4	2	4	4
13	3~4	4~5	3~4	2~3	4	2~3	4	4~5	4	3	4	3
14	3	4~5	3~4	1~2	3~4	2~3	3~4	4~5	3~4	1~2	3~4	2~3
15	4	4~5	4~5	2	3~4	4	4	4~5	4~5	2~3	3~4	4
16	3~4	4~5	4~5	2	4~5	4~5	4	4~5	4~5	2	4~5	4~5
17	3	4	3	2	4	3	4	4~5	3~4	2	4	3~4
18	3~4	4~5	3	3	1~2	2~3	2	4~5	3~4	3	1~2	2~3
19	2~3	4~5	3	2	1~2	2	2	4~5	3~4	2	1~2	2~3
20	3	4	4	2~3	1~2	3	2	4~5	4	2~3	1~2	3~4
21	3	4~5	3	2	4~5	2	4~5	4~5	4~5	2	4~5	2~3
22	4	4~5	3	2~3	4~5	3	4~5	4~5	3~4	2~3	4~5	3~4
23	4~5	4~5	4~5	4~5	3~4	4~5	3~4	4~5	4~5	4~5	3~4	4~5

3 Analysis of the test results

From the above test results, it can be found that:

3.1 The fastness staining level of secondary acetate in most DW type multifibre adjacent fabric is 0.5 to 1 level lower than that of triacetate in TV type multifibre adjacent fabric.

3.2 The fastness staining level of wool in most of the DW type multifibre adjacent fabric is 0.5 to 1.5 level lower than that of viscose in the TV type multifibre adjacent fabric, but the staining grade for wool in samples 18, 19 and 20 was 1 to 1.5 grades higher than the staining grade for viscose.

3.3 The staining levels of the same fibre strips are also different, the fastness staining level of acrylic, polyester, nylon, cotton in the DW type multifibre adjacent fabric is 0.5 to 1 level lower than that in the TV type multifibre adjacent fabric.

The main reasons for these results may be:

The symmetry and regularity of the molecular structure of triacetate are better than the secondary acetate, and the crystallinity and polymerisation of the triacetate is higher than the secondary acetate, so the staining of triacetate is worse than that of secondary acetate. The staining of multifibre adjacent fabric is closely related to the composition of the sample to be tested, the colour and its shade, the dye combination and the dye fastness process. The structural composition, yarn count and density of the multifibre adjacent fabric, as well as its finishing process and technology, can also have a significant impact on the results of the color fastness test.

★ Conclusions and recommendations

At present, most testing institutes and manufacturers use DW type multifibre adjacent fabrics. When testing the colour fastness to washing, most of the samples using DW type multifibre adjacent fabrics give lower results than when using TV type tests, which are relatively more stringent in terms of quality requirements. This helps companies to adjust their dyeing and finishing processes and improve product quality. It is recommended that testing institutes use DW multifibre adjacent fabrics in their tests.

The type of standard adjacent fabric has a great influence on the assessment of the colour fastness of textiles and can even affect the determination of whether the colour fastness is acceptable or not. It is recommended to specify the type, the conditions and the corresponding indicators of adjacent fabric to avoid disputes on the test results.