GB/T 44872-2024General technical requirements for appearance of textile products after cleansing (English PDF)

1 Scope

This document specifies the general technical requirements for the appearance quality of textile products after washing and drying.

This document applies to fabrics and articles made from them.

2 Normative references

The contents of the following documents constitute indispensable provisions of this document through normative reference in the text. For dated references, only the version corresponding to that date applies to this document; for undated references, the latest version (including all amendments) applies to this document.

GB/T 250 Textiles - Tests for colour fastness - Grey scale for assessing change in colour; GB/T 251 Textiles - Tests for colour fastness - Grey scale for assessing staining; GB/T 4802.4-2020 Textiles - Determination of fabric propensity to surface fuzzing and to pilling - Part 4: Random tumble method; GB/T 8629-2017 Textiles - Domestic washing and drying procedures for textile testing; GB/T 19980 Textiles - Method for assessing the appearance of apparel and other textile end products after domestic washing and drying; GB/T 19981.2 Textiles - Professional care, drycleaning and wetcleaning of fabrics and garments - Part 2: Procedure for testing performance when cleaning and finishing using tetrachloroethene.

3 Terms and definitions

There are no terms and definitions that need to be established in this document.

4 Requirements

After the product has been washed and/or dry-cleaned by the procedure laid down in 6.1, its appearance shall meet the requirements of Table 1.

Table 1 lists thirty items in order. Items 1 to 4 concern the fabric and are graded: change in colour of the fabric, grade 4 or better; cross-staining between colours, grade 4 or better; fuzzing, pilling or felting, grade 4 or better; and smoothness appearance, grade 3.5 or better. Item 5, damage and yarn slippage, is not permitted. Items 6 to 9 - spots and water marks, local whitening, pinholes in the print, and shedding or lint pick-up - are permitted if slight. Item 10, slack or wavy edges, is not permitted. Item 11, cracking, delamination, hardening or tackiness of coated, printed, laminated, bonded and seam-taped areas of the fabric, is not permitted. Items 12 and 13 - separation, lifting, local doming, adhesive bleed, creasing, blistering and detachment, and loss of glitter - are permitted if slight. Item 14, seam slippage or broken sewing thread and unravelled or broken embroidery thread, is not permitted. Item 15, unevenness at embroidered and sewn areas, is permitted if slight. Items 16 and 17 concern the sewn areas and are graded: seam smoothness appearance, grade 3 or better, and pleat appearance, grade 3 or better. Item 18, exposed lining, is not permitted. Items 19 to 26 concern the trims: loss of coating or plating is permitted if slight; discolouration and staining are permitted if slight; damage, breakage, corrosion, deformation and detachment are not permitted; frayed labels and loss of printing or pattern on them are not permitted; lint pick-up on hanging ornaments and tassels is permitted if slight; wrinkling and unevenness of the zip tape are permitted if slight; unsmooth meshing of the zip is not permitted; and obvious loosening of the stitching where the trim joins the fabric is not permitted. Items 27 to 29 concern the filling: balling is permitted if slight; down or fibre migration through the fabric is permitted if slight; and matting, obvious unevenness of thickness and damage are permitted if slight. Item 30, any other change that clearly affects the appearance, is not permitted.

Note to Table 1: slight means a change in appearance that is not obvious to the eye and that can be made out only on close examination when viewed from a distance of 60 cm. The footnotes state that silk products may be lowered by half a grade for change in colour; that non-uniform staining may be lowered by half a grade; that smoothness appearance, seam smoothness appearance and pleat appearance are assessed for non-iron products; that unevenness at embroidered areas is assessed only for garments; and that down products are not assessed for filling balling or for down migration.

5 Sampling

Made-up articles are sampled directly; fabric is taken over the full width by 1 m. Four pieces of the product are selected, one being kept as the control sample and the remaining three used as the washing test specimens. Before the washing test the specimens shall be examined in detail so as to ensure that the four pieces show no difference in appearance.

6.1 Washing and drying procedures

6.1.1 Washing procedure. According to the washing and drying method declared in the instructions for use of the product, select the programme corresponding to a type A washing machine in GB/T 8629-2017 and wash and dry once. The detergent shall be standard detergent 3 as specified in GB/T 8629-2017. Where more than one wash is required, the number of washing cycles shall be agreed between the parties concerned. Note: if the product is left in the machine for a long time after washing, creases may form that affect the appearance result; it shall be taken out promptly and smoothed flat.

6.1.2 Dry-cleaning procedure. According to the washing and drying method declared in the instructions for use of the product, select the corresponding procedure in GB/T 19981.2 and clean and dry once. Where more than one cleaning is required, the number of cycles shall be agreed between the parties concerned. Note: if the product is left in the machine for a long time after cleaning, creases may form that affect the appearance result; it shall be taken out promptly and smoothed flat.

6.2 Appearance after washing

6.2.1 General. Inspection of appearance quality is carried out under natural north daylight or under fluorescent lamps, the illuminance at the surface of the inspection table being not less than 600 lx and evenly distributed; the inspector's eyes are about 60 cm from the product and the area examined shall have its yarn direction consistent, the inspector judging by eye and by hand. For appearance inspection, the washed specimen and the control sample are hung face outwards on an observation board or laid flat on a smooth table top, and three observers observe and record the change in appearance independently and in turn, or make a visual comparison with the reference photographs under the specified conditions. The conditions for fuzzing, pilling, felting, smoothness appearance, seam smoothness appearance and pleat appearance are those laid down in GB/T 19980.

6.2.2 Change in colour. The grade of change in colour is assessed in accordance with GB/T 250. The average of the results of the three observers is taken as the result; if the average is not a whole number it is rounded to the nearest half grade.

6.2.3 Cross-staining. For products that are not of a single colour, after the specimen has been washed under the conditions of 6.1 the control sample and the washed specimen are placed side by side in the same direction on the same plane, and the staining grade of each coloured area of the product is assessed in accordance with GB/T 251. The average of the results of the three observers is taken as the result; if the average is not a whole number it is rounded to the nearest half grade. The areas tested include printed, appliqued and embroidered areas.

6.2.4 Fuzzing, pilling and felting. The grades for fuzzing, pilling and felting are assessed separately by the grading method of Clause 10 of GB/T 4802.4-2020. The average of the results of the three observers is taken as the result; if the average is not a whole number it is rounded to the nearest half grade. The grade of the worst affected area is taken as the result.

6.2.5 Smoothness appearance. Assessed by the method of GB/T 19980.

6.2.6 Seam smoothness appearance. Assessed by the method of GB/T 19980.

6.2.7 Pleat appearance. Assessed by the method of GB/T 19980.

6.2.8 Appearance of loss of coating or plating on trims. For the coating or plating of hard trims such as buttons, zips and rivets, assessment is by eye against the descriptions of state in Table 2, Annex A giving examples of the appearance of certain products after washing. Where the results of the three observers differ, the result obtained by two of them is taken as the final result.

Table 2 describes three states: no change on the surface, giving the result no change; slight loss of coating or plating that can be made out only on close examination, that is scattered over part of the surface of the trim, giving the result slight; and moderate or severe loss of coating or plating, that is areas of loss of various size and density spread over part or the whole of the surface of the trim, giving the result obvious.

6.2.9 Other items. For the other items mentioned in Table 1, assessment is by eye, by touch or by working the fastening, comparing the specimen with the control sample to see whether obvious changes such as hardening, tackiness or lint pick-up have appeared and whether the zip fails to mesh smoothly or the zip tape has domed and gone uneven; for the smoothness appearance of the zip tape after washing and for the degree of loss of print glitter, A.3 and A.4 may also be consulted. Where the results of the three observers differ, the result obtained by two of them is taken as the final result.

7 Results

Compared against the requirements of Table 1, if all of the corresponding requirements of Table 1 are met, the appearance quality of the product after washing conforms to this document; otherwise it does not conform.