fabrics

Cotton 3

Flax 3

Cotton / linen 4

Cotton / synthetics 4

Wool 4

Wool / viscose 4

Regenerated fibre 5

Synthetics 6 From fibre to yarn 7 Spinning 7

Twisting 7

Yarn number of count 8 From yarn to fabric 9 Preparation for weaving 9

Pre-treatment13

Dyeing15

Textile printing18

Finishing20 Formaldehyde24 Test Methods According to Quality Requirements

25 Fabric guide27The textile fibre

The raw material in textile goods consists of fibres. To be able to be spun to yarn, the fibre must be elastic and flexible and have a certain degree of strength. The dimensions are very important – the length of the fibre should not be less than 10 mm. A distinction is made between natural fibres and synthetic fibres. The former group includes plant, animal, and mineral fibres, while synthetic fibres are obtained from naturally occuring raw materials or from chemical works where crude oil is the most common raw material.

Flame test

Synthetic fibres can be easily distinguished from natural fibres by the flame test. Cellulose fibres, for example: cotton, linen, viscose, burn easily with a low, even flame and give off a smell like burnt paper. Wool burns with a flickering flame and smells of burnt hair. The synthetics catch light and melt into a very hard lump.

Cotton

Cotton is the most important among our textile fibres. The cotton fibre is a seed hair obtained from the cotton bush. The quality of cotton is determined by staple or fibre length – the longer the staple, the better quality the cotton, and by grade (colour and purity). Egyptian cotton has the longest staple followed by American cotton, while East Indian (Asiatic) cotton has the shortest staple.

Cotton can be either combed or carded. Combed cotton is the result of a process where short fibres and impurities are combed out before spinning. Yarn made from combed cotton is stronger, more uniform, finer, and virtually fluff free.

Cotton fabric has a pleasant feel and is very comfortable.

Cotton fabric is durable but must be treated both to prevent

the material from shrinking and to make it more resistant

to soiling. It has a high wet strength, good washing pro-

perties, and is highly absorbent.

On the negative side, it creases easily and exhibits poor

elasticity and stretchability. Cotton fabrics are suitable

both for fixed and removable covers.

Flax

Flax yarn is some 50 – 75% stronger than cotton and, as with cotton, the longer the fibre length, the better the quality.

The fibre is obtained from the plant’s stalk in the form of filaments. This is a time consuming process and contributes to the expense of linen fabric.

Among its positive attributes, flax has a high tensile strength, is absorbent, and is more resistant to soiling than cotton. Flax is durable – it does not become frail with age.

On the negative side, flax creases easily and is not very resistant to wear.

Cotton / Linen

Cotton and linen blended together form a fabric with attractive properties, with linen giving the fabric texture. As a material for cushions, it imparts firmness.

They have a low resistance to wear which means that breaks can occur along folds or at edges.

Cotton / linen fabrics are best used for fixed covers.

Cotton / synthetics

Cotton fibres are often mixed with polyester fibres to give a stronger fabric which is easier to wash and which shrinks and creases less.

Suitable for loose washable covers.

Wool

Sheep’s wool is the most important of the animal fibres. As a fibre, wool is curly and elastic, and is easily spun to give a spongy, fullbodied yarn.

Fine wool fibre is synonymous with high quality

– the finer the wool, the better the fall, feel, soft-

ness, and the easier it is to shape and fix. But fine

fibred wool is less resistant to wear and washing.

Because of this, coarser wool is used for furniture

covers.

Wool has many advantages – it has high abrasion resistance, it doesn’t crease, is fire resistant, has good heat insulation properties, and resists soiling.

Wool / Viscose

Viscose lacks many of wool’s excellent properties, but combined with wool results in a hard wearing fabric suitable for sofas.

A wool / viscose fabric resists dirtying and does not crease like cotton.

As wool is flame resistant, a wool / viscose fabric is also relatively flame resistant.

By blending fibres, it is possible to obtain textiles with better properties

and in more uniform qualities than can be achieved using the individual

fibres.

Regenerated fibre

Viscose (rayon)

Viscose is a man-made fibre obtained from cellulose.

Viscose is made in a chemical process which involves dissolving regenerated cellulose in a sodium hydroxide solution containing carbon disulphide. Compared with cotton, which is also a cellulose based material, viscose has a softer fall and a smoother, more uniform surface. However, viscose is less durable and does not wash as well as cotton. Viscose stretches when wet and has a low wet strength.

Lyocell

A cellulose fibre obtained by an organic solvent spinning process. The fibre is solvent spun and almost all dissolving agents are recycled, which causes almost no environmental problems. Exceptional strength in both wet and dry state. (Stronger than cotton).

Disadvantage is the higher price compared to viscose.Synthetics

The three main groups of synthetic fibres used in our upholstery fabrics are polyamides (nylon), acrylics and polyesters. The basic raw materials for their manufacture are coal, petroleum, limestone, salt, water, and air.

Synthetics are extremely strong, good abrasion, do not shrink, wash well, dry quickly, resist creasing, and have good stretchability. They are only slightly absorbant and have poor insulation properties. Drawbacks include a propensity to attract dust and dirt due to static electricity.

From fibre to yarn

Spinning

There are two principle types of yarn – staple yarn and filament yarn.

A staple yarn is composed of short fibres, either natural or synthetic. In producing this yarn the material is first broken up and then carded. The purpose of carding is to orientate the fibres in the same direction.

After carding, the fibre, now in string form, goes for spinning to produce a coherent yarn. Yarn such as this is called single yarn. With a looses twist, a soft, airy, elastic yarn is obtained. With a tighter twist the yarn is more compact and stronger. If the material is combed after carding, the fibres will be further arranged in parallel and short fibres are removed.

Spun Yarn. Yarn made from staple fibres spun.

Twisting

Single yarns can be twisted together to produce a yarn that is both stronger and more uniform than its constituent yarns. The twist is normally made in the opposite direction to the twist in the single yarns.

Twisting is also used to obtain special effect yarns. If during twisting the single yarns are fed at different speeds, a yarn with an uneven finish can be obtained, for example: burrs, eyes, loops, or knots. Twisting can also be used to obtain special colour effects; for example, by twisting diffe-rent coloured single yarns, or by twisting yarns made of different fibres, which when dyed, take up the colour in different ways.

Twisted yarn. Y arn made of two or more single yarns

twisted together.

Long continuous ”filament fibres”, in which case the yarn is known as multifilament or mono-filament yarn. Multifilament means that the yarn is made up of several fibres and monofilament that it consists of only one fibre.

Yarn number of count

For historical reason, a wide variety of systems have been developed for describing thickness of yarn. Even though we today have the international standard which states the Tex-number, the old systems are still used.

Nm / Metric numbers: states the number of meters of yarn in 1 gram of the yarn.

Ne / English cotton yarn number: states how many 840 yard lengths there are in one pound.

For Nm and Ne system the higher the number, the finer the yarn is.

Tex: states the weight in grams of 1000 m of yarn.

Den / Denier: states the weight in grams of 9000 m of the yarn. Mainly used for filament yarns. For Tex and Den the higher the number, the thicker the yarn is.From Yarn to fabric

Preparation for weaving

Schematic presentation of the weaving process:

When a loom is set up, the warp is

threaded through heddles on two or

more shafts. This makes it possible to

control which warp threads are to be

raised or lowered each time the warp

is parted.

Weaving

Weaving is an ingenious marriage of two thread systems – one running lengthways (the warp) and the other running crossways (the weft).

The warp threads move, some upwards, others downwards (depending on how the shafts has been designed), according to a predetermined system depending on the type weave required.

The shed is therefore the opening formed between the warp threads where the pick is inserted using a hook, (rapier), shuttle, or compressed air.

Principles of weaving

Shaft weaving

Here, the warp is separated, with some of the warp threads being raised while others are lowered, using a shaft so that a shed is formed through which the weft (pick) is inserted (an operation known as picking). A new shed is then formed by lowering one warp sheet and raising the other which clasps the weft between two layers of warp. By varying the number of wefts in each repeat it is possible to obtain fabrics with very different bindings. That means that it is possible toproduce fabrics with different appearances, compactness, durability, elasticity, etc. The range of possible variations is further increased when different thickness yarns made from various materials and in different colours are used.

Jacquard

Jacquard looms are capable of weaving

complicated patterns. These are pro-

grammed onto special master patterns

which are then transferred to perforated

pattern cards. These, in their turn,

control the raising and lowering of the

heddles.

Basic weaves

Plain weave

Plain weave is where the weft yarn is shot over and under alternate warps within the width of the web.

Twill weave

Twill weave is distinguished by diagonal lines. This effect is created by the weft crossing over two warp yarns, then under one, the sequence being repeated in each succeeding shot, but stepped over either to the left or right.

Satin weave

A weave where each thread is bound by only one weft in the repeat. The binding points are spaced so that they are as far as possible from each other and are never adjacent. The result is a warp faced weave which gives a lustrous, soft fabric.

V ariations of the basic weaves can be made into new bindings.

Non-Woven

The expression ”non-woven” is sometimes used. This refers to textiles which are not woven but consist instead of fibres glued together.

Non-woven textiles are used as a substitute for fabric on concealed furniture surfaces.

Warp Weft

Warp Weft

Warp Weft

Pre-treatment

Desizing

Before weaving, the warp threads are coated with a size (a dressing) to enable them to withstand the mechanical stresses involved in the weaving process.The first stage in the preparation is to remove the size.

With starch based sizes, an enzyme solution is used to break down the size into water soluble sugars.

Desizing is normally carried out in a singeing* machine, where, at the same time as desizing is done, the fabric is passed quickly through a gas flame. This singes any projecting fibres, which would otherwise interfere with dyeing or printing by causing, respectively, greying or fuzzy outlines.

Scouring

Natural fibres contain impurities in the form of oils, fats and waxes. These are removed by scouring (alkaline treatment with a sodium hydroxide solution + detergent). The cotton seed is softened or burst for removal during bleaching.

As with all chemical processes used in the preparation of cotton, the relationship between temperature, length of treatment and concentration of chemicals is important. The longer the treatment time, the smaller the quantity of chemicals needed to achieve the same result.Scouring can be carried out on a range of machines, depending on batch size, and fabric type. In modern processing it is common to have desizing as part of a continuous cloth preparation pro-cess.

Bleaching

The impurities, which remains after desizing and scouring, are natural dyes and seed coat frag-ments. These are dealt with using various bleaching agents. Cellulose fibre and blended polyester fabrics are normally bleached using hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite. Sodium chlorite is also sometimes used and, of the three, is the only one which also improves the whiteness of polyester.

The use of chlorine based bleaching agents can lead to the formation of toxic organochloride compounds known as dioxins and therefore hydrogen peroxide is recommended as the most environmentally friendly bleaching agent

* singeing : preparatory finishing process where unwanted fibres protruding from the surface of the cloth are removed by passing the fabric very quickly over either an open flame or very hot metal plates.

Pre-treatment of synthetic fibres

Mixed polyester-cotton articles are pre-treated in the same way as for pure cotton fabrics.100% synthetic articles contain spinning oils, warp size and other impurities. These are removed by washing. Scouring is not required and bleaching is usually also unnecessary since the

whiteness is usually sufficient for dyeing and printing. Optical brighteners are common for white fabrics or printed fabrics with white surfaces.

To guarantee smootheness, articles are placed in a stenter-frame and undergo heat fixation.

Continuous cloth preparation

Modern cloth preparation can be made by a continuous process to include singeing, desizing,bleaching, washing and drying (or desize to drying). This is especially suitable for large batch quantities of similar fabric, although it looses flexibility if different fabric types are to be proces-sed. Capital outlay is large.

Mercerizing

The process normally involves treating the yarn or woven article with a cold, concentrated sodium hydroxide solution under tension.Mercerizing has several effects:•

The cross section of the fibres changes from kidney shaped to circular. This is because the fibres swell markedly when treated with a concentrated sodium hydroxide solution. This helps to make dead cotton more receptive to dyes.•Straightens out the fibres.•Makes the fibres more lustrous.•Increases fibre strength.

•Better penetration of dyes and finishing molecules into the fibres.

•

Improves dimensional stability. Even after further treatment, such as dyeing and finishing,mercerized fibres try to regain their shape after washing.

In addition to articles of pure cotton, polyester / cotton blends are also mercerized.

Non-mercerized fibre

Mercerized fibre

When choosing a dye to obtain a particular shade, a number of factors must be taken into concideration:

1.Type of fibre

2.Shade required

3.Intended use for finished product-colour fastness

4.Supplier’s dyeing process and equipment

5.Finishing required

6.Cost

Reactive dyes

Reactive dyestuff forms a chemical bond with the cellulose of the cotton fibre. The reactive dyes are water soluble and the above reaction takes place in the presence of an alkalie.

A number of developed reactive dyes are used in a number of different ways. The colour fastness of reactive dyes is good to washing and lightfastness.

Vat dyes

The best known vat dyes are the Indanthrene dyes. These have very good colour fastness to washing and also usually to light.

Disperse dye

These dyes were developed for dyeing acetate fibres, but are also used for dyeing other synthetic fibres, specially polyester, but also acrylic, modacrylic and nylon.

Acid dyes and metal complex dye

Acid dyes and metal complex dyes are used for dyeing wool and polyamide fibres. Acid give bright colours but there is a considerable variation between colour fastness to rubbing in the different colours. Metal complex gives improved colour fastness to both washing and light.

Fibre blends

For blends (mix of fibres) like cotton / polyester, there is used both disperse and reactive to reach the best result.A textile material can be dyed at different stages. Either in fibre form, as a yarn or as woven or knitted fabric.

Yarn dyeing

The yarn is wound on perforated plastic shells which are threaded onto a ”spear”. These are placed on a circular rack which is then submerged in the dyeing cylinder. The dye is pumped through the yarn until it is evenly dyed throughout. A similar procedure is used for bleaching yarn.

Piece dyeing

Piece dyeing for woven or knitted fabric is either done by continuous, half continuous or by jig dyeing.

Continuous dyeing

When dyeing large quantities of fabric (for example 3000 metres or more) where the fabric must be divided up into several batches, difficulties can arise in obtaining precisely the same shade of colour for all the batches.

Here, continuous dyeing offers significant advantages. The process involves the use of a series of dyeing machines in combination. The pre-treated fabric is fed into the machine at one end where it is impregnated with dye liquor. It then passes through the fixing chamber after which it is washed and dried. The fabric holders at both the feed-in and feed-out are changed while the machine is running. A production of 3 – 4 km per hour is standard, but higher speeds are possible.

An important part of a continuous dyeing

machine is the ”foulard” or ”padding mangle”.

This consists of an impregnation trough, followed

by a mangle.

This type of machine is also used for several

other applications associated with preparation of

textiles, for example: in front of a stenter-frame

for finishing, in various pre-treatment machines

and so on.

Pad batch cold

The fabric is passed through a dye batch and rolled up on a beam. The reaction takes place over a period of normally 6 – 24 hours while the beam is rotating.After reaction, fabric is washed and dried.

Jig dyeing

The Jig is one of the oldest machines for dyeing woven fabrics, which must not become creased during dyeing, for example satin or poplin.

The machine consists of a dye trough and two large, powered rollers. The fabric is passed from one roller to the other. Each complete transfer of the fabric from one roller to the other is known as a ”passage”.

Shade variation from side to side and end to end can be a problem.

As far as production capacity is concerned, the Jig is a very flexible machine and the same Jig can be used for dyeing from a few hundred metres up to around 1500 metres, depending on the weight and construction of the fabric. Considering big quantities to dye, the shade variation between the rather ”small dye lot” can be a problem.

take-up rolls

fabric

guide rolls

dye

dye vat

Printing techniques

The most common printing techniques for textile goods are flat-film printing and rotary printing. Flat-printing

In flat-printing, the design is applied through a screen made of finemeshed polyester stretched tightly over a frame. The length of the pattern can be chosen as desired within the constraints of the frame. This gives flat-printing a distinct advantage over rotary printing in that it allows greater freedom in the choice of repeat lengths (the length of the pattern before it must be repeated).

On the negative side, this means that the print must be done in stages, ie. the screen must be moved repeatwise along the fabric. The pattern must therefore be designed so that the repeat breaks are not visible.

Rotary printing

There are no such drawbacks with rotary printing; the cylinder rotates synchronously with the fabric so the repeat breaks require less consideration. There is, however, one drawback with rotary printing, in that the length of the repeat is restricted to the circumference of the pattern cylinder, most common 8/ cm.

Another difference between flat-film and rotary printing is, that in the latter the doctor blade is located on the inside of the pattern cylinder. During printing, the cylinder rotates in pace with the fabric. The technique is otherwise the same as for flat-film printing, ie. the dye passes through the pattern onto the fabric.

Flat-Film Printing Rotary printing

Screen printing

With both printing methods a separate screen must be used for each colour that goes to make up the pattern. As already indicated, the pattern used in flat printing is flat, while that used for rotary printing is cylindrical.

The Stenter

The stenter is often the final machine a fabric passes through before it goes on to inspection and makeing-up.

The stenter is basically a large heated chamber through which the fabric passes under controlled tension. It can perform the following tasks:

•Stretch cloth to achieve its final width (if overstretched widthwise shrinkage problems may arise).

•Adjust the final weight of the fabric by the way the fabric can be fed into the machine.•Determine the residual moisture content of the fabric.

•Straighten warp and weft.

•Heat-set synthetic fabrics.

•Dry / cure some chemical finishes.

The stenter chamber is heated usually by gas or electricity. The fabric is held on ”chains”, either by pins or clips on its passage through the chamber. Pins always leave holes down the selvedges whereas clips leave no marks. Modern stenters are equipped with both clips and pins. Overfeeding on the stenter is a method to improve the lengthwise shrinkage properties of a fabric. This is done by feeding the fabric on to the stenter chains at a greater rate than the chain speed.

Finishing

Treatment after dyeing or printing

Shrinkage and mechanical shrinkage control finishes

During manufacture, fabric is subjected to various stresses, in particular stretching in the

direction of the warp, which results in stresses being locked into the fabric. These are released by the action of water.

The aim in textile preparation is to treat the textile fabric so that the finished product shrinks as little as possible when washed at the recommended temperature; in other words, the aim is to achieve dimensional stability.

For cotton fabrics and cotton synthetic blends, the so called rubber belt method is nowadays the most widely used shrinkage control method.

Setting synthetic fabrics

Fabrics made of synthetic fibres (or blended fabrics with a high synthetic content) are made shrink resistant by heat setting them. The fabric is subjected to high temperature (varies

depending on type of synthetic fibre) for a few seconds and then quickly cooled. The process is often carried out in a stenter.

Chemical shrinkage control

Since shrinkage in a textile fabric is connected with fibre swelling, a chemical treatment that contributes to a reduction in swelling when the fabric is laundered can improve the fabric’s dimensional stability.

This method demands though that you use chemicals with a low content of formaldehyde.(controls formaldehyde).

Before shrinkage

Weft

Warp

After shrinkage

Softening

The purpose of pre-treatment of cotton fabrics is, among other things, to remove fat and grease from the fibre. This makes the fibre rougher and harder which is part of the reason why it creases more. These natural softeners must therefore later be replaced.

The advantages that result from adding softeners are:

•formation of creases during production is avoided

•napping, polishing, calendering and shrinkage can be done. All these processes require the presence of lubricants

•softer fabric

•improved tear resistance

•improved crease resistance

•making-up (cutting and sewing) is easier if lubricants are present

Their effect is primarily to reduce friction between the fibres.

Resin finish A type of chemical fixing done mainly to obtain improved resistance to

creasing and shrinkage.

Stain repellent Cotton clean etc. Oil and water repellent finish.

Anti slip Involves spraying the back of the fabric with a synthetic agent which treatment partly seeps into the fabric which lessens the risk for fraying and seam

slippage. Loose weaves become stiffer.

Chemical finishes – physical treatment

Napping Involves passing the fabric over revolving cylinders covered with fine

wires to lift the short loose fibres, usually from the weft yarns, to the

surface, forming a nap, eg. loden.

Shearing Rotating knives, which resemble the cutting blades in a lawn mower, are

used either to completely remove fibres protruding from the surface of

the fabric or to cut them to fixed length.

Sueding or The fabric is passed over rolls covered with emery cloth. This has a sanding grinding effect, rendering the surface velvet like.

Calendering Application of heat and pressure to a fabric by passing it between heated

rollers to impart a flat, glossy, often smooth surface. Not for woollen

goods.Decating Wet decating: involves steaming the fabric under tension to give it a

subtile lustre. A type of fixing but with a stronger effect.

Dry decating: involves the application of heat and pressure to give the

article a more developed lustre and softer feel, and to reduce shrinkage. Milling Also called felting, is a process that increases the thickness and

compactness of the material by subjecting it to moisture, heat

friction, and pressure.

Flame resistant finishing

This is achieved by the application of a chemical finish to the back of the cloth, or by immersing the cloth in a chemical preparation, that causes burning to stop as soon as the source of heat is removed. Fire-resistant finishes cause fabrics to resist the spread of flame.

Brominated compounds are not allowed by IKEA, while phosphorus / nitrogene based are allowed such as Pyrovatex and Proban.

In recent years, research into textiles and fire safety has increased considerably due to more stringent fire safety regulations in a number of countries.

The following descriptions are often used when describing the flammability of a fabric:

Easily ignited:Difficult to ignite:

has a short ignition time, burns with a does not burn or burns with a weak flame or relatively high speed.by glowing after the source of heat is removed. The most easily ignitable textile fibres are polyacrylic and cellulose fibres. Wool is relatively difficult to ignite.

Fabrics and fire

The flammability of a fabric depends not only on the properties of its constituent fibres, but on other properties as well.

Fabric weight:Fabric structure:

Heavy fabrics are more difficult to ignite Loosely woven fabrics, which allow air to

than light fabrics. However, when a heavy circulate freely through them, ignite more fabric does ignite, it burns to generate more easily than denser weaves. The flames conse-heat and so the extent of the damage caused quently spread more quickly in loosely woven

is greater.fabrics.

Fabric surface:Fabric finish:

Raised surfaces are more easily ignited than Different types of dye, binding agent, finishing smooth surface, especially those made of agent, can increase or reduce flammability. cotton and viscose.Synthetic fibres are more difficult to treat without using brominated compounds.

A method of achieving a flame resistant effect (in synthetic fibres) consists of building in the flame resistant substance during production of the fibre. An example of this is flame resistant polyester: Trevira CS or Canecaron.

Instead of treating the fabric, a flame resistant interliner can be used on the sofa though interliner is not allowed due to British law when synthetic fabrics are used as cover.

The fabric must contain minimum 75% natural fibre to be used with interliner.

Possible impairment of the flame retardant finishing that has to be controlled or taken into con-sideration:

•Shade change

•Impairment of lightfastness

•Loss in tear and tensile strength and rub fastness

•Yellowing

•Stiff handle

•Strong smell of ”fish”

A flame retarding agent must also fulfil following requirements:

•Easy to apply

•Non-toxic

•Non-allergenic or carcinogenic

•Controlled formaldehyde

•Withstand laundering

•Weather resistant

•Inexpensive

•Environmentally safe (both the application process and products of decompostition)

The environmental aspects of the use of flame resistant agents must also be considered. The group organic phospho-compounds, are in a form which is not easily broken down in water treatment systems. In the second group, the main problem lies in the formation of toxic gases (similar to dioxins) which occurs when waste from textiles that have been treated with these chemicals is burned in an uncontrolled way. Brominated flame resistant agents are widely used to treat plastic parts in modern electrical equipment, such as televisions, computer terminals, etc.Formaldehyde

Formaldhyde is a toxic gas which is present in small amounts in the environment. Too high a percentage can cause allergic reactions. Some manufacturing processes can result in an increased percentage of formaldehyde. Upholstery fabrics is 300 ppm.

IKEA’s limit value for products which come into close contact with the skin is 100 ppm, such as bedlinen. The children textile limit is 30 ppm which, in principle, is a zero limit as formaldehyde found in the environment naturally can fasten in textiles.

NOTE: ppm stands for parts per million. Measuring is carried out in accordance with Japanese law, which will become the international standard.

The textile industry uses artificial resins primarily for crease free finishing of fabrics, in particular cotton and viscose fabrics (”wash and wear”, ”easy care”, etc.). In addition to less creasing after laundering, there are also other advantages such as less shrinkage from laundering, better comfort properties, less dry creasing, less pilling or flame resistance finishing.

Major advances have been made in the development of artificial resins with a lower formalde-hyde content to the present stage where there are now low formaldhyde and formaldehyde-free reactive resins.

Test methods according to quality require-ments IOS-PRF-0025

Abrasion resistance Mechanical damage caused by friction etc. Abrasion leads to ISO 12947-2changes in surface appearance through fibre breaks, colour

changes, etc. Assessed using the Martindale apparatus. The

sample is rubbed (with a specified force) against a standard

wool fabric.

Colour fastness The dye’s ability to withstand colour changes brought about

by the effects of, for example, daylight, washing, etc

Colour fastness Ability to resist colour changes caused by exposure to light.

to light

ISO 105-B02 A sample is exposed to intense light radiation from a lamp.

Colour changes are measured by comparing with standard

colours on a ”blue scale” of 8 different dyes. Colour fastness

is determined on a scale of 1–8, with 8 being the best.

Colour fastness This gives an indication of the extent to which a material

to rubbing discolours when rubbed against another fabric. Dry and wet ISO 105-X12pieces of white cotton fabric are rubbed against the sample ISO 105-D02and any uptake of colour by the cotton assessed. (The wet

SS 18 2410 (Shampoo)cotton fabric must be dried before being assessed).

Colour fastness The dye’s ability to resist colour changes brought about by

to washing washing.

(water and dry cleaning)

ISO 105-C06 A small piece of white fabric, a so-called multistrip (strips of

cotton, polyester, etc.) is sewn to the test sample and washed

according to the washing instructions. When the sample has

dried, the multistrip is checked to see if any of the fabrics has

become discoloured.

Colour fastness to washing is assessed on a scale of 1–5, where

5 is best and means that the sample piece has not bled.

The washed sample is compared with an unwashed sample to

determine if the colour has changed. Here, a scale of 1–5 is

also used, 5 being the best which means that the colour has not

changed.

Elasticity The ability of a material to return to its original shape once

distorting forces cease to exert an effect.

Pilling Formation of fixed fibre knots when a material is subjected to EN ISO 12945-2gentle rubbing.

Resistance to staining The ability of the dye to resist colour changes caused by water.

by water A quantity of water is applied to the sample which is then allowed SS 251250to dry. The change in colour (if any) is then assessed.

Slippage Seams in, for example, furniture fabrics can be subjected to

TEFO Method considerable stress in normal use. The yards in some fabrics slip No. 55-82apart easily at the seams (slippage) giving rise to a visible defect.

The apparatus used for testing for slippage is best described as a

hinge with long, sharp nails on one half, and corresponding holes

on the other. When the two halves are closed, the nails hold the

fabric fast. The other end of the fabric is fixed in a clamp. After

tensing, the amount of slippage is measured.

Stain resistance Ability to resist visible staining. The term stain resistance

includes both the ability to resist staining as well as the ability to

camouflage stains.

Stretchability How much a material stretches when subjected to some form of

loading.

Tear strength Tear strength is the force required to extend a tear already present SS 251231in the fabric. Tear strength bears no relation to the force required

to make the initial tear.

Tensile strength The tensile strength at the point at which breakage occurs is

EN ISO 13934-1usually called the breaking strenght and is the strength required

to pull in two a strip of the fabric. The most common method for

testing tensile strength is the strip method, in which the force

required to pull in half 5 cm wide fringed strips of fabric is

measured.

Washing shrinkage The way in which the sample’s measurements are changed as a (water and dry cleaning)result of washing (eg. shrinkage). To determine dimension

ISO 6330changes for a fabric, the sample is measured, washed, and then

ISO 3759measured again. The difference between the two sets of measure-

ments is a measure of the change in dimenstions. Formaldehyde Formaldehyde is a toxic gas which is present in small amounts in ISO 14184-1the environment. Too high a percentage can cause allergic reactions. (Japanese Law 112 1973)Some manufacturing processes can result in an increased percentage

of formaldehyde.

IKEA’s limit value for products which come into close contact with

the skin is 100 ppm. For the Natural Cotton collection and baby

textiles, the limit is 30 ppm which, in principle, is a zero limit as

formaldehyde found in the environment naturally can fasten in

textiles.Fabric guide

On IKEA Inside you will find the fabric guide. Address where to find it is:

IKEA Inside/IKEA Pipeline/Range/BA01/Range Information/Guides/Fabric guide.