What is Textile Testing?
Textile testing is an important part of the textile industry, as it ensures the quality, performance, and safety of textile products. Besides, textile testing is used to analyze the characteristics of materials during the development of products. Textile testing is the procedure for establishing and verifying the characteristics of textile materials by applying technical knowledge and standard methods. Any product that is going to be mass produced or sold on a large scale or sold in bulk must be tested to ensure its quality and performance. The quality, performance and reliability of any material needs to be assessed before its final use and textile materials have special requirements for testing at every stage. Textile testing is discussed in connection to production processes and as a part of the quality control system within a company.
Importance of Textile Testing
Textile testing is important not only from the perspective of research and product development but also from the perspective of agreements and that the product meets the requirements made of it. Textile testing can be performed not only according to standards but also according to any reliable and reported practice.
Before going through testing and evaluation, one must know the significance of textile testing. Testing is a very important aspect of textile materials and it tells the nature and whole story about a product. Testing of a material is done at every stage from raw material to finished product. But why is it necessary? This can be explained by the following points:
1. Quality assessment of raw material:
For successful development of any textile structure, a suitable raw material is needed. Raw material is the most influencing component that decides the final product specification and performance. It is therefore necessary to check the quality and suitability of raw material for final product development. For example, if a manufacturer wants to develop a cotton yarn of a particular strength, then it needs suitable fiber of specific length, diameter, strength and other characteristics of cotton fiber. Similarly, different types of yarns are available, and it is necessary to know the characteristics of the yarn to have the best quality of fabric. To check these properties, we need to perform tests on the raw material and, based on the test results, we decide whether the material is suitable for the final product or not.
2. Production monitoring or process control:
The production of a textile material, like yarn or fabric, consists of a series of processes. To achieve the target properties in the end- product it is necessary to check the intermediate products as well. Testing of the intermediate products gives us an idea as to whether the process is going in the right direction or not. If not, modifications are made to the process parameters. For example, if it is necessary to develop a cotton yarn of specific quality, it is necessary to maintain its required specifications throughout the manufacturing process. In the present situation the cotton fiber is the raw material. From the cotton fiber, a continuous strand is formed, called sliver. Sliver is converted into an even finer strand, called roving. This roving is directly converted into yarn. So here, there are two intermediate products in the formation of this cotton yarn. To achieve a particular yarn and maintain the entire production process under control, the testing of intermediate products is essential. Without having adequate knowledge of the quality of sliver or roving, it is not possible to produce the targeted quality of yarn.
3. Process development:
The textile production processes needs some specific parameters and machine settings for any targeted product. For every specific quality of the material, different process parameters are needed, and it is mandatory to maintain these parameters. For example, if it has been observed that the fiber breakage is taking place in the blow room, namely, shortening of the fiber length directly affects the yarn quality. To ascertain the extent of fiber damage it is necessary to test the length of fiber before and after the blow room process and subsequently the speeds and settings can be adjusted to reduce fiber breakages. Similarly, if a certain level of twist is needed in the yarn, it is necessary to test the twist in the yarn at certain regular intervals. Without checking for the twist, it cannot be regulated. So, for any process development it is required to test the intermediate as well as the final products to assess whether the machine is manufacturing the desired quality of the product or not.
4. Assessment of the final product:
After production of the final product, it is tested every time to check whether the product is acceptable for end use or not. Any final product of a process may be the raw material of the subsequent process. For example, if a yarn is supposed to be woven into a fabric, it must possess the required quality so that it does not break frequently in the warping or weaving process. Similarly, it can be a fabric or a garment that is going to be used in a particular application and for that it needs to be tested to make sure that its working performance is satisfactory.
5. Investigation of faulty materials:
Faults are generated due to flaws in the production process which limit its usability. Suppose a ring frame is generating faults, such as thicker and thinner places. The size, shape and length of the fault gives an idea about the faulty location. Without testing the evenness of the yarn, faulty locations cannot be identified. So, ‘root cause analysis’ is done by testing the evenness of yarn. It can be defined as the analysis of the faulty material to determine the root cause of the fault and to rectify it.
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Analysis of customer complaints is also an important aspect of any business. A business only survives with happy customers. Suppose a particular customer has complained about the non-uniformity of the yarn, namely, thicker and thinner places or poor strength of the yarn. To identify the source of the faults and rectify them the material needs to be tested. If the source of the fault or the faulty machine cannot be identified, then the assembly line will keep on generating faulty material, so that the industry cannot survive. So, the identification of the faulty machine or component is another important aspect for the healthy survival of an industry.
6. Product development and research:
Testing is a major part of any research and development. It is done to check the success or failure of any research target by assessing the characteristics of the developed material. So, researchers must understand the importance of the testing of the developed material. Suppose a researcher wants to develop a new material, then he must test the material to check whether the developed material meets the targeted specifications or not. Similarly, if a spinning mill is trying to sell the yarn to a particular customer with some specifications, like uniformity, strength, hairiness, and the like, then the mill has to match all these parameters before dispatching it. The matching of the parameters is possible only by testing.
Conclusion
Textile testing plays a vital role in ensuring quality, compliance with regulations, and customer satisfaction. It supports both manufacturers and consumers by guaranteeing safe and reliable textile products. It not only helps manufacturers deliver consistent and high-quality products but also supports innovation, cost-efficiency, and sustainability.
References
[1] Das, A. (2024). Testing of textile and fibrous materials. CRC Press.
[2] Textile and Clothing Design Technology. (2017). In CRC Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315156163
[3] Ahmad, S., Rasheed, A., Afzal, A., & Ahmad, F. (2017). Advanced textile testing techniques.
[4] Dolez, P., Vermeersch, O., & Izquierdo, V. (2017). Advanced characterization and testing of textiles. Woodhead Publishing.
Editor of Fashion2Apparel. She is a fashion designer and ex-lecturer in Fashion Designing. She wants to spread fashion knowledge throughout the world.
