Unravelling textile testing - Colourfastness
Unravelling textile testing - Colourfastness
Colourfastness is one of four key topics (others include Abrasion Resistance, Pilling, Seam Slippage) that we are covering to provide some background as to how we test and why.
Test results provide us with critical information about textile’s durability and suitability for certain applications. We externally test all James Dunlop and Mokum textiles in Melbourne at a highly reputable laboratory who are amongst the most conservative and stringent in the world, due to the extremely harsh environmental conditions we face here in Australia and New Zealand.
We have gathered a number of frequently asked questions relating to colourfastness so we asked our Mokum studio designers Stephanie Moffitt and Annie Moir to share their expert knowledge.
One of the most important textile tests is that of colourfastness.
Simply put, a colourfastness test measures how well a textile will resist or withstand fading. Fading typically means a change in colour which may be a change in hue, depth or brightness of colour. We perform a range of different colourfastness tests when developing a new textile, we test its resistance to fading against UV light, as well as washing / dry cleaning and also rubbing.
Can you briefly outline the colourfastness to washing/ laundering test?
Colourfastness to washing and/or dry cleaning measures a fabrics ability to withstand fading or colour loss from laundering. The test replicates specific cleaning methods then measures any colour loss against a set of five grey scales, creating a result (1 being least colourfast and 5 being most colourfast). In this instance, a result of 4-5 is the result we strive for.
One question pops up a lot, if a product is machine washable can it be spot cleaned?
We would always approach spot cleaning with water or a cleaning product with caution. Most of our washable textiles are rating as delicate or gentle washing which means a delicate setting and we would prefer a delicate washing liquid. Whereas spot clean tends to be more localised and more aggressive. If spot clean is needed always first try a dry white clean cloth, to reduce any colour loss as this often can remove a stain.
Can you briefly outline the colourfastness to rubbing test?
Colourfastness to rubbing, or commonly known as ‘crocking’ measures fabric resistance to colour loss when subjected to rubbing or friction from another fabric. This is particularly relevant for upholstery textiles – you can imagine wearing white pants and sitting on a dark coloured sofa, you’d want to be confident that when you stand up your pants haven’t changed colour.
With this test, a white cloth is used as a standard abradant, and rubbed against the test fabric in both in both dry and wet conditions, with wet being more severe. Any colour transfer onto the white cloth, and colour loss from the test fabric is analysed and measured against a set of 5 grey scales (1 being least colourfast and 5 being most colourfast). The result we receive from the lab helps us to determine the recommended usage for the upholstery fabric.
National average asking price virtually unchanged for over a year
Since January 2023, the national average asking price has remained stable. At $868,877, it is down a marginal 0.6% on April last year. The national average asking price has remained below $900,000 since December 2022, a significant decrease from the market peak in January 2022 when it exceeded $1 million.
“As we move into the winter months, we typically see a cooling market, and in 2024, this is combined with a softening economy. It will be interesting to see how these factors play out for the property market in the coming months,” says Sarah Wood, CEO of realestate.co.nz
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ANZAC DAY
Half a world away from dawn services in Australia & New Zealand, a small group of dignitaries will meet in Malta this Anzac Day among the neat rows of headstones at sun-baked Pieta Military Cemetery just outside Valletta – as they have since 1916 – to commemorate a moving but largely forgotten chapter of Gallipoli lore.
It is the story of how a tiny, ancient, impoverished and battle-scarred nation in the centre of the Mediterranean opened its arms and hearts to care for thousands of wounded, traumatised and sick young Anzacs, many of them still teenagers, who arrived aboard a flotilla of blood-soaked hospital ships from the battlefields of Gallipoli.
While most of the 57,950 soldiers evacuated to Malta recovered and eventually left, some 202 Australians and 72 New Zealanders did not, and are in war cemeteries across the archipelago.
Apart from their graves hewn from the parched, rocky Maltese earth, there is little other physical evidence the Anzacs were ever in Malta, despite the enormity of their presence over a century ago.
The voyage across the Eastern Mediterranean in these makeshift hospital ships from the Gallipoli Peninsula to Malta was not an easy one. It took the steam ships up to eight days to cover the 1163-kilometre journey.
At the beginning of April 1915, there were 824 military hospital beds in Malta. At the end of May 1915, there were more than 6000 in 14 hospitals spread all over the island. At its peak there were 25,522 beds in 28 hospitals, with the highest number of patients on any one day a staggering 16,004.
We will remember them 🥀 🌺
(article written by Andrew Hornery a senior journalist and former Private Sydney columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald).
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