Brief outline of Testing of few important Fastness Properties

Test	Brief description	Assessment
A.    Fastness to Washing Assessment of  the resistance of textiles to detergents
ISO 105 CO6 / C2	Equipment: Wash fastness tester Specimen: 10 cm ´ 4 cm sample sandwiched by same size of cotton & wool. Multifibre fabric can also be used as adjacent fabric. 4 gpl ECE / AATCC WOB detergent, 1 gpl sodium Perborate; 25 steel balls; 30 mins.; 60oC; pH 10.5±0.1 Liquor volume 50 ml. Rinse & Air dry at temperature not exceeding 60oC.	Change in colour of the specimen & staining of adjacent fabric are assessed with Grey scales.
M & S C4 A	Equipment: Wash fastness tester Specimen: 10 cm ´ 4 cm sample sandwiched between Multifibre fabric. 4 gpl ECE detergent, 1 gpl sodium Perborate Tetrahydrate; 30 mins.; 60±2oC; L.R. 50:1 Rinse & Air dry at temperature not exceeding 60oC.	Change in colour of the specimen & staining of adjacent fabric are assessed with Grey scales.
B.    Fastness to Perspiration (Acidic & Alkaline) Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to the action of human perspiration
ISO 105 EO4	Equipment: Perspirometer Acidic Perspiration: 0.5 gpl l-histidine monohydrochloride monohydrate, 5 gpl Sodium Chloride, 2.2 gpl Sodium dihydrogen orthophosphate dihydrate. The pH of the solution is adjusted to 5.5 with 0.1 mol / l Sodium Hydroxide solution. Alkaline Perspiration: 0.5 gpl l-histidine monohydrochloride monohydrate, 5 gpl Sodium Chloride, 5 gpl Disodium hydrogen orthophosphate dodecahydrate or, 2.5 gpl Disodium hydrogen orthophosphate dihydrate. The pH of the solution is adjusted to 8.0 with 0.1 mol / l Sodium Hydroxide solution. Lay out the composite specimen Lay out the composite specimen smooth (10 cm´4 cm dyed sample sandwiched by Multifibre) in a flat bottomed dish & cover with the solution. Thoroughly wet in solution at LR 50:1 & allow it to remain in the solution at room temperature for 30 minutes. Press & move it from time to time for uniform penetration of the liquor. Pour off the solution & wipe the excess liquor off the specimen between 2 glass rods & then place the composite specimen between 2 glass or acrylic resin plates under a pressure of 12.5 kPa. Place the devices in the oven for 4 hours at 37± 2oC. Open out each composite specimen & dry in air at temperature not exceeding 60oC.	Change in colour of the specimen & staining of adjacent fabric are assessed with Grey scales.

C.    Fastness to Bleaching Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to the action of bleaching baths containing Sodium hypochlorite / Hydrogen peroxide in concentrations normally used in commercial bleaching
ISO 105 NO1 (Sodium Hypochlorite)	Equipment: Glass bottle Specimen: 10 cm´4 cm sample Sodium hypochlorite solution (2 gpl available chlorine buffered at pH 11±0.2 with 10 gms of anhydrous sodium carbonate per litre) ; 60 mins.; 20± 2oC; LR 50:1. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight. Rinse thoroughly in cold running tap water, stir it for 10 mins. In a solution containing 2.5 ml/l 30% (m/m) hydrogen peroxide or a solution containing 5 gpl sodium bisulphite. Rinse, open out and air dry at a temperature below 60oC.	Change in colour of the specimen is assessed with Grey scale.
ISO 105 NO2 (Hydrogen Peroxide)	Equipment: Reflux condenser Specimen: 10 cm´4 cm sample sandwiched between same size of cotton & viscose. Reflux the composite specimen in 30% Hydrogen Peroxide (5 ml/l) + Sodium Silicate (5 ml / l) + Magnesium chloride (0.1 gpl) at pH 10.5; 90oC; 60 mins; LR 30:1. Rinse, open and air dry at a temperature below 60oC.	Change in colour of the specimen & staining of adjacent fabric are assessed with Grey scales.
D.    Fastness to Mercerisation Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to the action of concentrated solutions of Sodium hydroxide used in mercerising
ISO 105 XO4	Equipment: Frame for holding specimen Specimen: 10 cm´10 cm sample stitched with same size of cotton sample Immerse the composite specimen (with coloured material uppermost) in NaOH (300 gpl) at 20± 2oC for 5 mins. Rinse the composite specimen in the frame by pouring on it 1 lire of water at 70± 2oC over a period of 1 minute and then rinse in cold running tap water for 5 minutes. Remove the specimen from frame & neutralise in Acetic acid (10 ml / l) for 5 mins. at LR 50:1. Rinse, open and air dry at a temperature below 60oC.	Change in colour (hue / brightness) is assessed with Grey scale without consideration of the increase in depth & such assessment should be marked with an asterisk (*). Staining on adjacent fabric is assessed using Grey scale.
E.    Fastness to Light Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to the action of an artificial light source representative of natural daylight (D65).
AATCC 16 E	Equipment: Water cooled machine / Xenon arc lamp Exposure conditions: Black panel temp.- 63± 1oC, Dry bulb temp.- 43± 2oC, Relative Humidity-30± 5% AATCC Fading Unit (AFU) – Specific amount of exposure made under the specified conditions, where one AFU is one-twentieth (1/20) of the light-on exposure required to produce a colour change equal to step 4 on the grey scale (AATCC L-series) for colour change or, 1.7±0.3 CIELAB units of colour difference on AATCC Blue Wool Lightfastness Standard L4.  The AATCC standard fading units are used to measure the dosage of radiation given to each test specimen, the end point of the test being defined by the fading units required for the selected standard. Standard: AATCC Blue Wool Standard scale (L2 – L9)	Assessed by comparing change in colour of specimen with AATCC grey scale (1-5)
F.    Fastness to Wet Light in the presence of Alkaline or other chemical residues Assessment of light fastness of specimens when tested in the wet state in the presence of residues of detergent or other agencies
M & S C9A	Equipment: Xenotest 150 or 150S Light Fastness tester / Xenon arc lamp Exposure conditions: L. F. of humidity test control: 5, Relative Humidity- 70%, Max. Black panel temp.- 45oC Specimen size: 4.5 cm´2 cm; Blue Wool Standard size: 4.5 cm´1.5 cm Standard: British Blue Wool Standard scale (1 and 2) Dissolve 4 gpl ECE detergent and 1 gpl Sodium perborate in 1 litre of warm distilled water at a temperature not exceeding 50oC. Wet out the test specimen to achieve 200% to 250% expression. Completely enclose the test specimen in polythene before exposure.	Assessed by recording at Light to Standard 1 either: (a)      No discernible change of the specimen Or, (b) Noticeable change of the specimen.
G.    Fastness to Oxidative Bleach Damage Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to oxidative bleach damage
M & S C10A / BS 1006 : UK TO 1998	Equipment: Launderometer Specimen: 10 cm ´ 4 cm sample Test Solution: 10 gpl ECE detergent + 12 gpl Sodium perborate tetrahydrate + 1.8 gpl Tetraacetyl ethylene diammine (TAED) (at 100% activity). Place the specimen in a container together with liquor at 27± 2oC to maintain LR 100:1. Run the machine and raise the temperature at a rate of 1.5± 0.5oC / minute to 60oC. Hold for 30 mins. Rinse with distilled water followed by rinsing with overflow cold water. Allow to dry at a temperature not exceeding 60oC. [Note: The activity of the supplied TAED is specified and likely to be less than 100%. The required amount of TAED / Litre of Wash liquor is calculated as 1.8 ´ 100 gms. / % activity].	Change in shade is assessed by Grey scale.
H.    Fastness to Chlorinated Pool Water Determination of the resistance of the colour of textiles to the action of active chlorine in concentrations such as are used to disinfect swimming bath water
AATCC 162	Equipment: Launderometer Specimen: 6 cm ´ 6 cm sample. Total weight of specimen should be 5±0.25 gms. Weigh out 8.24 gms. Calcium chloride (anhydrous) & 5.07 gms. of Magnesium Chloride hexahydrate. Add 800 ml. distilled water to a 1 litre volumetric flask. Add Calcium chloride and Magnesium chloride while stirring to dissolve. Bring volume upto I litre with water. Dilute 51 ml of this solution to 5100 ml with distilled water. Add 0.5 ml Chlorox. Determine actual ppm of Chlorine by titration and adjust to 5 ppm. Adjust pH of the solution to 7.0 with Sodium carbonate or, Acetic acid. Place 5000 ml of this solution in the cylinder & place the specimen & test specimen fabric 162 in it. Tumble for 60 mins. at 21oC. Remove and rinse thoroughly. Allow to dry on absorbent paper at room temperature.	Change in colour of the specimen is assessed with AATCC Grey scale.