The first time we started to talk about textile colorfast was in 1916. It is an old story in the textile industry! Since then some standard tests have been created to detect color bleeding issues. Recently the issue has been detected in several shipments, including shirts, suitcases and even sneakers. How can we test textile color fastness?
La primera vez que se empezó a hablar de la solidez del color en textiles fue en 1916. Es una larga historia en la industria! Desde entonces unas pruebas estándares se crearon para detectar la pérdida de color. Recién, se detectaron muchos embarques de camisetas, maletas, zapatos... defectuosos. ¿Ustedes se preguntaran, cómo comprobar la solidez del color en textiles?
While an importer's specs and list of expected product defects are vital to perform an adequate inspection, reputable inspection firms like AQF have internal inspection checklists for any range of products.
Nowadays, a lot of third party inspection companies are increasing their inspectors' skills and training how to use special tools to check product quality. For example, during a soft-goods or textile inspection the most important tools that will be used are newton meters, metal detectors, barcode scanners, pantone books, etc. But one of the most important for a soft-goods inspection (along with ceramics, toys, and many other items!) is a grey scale in order to evaluate the color shading or staining.
Already, we have introduced AQL in general and discussed the standard inspection levels. But how do inspection companies do other testing outside of the normal AQL (cosmetics) and how do they select the number of samples needed?
As a matter of fact, the AQL table is a tool that determines the quality level of inspected goods. Without it, the inspector would be unable to perform an inspection properly. There are two different sample sizes applied during an inspection. They are determined by the general and special inspection levels of the AQL table. One or the other is used depending on the detail checked.
As discussed in the article "What Does AQL Mean?", the AQL standard has 3 kinds of defects: minor, major and critical. But what qualifies as a minor, major or critical defect?
Inspecting garments is tricky business. You must be sure to measure sizes, check material weight and composition, and of course check for cosmetic defects. Cosmetic defects on clothing are numerous: from missing buttons, to split seams to holes. But checking fabric rolls should be easy then, right? There are not as many possible defects and measurements are easier, right? Actually, this is incorrect; Making QC on fabric rolls is very challenging and requires precise methods. The inspector must check conformity; for example are the rolls the right fabric, colors and feel, the right length and packed properly?
As the process seems not to be clear for all our clients, we have decided to shed light on this important subject.
How do we select the cartons to inspect ?
Meeting with clients, I noticed that many misunderstand the meaning of “QC checklist ” in the QC process. this word is often used inaccurately, so what’s the real definition and what does a QC checklist contains?
