AiVibeTextile & Automotive Manufacturing
Colour Fastness
Colour fastness is a textile's resistance to colour change and to staining of adjacent materials when exposed to agents such as washing, light, rubbing, perspiration and water. It is rated on grey scales from 1 to 5.
Fastness tests expose specimens to standardised conditions and then assess colour change of the specimen and staining of attached multifibre or adjacent fabrics. Assessment uses grey scales graded from 1, poor, to 5, excellent, under controlled viewing conditions or with instrumental methods. Light fastness is assessed against blue wool references graded from 1 to 8. The ISO 105 series covers many tests, for example ISO 105-C06 for washing, ISO 105-X12 for rubbing and ISO 105-B02 for light fastness with a xenon arc lamp; AATCC methods are widely used in North America.
Brands and retailers specify minimum fastness ratings for each product type, because poor fastness leads to fading, colour bleeding in laundry and transfer of colour to skin or other garments, all causes of customer complaints and returns.
Fastness depends on dye class and selection, depth of shade, fixation, removal of unfixed dye by washing-off and after-treatments. Dark shades are generally harder to make fast. Test results are only comparable when the same method, version and conditions are used, so specifications should name the exact standard.
Key points
- Measures resistance to colour change and staining
- Grey scales rate results from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent)
- Light fastness uses blue wool references from 1 to 8
- ISO 105 and AATCC methods define the tests
Where AiVibe comes in
AiAmbA use cases include visual inspection on textile and automotive lines, predictive maintenance and digital twins. Existing lines are retrofitted with edge devices, and AI agents only propose changes for a trained operator to confirm.
Explore AiVibe’s work in Textile & Automotive Manufacturing →