Fabric Inspection

Department
Outline:

What is Fabric Inspection Department?

Importance of Fabric Inspection
Process of Fabric Inspection Department
Fabric Inspection Systems
What is Fabric Inspection Department?

Apparel manufacturers inspect the fabric stock upon

arrival, so that any fabric irregularities are caught
early in the production process.
Importance of Fabric Inspection

Fabric Inspection is an important aspect followed prior to

garment manufacturing to avoid rejects due to fabric
quality and facing with unexpected loss in manufacturing.

Fabric inspection is done for:

 Fault/defect rate,
 Fabric construction,
 Fabric weight,
 Shrinkage,
Importance of Fabric Inspection:

 End to end or edge to edge shading,

 Color,

 Hand feel,
 Length/width,

 Print defect and appearance.

 Fabric Defects
6
 Fabric is inspected to determine its acceptability from a quality
viewpoint; otherwise extra cost in garment manufacturing may be
incurred due to either loss of the material or time. Some fabric
defects include:
Broken end: A warp yarn missing for a portion of its length.
Coarse end: A warp yarn having a larger diameter than those normally being
used in the fabric, also called heavy end.
End out: A warp yarn missing for the entire length of the cloth, also called
missing end.
Mispick: A weft/pick woven in the wrong order with respect to weave, resulting
in a break in the weave pattern, also called wrong pick.
Misreed: A warp-wise streak caused by the improper spacing of the ends across
the fabric.
 Fabric Defects
7 Knik: A short length of yarn spontaneously doubled itself, also called curl or
snarl, kniky thread.
Reed mark: A warp-wise streak caused by a damaged reed.
Shaded: A colour or bleach is not uniform from one location to another.
Shuttle mark: A fine line parallel to the filling caused by damage to a group of
adjoining ends by the shuttle.
Slub: An abruptly thickened location in a yarn characterized by a softness in
twist.
Temple mark: Small holes or wrinkles running parallel to the selvedge caused
by the temples holding the fabrics in width during weaving.
Tentering mark: Enlarged pinholes or distorted areas along the edge of the
fabric caused by holding the fabric to width during finishing, also called pin
marks.
Uneven finish: The finish is not uniform from one location to another.
Fabric Defects
Process of Fabric Inspection Department:

The process of fabric inspection department consists of following

steps:

Fabric receiving
↓

Inspection Shade Band

↓

GSM Checking Shade Continuity

↓
Shade Card
Shrinkage test
↓ Making Shade
Blanket
Shade Matching
Shade Continuity
Shade Card

Shade Blanket Shade Band

Fabric Inspection Systems:

Fabric inspection ensures to minimize the rejection of cut

panels or rejected garments due to fabric faults.

There are following three inspection systems:

1. 4-Point System

2. 10-Point System

3. Dallas System
 Four-Point Fabric Grading System
12
 The four-point fabric grading system , also called the American
Apparel Manufacturers’ Association (AAMA) point-grading
system for determining fabric quality, is widely used by:
 Producers of apparel fabrics
 Department of Defense United States
 Textile and Needle Trades Division of the American Society
for Quality Control (ASQC)

 ASTM method D 5430-07, Standard Test Methods for Visually

Inspecting and Grading Fabrics.

 This fabric grading system came into existence some time in 1962.
 Four-Point Fabric Grading System
13  In this inspection system fabric flaws or defects are assigned point
values based on the size of the defect as follows:

Length of defect in fabric (either length or Number of Points

width) Allotted
Up to 75mm (3 inches) 1
Over 75mm up to 150mm (3 to 6 inches) 2
Over 150mm up to 230mm (6 to 9 inches) 3
Over 230mm (9 inches) 4
Holes and openings (Largest dimensions)
75mm (3 inches) or less 2
Over 75mm (3 inches) 4
All open faults are given 4 points like cuts, holes etc.

 The points allotted to fabric defects are also called penalty points in
the apparel industry.
4-Point System Formula:

Points per yards:

Avg point/100 square yard = Total points * 36 * 100

Total length * Width

Points per meter:

Avg point/100 square meter = Total points * 39.37 * 100

Total length * Width

A fabric is passed if it gets points given below otherwise failed.

28 points per 100 square yards

33 points per 100 square meters

 Four-Point Fabric Grading System
15  After the entire lot of a given style of fabric is inspected, all defect points
are totaled and number of points per 100 square meters are calculated.
Example:
Let us calculate defect points per 100 square meters where a fabric roll 120
meters long and 1.2 meters (120 centimeters) wide contains the following
defects:
2 defects up to 75mm 2 × 1 = 2 points
5 defects over 75mm but less than 150mm 5 × 2 = 10 points
1 defects over 150mm but less than 230mm 1 × 3 = 3 points
1 defects over 230mm 1 × 4 = 4 points
Total defect points = 19 points
Therefore
Points per 100 = Total points scored in the roll × 100
square meters fabric width in meters × total meters inspected
= 19 × 100
1.2 × 120
= 13.19 defect points per 100 square meters
 33 points per 100 square meters or 40 points per 100 square yard is
considered “Second” quality fabric.
10 Point System:

 This system was approved by “The Textile Distributor’s

Institute” and “National Federation of Textile” in 1955.

 This system assigns penalty points to each defect,

depending upon its length. The 10 point is somehow

complicated because points per length vary for warp and

weft defects.
10-Point System:

Warp Defects Points Allotted

10 – 36 inches 10
5 – 10 inches 5
1 – 5 inches 3
Up to 1 inch 1

Weft Defects Points Allotted

Full Width 10
5’’ – ½ width 5
Up to 1 inch 1
Dallas System:

 This system was approved by “Dallas Apparel

Manufacturers Association” in 1971.

 This system was specially for knits.

 This system defines as “more than one defect per ten linear

yards, calculated to the nearest ten yards.

 Presentation of Fabrics

Open width fabric

Tubular fabric

Rolled fabric Plaited fabric