TRIMS

1 April 2009



Care labels should include trims but this is often overlooked says Richard Neale


An article should only be labelled drycleanable if all the components can be drycleaned by the process on the label. This includes stitching, embroidery thread, buttons, buckles, leather motifs, appliques, belts and other trims.

The processes used to check the care label are specified in international standards. Most of the UK’s trading partners have signed up to these as have the home countries of most visitors to the UK. So the care label’s interpretation is the same even for goods made cheaply and sold at a low price in a UK chain store.

Most fabrics used for the main part of the garment now give satisfactory results if cleaned in accordance with the care label but manufacturers still slip-up in specifying and testing trims.

For example, the British Standard method for testing beads involves immersing them in perc for 30 minutes, then placing them on clean white cotton cloth and squeezing and rubbing to see it they have softened, dissolved or are losing their decorative coating. Garment makers can do this test without the need to send the beads to a lab.

There is a steep learning curve here for most UK retailers. Their buyers want goods with design details that attract consumers but that can also be sold at a competitive price. They are still ignoring the need to check care labels but they must change their thinking if problems with trims are to be avoided.

Gold colour turns to copper

Fault: This dress was made mainly from “gold” thread. The cleaner used perc on a delicates’ cycle with an 8minute wash but much of the thread turned a copper colour and this spoiled the appearance. The manufacturer refused a claim and said that a test with a local cleaner had given good results.

Cause: Gold thread would not tarnish in this way. The thread is copper wire with a gold finish and is sensitive to perc and mechanical action.

Responsibility: The garment maker is to blame. The local cleaner could have used a 2minute cycle in perc, or could have used hydrocarbon or cyclosiloxane. These methods are much milder than the one indicated by the label so the gold colour might have survived. Circle-P with a bar implies that the garment can withstand the sensitives’ cycle in International Standard 3175 part 2. This involves a two bath process (ten minute pre-wash and three minute main-wash). Unless the local cleaner simulated this, the check was useless.

Rectification: None is possible.

Buckle needed protection

Fault: This designer coat had a belt with a leather covered buckle. The care label had the circle-P symbol with a bar beneath. The cleaner drycleaned the coat and its belt in perc on a normal cycle and although the coat was fine, the corners of the buckle were worn away.

Cause: Leather is difficult to dye and many inexpensive buckle trims use thin off-cuts which have been “direct-dyed” so that the colour sits on the leather without any chemical bond. The colour can get rubbed away easily and sometimes the leather will rub away as well.

Responsibility: The bar beneath the circle P indicates that the garment might need protection from mechanical action. The cleaner should have noted this and covered the buckle with aluminium foil, therefore the cleaner is mostly to blame here.

Rectification: The buckle should be replaced with one of equivalent quality and colour.

Fur collar gets flattened

Fault: A jacket with a “fur” collar was labelled with circle-P with a bar and also had the instruction “clean by furrier process”. The drycleaner used a delicates’ cycle with the drying thermostat set to 45C. The jacket came out well but the collar became flattened and slightly matted.

Cause: The furrier process is no longer allowed by COSSH regulations. It involved placing the garment in a box packed with sawdust impregnated with perc then leaving it overnight before removing, brushing and airing. The garment maker may have seen the instruction on an old garment and included it on this label.

However, this collar was made from synthetic modacrylic fibres which dryclean well, provided the outlet air thermostat is reduced to 40C. A higher setting will melt the tips of the synthetic fibres causing them to kink and become matted.

Responsibility: The garment maker is to blame for the inadequate care label. But as the fibre content label mentioned modacrylic, the cleaner should have known the correct drying temperature and must take responsibility for the damage.

Rectification: Although the fault cannot be corrected, there are lessons to learn. A burn test will show whether a trim is animal fur or synthetic. Take appropriate safety precautions and test a few fibres with the flame of a gas lighter over an ashtray. Genuine fur will have an odour of burning hair and will not leave any ash. Synthetic fur will melt and burn with a dark smoke.


gold gold
buckle buckle
fur collar fur collar


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