
Copyright © 2022 American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists
376 AATCC TM188-2010e3(2017)e AATCC Manual of International Test Methods and Procedures/2023
7.2 Distilled water.
7.3 Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, (10% solu-
tion).
7.4 Potassium iodide, KI, (10% solu-
tion).
7.5 Sodium thiosulfate, Na2S2O3, (0.1N).
8. Test Specimens
8.1 Use one specimen weighing 110.0
± 10.0 g from a sample. If a garment or
textile item (towel, bed sheet, etc.) is to
be used as a specimen, weigh the entire
item to 0.1 g. If the garment weight ex-
ceeds the specified load weight of 1.8 kg,
the total weight is to be included in the
report. See 9.2.3 for exact weight specifi-
cations on load.
9. Procedure
9.1 Table I summarizes washing and
drying conditions. Information on the
machine and laundering conditions may
be found in the AATCC LP1 (see 14.10).
9.2 Washing.
9.2.1 Fill the washer with the specified
water volume at the selected water tem-
perature using the normal cycle setting.
Measure and record the water hardness in
any test.
9.2.2 Add 66 ± 1 g of 1993 AATCC
Standard Reference Detergent WOB or
100 ± 1 g of 2003 AATCC Standard Ref-
erence Liquid Detergent WOB (see 6.5).
Add 240 ± 5 mL (1 cup) of sodium hy-
pochlorite bleach or the amount recom-
mended by the manufacturer for a full
load of laundry. Run the washer for 2 min
to ensure proper mixing of liquor.
9.2.3 Add enough ballast to the speci-
men to make a 1.8 ± 0.1 kg load. Set the
washer on the cycle selected for washing
and set the wash timer (see Table I and
9.1). Start the agitation and indepen-
dently time the wash for reproducible re-
sults. When the desired wash time is
complete, stop washer and advance the
dial to the end of the wash cycle. Restart
washer to rinse, drain and spin the load.
9.2.4 For the specimen to be dried by
procedures A, B or D, allow washing to
proceed through the rinse and final spin
cycle. Remove test specimens immedi-
ately after the final spin cycle, separate
any tangled pieces, taking care to mini-
mize distortion, and dry by procedures A,
B or D [see Table I and AATCC LP1 (see
9.1)].
9.2.5 For the specimen to be dried by
procedure C, Drip Dry, stop the washer at
the end of the final rinse cycle just before
the water begins to drain. Remove the
specimens soaking wet.
9.3 Drying.
9.3.1 (A) Tumble Dry. Place the
washed load (test specimens and ballast)
in the tumble dryer, set on the cycle
which generates the correct exhaust tem-
peratures as specified in AATCC LP1
(see 9.1). For fabrics that are heat sensi-
tive, lower temperatures consistent with
producer’s recommendation are required
and must be reported. Operate the dryer
until the total load is dry. Remove the
load immediately after the machine stops.
9.3.2 (B) Line Dry. Hang each speci-
men by two corners with the fabric length
in the vertical direction. Allow the test
specimens to hang in still air at room
temperature until dry.
9.3.3 (C) Drip Dry. Hang each drip-
ping wet specimen by two corners, with
the fabric length in the vertical direction.
Allow specimens to hang in still air at
room temperature until dry.
9.3.4 (D) Screen Dry. Spread each
specimen on a horizontal screen or perfo-
rated surface, removing wrinkles but not
distorting or stretching and allow to dry
in still air at room temperature.
9.4 Repeat 9.2 and 9.3 for a total of
five launderings or to an end point of
color change (see 14.2).
9.5 On completion of the fifth laundry
cycle, (or after each cycle where end
point criteria are to be met), condition the
specimens for at least 4 h by laying each
specimen separately on the screen or
perforated shelf of a conditioning rack at
an atmosphere of 21 ± 2°C (70 ± 4°F)
and 65 ± 5% RH before evaluating color
change.
9.6 If this test method is to be used to
develop care instructions, specimens may
also have to undergo further testing. Non-
chlorine bleach sensitivity may need to
be tested using AATCC TM172. To sep-
arate the effects of components such as
hardness, pH or bleach content (see 5.1,
12.8 and ASTM D3938, Standard Guide
for Determining or Confirming Care In-
structions for Apparel and Other Textile
Products), this method with detergent
only and/or this method using water only
may be used.
10. Evaluation
10.1 Visual evaluation.
10.1.1 Using an unwashed specimen
from the sample as a control, rate the
color change of the test specimen in at
least three places on the specimen or
three times in one place using the Gray
Scale for Color Change (AATCC EP1),
or using AATCC EP7, Instrumental As-
sessment of the Change in Color of a Test
Specimen, and record the numerical rat-
ing that corresponds to the appropriate
one on the Gray Scale.
10.1.2 Ratings may be made compared
to an unexposed control cut from the test
sample or compared to a laundered con-
trol specimen of known fastness.
10.2 Instrumental evaluation.
10.2.1 Instrumental measurements
comparing unexposed and exposed,
(washed), specimen or garments may be
used (see AATCC EP6, Instrumental
Color Measurement, AATCC EP7, and
AATCC TM173, Test Method for Calcu-
lation of Small Color Differences for Ac-
ceptability).
11. Interpretation of Results
11.1 This test is a satisfactory end use
test for demonstrating the effect of the
1993 AATCC Standard Reference Deter-
gent WOB or the 2003 AATCC Standard
Reference Liquid Detergent WOB and
chlorine bleach on textile materials in
home laundering. The color change re-
sults will establish a level of performance
that can be used to prepare care instruc-
tions (see 14.9 and ASTM D3938).
11.2 If a significant color change is ob-
served, an untreated duplicate sample
should be retested using this method with
water only and/or by following AATCC
TM172 (see 9.6).
12. Report
12.1 Report the numerical average
color change grade for each specimen
tested.
12.2 Report washing conditions (Ara-
bic and Roman Numerals) and drying
conditions (capital letter from Table I;
[i.e., (1) IIIA (iii)] means NORMAL cy-
cle, wash water temperature of 41 ± 3°C,
tumble dry [permanent press]).
12.3 Report the type and amount of de-
tergent used.
12.4 Report the brand, sodium hy-
pochlorite activity, and amount of the
chlorine bleach used.
12.5 Report the available chlorine con-
tent delivered to the wash by the dosage
Table I—Washing and Drying Conditions (see 14.10)
Machine Cycle Wash Temperatures Drying Procedures
(1) Normal or Cotton/Sturdy (II) 27 ± 3°C (80 ± 5°F) (A) Tumble:
(2) Delicate (III) 41 ± 3°C (105 ± 5°F) i. iiCotton/Sturdy
(3) Permanent Press (IV) 49 ± 3°C (120 ± 5°F) ii. iDelicate
(V) 60 ± 3°C (140 ± 5°F) iii. Permanent Press
(B) Line
(C) Drip
(D) Screen
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