
Copyright © 2024 American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists
AATCC Manual of International Test Methods and Procedures/2025 AATCC TM107-2022e 183
1. Purpose and Scope
1.1 This test method is designed to
measure the resistance to water of dyed,
printed, or otherwise colored textile yarns
and fabrics.
1.2 Distilled water or deionized water
is used in this test method because natural
(tap) water is variable in composition.
2. Principle
2.1 The specimen, backed by multifi-
ber test fabric, is immersed in water and
then subjected to specified conditions of
pressure, temperature and time. After
conditioning, the change in color of the
specimen and the staining of the attached
multifiber test fabric are observed.
2.2 Results are reported as a Gray
Scale for Change and Staining of grade 5
to 1. A grade of 5 represents no color
change and a grade of 1 represents the
most color change.
3. Referenced Documents
3.1 ASTM D1776, Standard Practice
for Conditioning and Testing Textiles
(see 12.1).
4. Terminology
4.1 colorfastness, n.—the resistance of
a material to change in any of its color
characteristics, to transfer of its colo-
rant(s) to adjacent materials or both, as a
result of the exposure of the material to
any environment that might be encoun-
tered during the processing, testing, stor-
age or use of the material.
5. Safety Precautions
NOTE: These safety precautions are
for information purposes only. The pre-
cautions are ancillary to the testing proce-
dures and are not intended to be all inclu-
sive. It is the user’s responsibility to use
safe and proper techniques in handling
materials in this test method. Manufac-
turers MUST be consulted for specific
details such as material safety data sheets
and other manufacturer’s recommenda-
tions. All OSHA standards and rules
must also be consulted and followed.
5.1 Good laboratory practices should
be followed. Wear safety glasses in all
laboratory areas.
5.2 Manufacturer’s safety recommen-
dations should be followed when operat-
ing laboratory testing equipment.
5.3 See 9.1 for safety precautions re-
lated to using a wringer
6. Apparatus and Materials (see 12.2)
6.1 Perspiration tester (with acrylic
plates) (see Figs. 1 and 2).
6.2 Drying oven—convection.
6.3 Cold cut multifiber test fabrics (8
mm [0.33 in.] bands) containing acetate,
cotton, nylon, silk, viscose rayon and
wool shall be used for specimens contain-
ing silk, or (8mm [0.33 in.] bands) con-
taining acetate, cotton, nylon, polyester,
acrylic and wool shall be used for speci-
mens with no silk present (see 12.3).
6.4 Gray Scale for Staining (AATCC
EP2 or EP12) or AATCC 9-Step Chro-
matic Transference Scale (AATCC EP8)
(see 11.4).
6.5 Gray Scale for Color Change
(AATCC EP1 or EP7) (see 12.4).
6.6 Wringer.
6.7 Petri dish with a depth greater than
1.5cm and capable of containing a 6 x 6 ±
0.2 cm test specimen
6.8 Un-dyed adjacent fabric
6.9 White AATCC Textile Blotting Pa-
per (see 12.4).
6.10 Balance with a weighing accuracy
of ± 0.001 g.
7. Test Solution
7.1 Distilled water or deionized water
from an ion-exchange device.
8. Test Specimens
8.1 Number and size of specimens
8.1.1 For fabric testing, one specimen, 6
x 6 ± 0.2 cm, is needed. Attach a 5 x 5 ±
0.2 cm multifiber test fabric swatch to the
face of the fabric by sewing a single seam
stitch along one edge of the fabric.
8.1.2 For yarn or loose fiber testing,
weigh a 5 × 5 ± 0.2 cm piece of multifi-
ber fabric and a 6 × 6 ± 0.2 cm piece of
the un-dyed adjacent fabric together.
Then take a mass of the yarn or loose fi-
ber approximately equal to one half of the
combined mass of the adjacent fabrics.
Place it between a 5 × 5 ± 0.2 cm piece of
multifiber fabric and a 6 × 6 ± 0.2 cm
piece of the un-dyed adjacent fabric, and
sew a single seam stitch along all four
sides.
9. Procedure
9.1 Weigh each test specimen (as pre-
pared in 8.1) to the nearest 0.1g. Immerse
the test specimen in a petri dish in the test
solution which is at room temperature
with occasional agitation to ensure thor-
ough wetting out (approximately 15 min
generally required for average fabrics).
For fabrics hard to wet out, immerse the
test specimen in the test solution at room
temperature, pass through squeeze rolls
(wringer) and re-immerse. Repeat, if nec-
essary, to attain thorough wetting out.
When using the wringer, ensure adequate
guard at the nip point. Normal safeguards
on pad should not be removed.
9.2 Remove the test specimen from the
test solution and pass each test specimen
assembly through the wringer with the
multifiber stripes perpendicular to the
length of the wringer rolls (all stripes go
through the wringer at the same time).
Weigh each test specimen to be sure it
weighs greater than or equal to 2.5 times
its original weight. Whenever possible,
the wet weight should be 2.5-3.0 times
the original weight. Because certain fab-
rics may not be able to retain this amount
of solution when passing through a
wringer, such fabrics may be tested after
blotting to the required wet pickup with
White AATCC Textile Blotting Paper
(see 12.4).
9.3 Place the test specimen assembly
between acrylic plates and insert in the
specimen unit of the perspiration tester
with the multifiber stripes running per-
pendicular to the long dimension of the
plate (see Fig. 3).
9.4 Depending upon equipment avail-
able, use the following alternates:
9.4.1 Horizontal Perspiration Tester
(see Fig. 1): Place the plates in the perspi-
ration tester with the specimen assem-
AATCC TM107-2022e
Test Method for Colorfastness to Water
Fig. 1—Horizontal perspiration tester.
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