Best Practices for Production of Non-Yellowing, Brilliant Whites on Polyamide / Elastane

Fabric + Garment Production Management Systems + Testing Transport + Storage

Pre-production  Pre-production meetings must take place and cover
yarn, fabric construction , process detail (including
e.g.molding) and testing requirements
 Acceptable standards should be agreed and signed off by
the M&S technologist.
 Pre-productions for flow fabrics/components must be
revisited annually.
Yarn  Check the consistency of yarn whiteness before  Keep stock out of direct sunlight.
knitting  Store in dark if possible
 Use black bags/ wrapping to exclude light
 Yarns should not be stored for excessive periods of
time as yellowing will occur – stock rotation should be  Sulphur, phenol and BHT-free
rigorously employed. wrapping should be specified
 NOx checks in storage areas  Storage areas should be free from
fumes
 No direct flame heating
 Electric forklifts
 Trucks must not be left running in
loading bays
 Place UV filters on windows
 Regenerated cardboard must not be used.
Knitting  Minimise oil quantities.
 Select easy to remove, non-yellowing oils
Greige  Scour before storing. As yarn storage
 Slit weft knits before storage.
Scouring  Scour before pre-set.  Extraction tests should be conducted to confirm the Factory environment as per yarn storage
 Solvent scouring is best method. removal of all oils.

 In water-based scouring, cold water removes majority of

oils from the Elastane.
Pre-set  Use lowest feasible temperature to minimise yellowing.  Measure amount of yellowing on Factory environment as per yarn storage
 Pyrometers on stenters are strongly recommended. spectrophotometer for control purposes

 Pre-set greige will be much yellower than pre-set scoured

fabric.
 Application of anti-oxidants significantly reduces
yellowing.
 Post-setting of whites is never recommended.
Bleach / Optic  Neutral bleach based on peroxide and TAED is best. Factory environment as per yarn storage

 Use fibre protecting agents in peroxide bleaching.  OBA’s turn ‘yellow’ fabric to white therefore any
C9 fading will be off tone.
 Chlorite bleaching yields excellent whiteness results on
 Look at the fade at std 3 and also look in UV light
rigid fabrics (it degrades Elastane) but should not be used for
environmental reasons. to assess if any o.b.a. remains.
 OBA’s with good wash fastness, light fastness and acid
 stability should be selected.
 Application of OBA from a reductive bleach bath gives
further improvement in white
Softening  Select non-yellowing softeners (it may take 18 months for An accelerated storage test is required to screen applied Factory environment as per yarn storage
fabric to reach the customer) softeners and residual oils
 Finished fabric should be acidic.
 Application of a proprietary anti-phenolic yellowing
 Spot testing of fabric pH is not sufficient – a
boiling distilled water extract test is the most reliable method.
product is recommended.
Finished Fabric • Do not pack textiles when hot  Fabric should be measured using CIE or Ganz to As per yarn storage
confirm continuity of whiteness levels
 C20B must be carried out on every batch
 Light fastness should be carried out at recipe
evaluationand every 10 batches.
 C20A, C20 and C59 should also be carried out once the
fabric is in production. Once in every 10 batches?
 pH extract test on every batch
•
Garment Sewing and Machine lubricants must be BHT free.
• Stock rotation of components and fabrics. Are fabrics
Factory environment as per yarn storage
Making and components all date coded?
• Shelf life of raw materials
• Keep cut pieces and components in black bags?
• Reintroduce garment date coding.
Finished • Check whiteness as stock is released. Measurement As per yarn storage
Garments advised.
• Garment stock rotation not just stock levels.
• Garment makers to adopt a visual, easily identifiable
method of releasing stock in date order (i.e colour
coding).
• Due diligence C20b checks
Stores / D.C. • Stock rotation at our D.C’s
• Time stock is our D.C’s can vary from 1 week to 6
months. Stock generally not date rotated. New stock will
go in on top of old.

Items in bold type are MANDATORY. Failure to implement these will result in a significantly higher risk of yellowing and proof of compliance must be
demonstrable

From Spring 2005 onwards Yellowing issues in stores will result in a bulk RTM