Fundamentals of textile damage analysis

The manifestation of damage to textiles can vary widely. It ranges from obvious, for example visible or easily recognizable defects, to hidden ones, for example defects that are hard to detect or those that can only be detected later. It is the latter type which is generally the reason for giving guarantees. 

Damage is manifested most commonly as stains followed by streaks and 

It is important here to describe the fault as exactly as possible. All the typical characteristics and peculiarities, their frequency and possible regularity have to be noted and also whether they can be localized to individual fibre or thread systems. This makes it easier or even possible to determine the cause of the damage later. 

This statement is also applicable to the causes of the most frequent manifestation of damage, namely stains. Statistical analysis of 258 cases of damage by stains resulted in 29 types of cause, each represented in more than seven cases. The most common types of cause gave frequencies in the range from 7-8%. These are, for example, stains caused by mechanical and chemical influences, dyestuffs, grease or oU, silicone and dead or immature cotton. 

The usual steps taken in an investigation are illustrated here using the example of stain analysis  

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