How to do bag quality control of colour with lab dips?
How to do bag quality control of colour with lab dips?
To do bag quality control better, I have been asked how lab dips are made for bags, and my answers are as below:
Lab dips are made in the lab of dyeing factory. Actually different factory makes lab dips differently with different equipment for different material/fibres. As most of bag’s material is polyester, which is dyed under high temperature with high pressure. Basically below processes are necessary.
- Get a colour swatch or a Pantone number to check it out on the book as standard.
- Get a piece of greige/gray fabric of the bulk production, if not available, take a similar one instead( construction may not be exactly the same, but at least the composition is the same).
- Figure out a guide recipes for that colour with dye-stuffs.
- Slightly adjust the guide recipes to get A, B, C colours.
- Prepare the dye-stuffs and other agent to dye.
- To dye them in small airtight tubes/tins.
- Take them out , wash clean and iron dry after dyeing process finish.
- Compare them with colour standard under specific light, if there is unsatisfaction, then repeat from step 1, if so,
- Then they may select the best 3 lab-dips from all 6 ones.
A good lap-dips’ colour guarantees good bulk fabric colour? Bag quality control’s 1st step:
I would like to say one more. The colour on lab-dips and the colour on bulk fabric is not the same thing, even the guide recipes in the lab and in the workshop of the same factory is not the same thing. As the dyeing equipment for lab dips and bulk fabric is different, they usually require to do a big sample before the dyeing of bulk fabric to adjust the guide recipes. Therefore if the quantity is too small(not enough for a full vat), they usually skip the step of big sampling for the sake of cost and greige, they dye the bulk fabric directly with their experience. That is why the colour is always not good enough and a headache in fashion industry.
I hope this info. helps you a little bit to explain when you face the headache of complaining.
