See How Martindale Abrasion Tester For Textile Works Here

Posted by Cora on December 11th, 2017

The Martindale abrasion tester (http://www.testextextile.com/product/martindale-abrasion-pilling-tester-tf210/) for textile testing entails rubbing a piece of worsted wool textile in a circular motion on a smooth mounted textile sample. Every pass is just one cycle, as well as the number of cycles the test textile could endure before showing a change in look (for instance thread breakage or perhaps pilling) is its abrasion rating. At the outset of the test, every 1,000 cycles are checked, in case no wear is obvious, the fabric is placed through another 1,000 rub cycle. While the test continues, sometimes all these intervals also increase.  

Choosing fabric to decorate your home is a matter of taste, but also according to its use. Depending on the use, some technical characteristics will be very useful, but you must also know how to decode them! Fibers and fabrics wear out and are not indestructible, and the initial choice and method of use will play an important role.

The Martindale process is a test specifically designed to test the abrasion resistance of the fabric. It’s the most frequently used method to determine the resistance to wear due to the friction of textile products, in particular, upholstery products (armchair, sofa, cushion cover, chair seat).

A heavy fabric does not necessarily mean resistant, a standardized resistance test Martindale allows to see more clearly and tests the sun breakage or loss of some stuff.

How Does The Martindale Abrasion Tester For Textile Testing Work?

To Martindale abrasion tester for textile testing, there is a machine for this purpose; it has some plates on which several samples of the same fabric are placed. On the fabric act a series of discs with different degrees of abrasion.

The machine perform a rotary oscillating movement known as the figure of Lissajous, the cloth samples are continuously analyzed to determine when the wear or breakage of the fiber is generated, being able to determine the number of resistant cycles.

How Are The Results Of The Martindale Abrasion Tester For Textile Testing Interpreted?

The results of the tests are evaluated in units of one thousand in a thousand, the greater the number of cycles the more resistant to abrasion is the fabric.

Once the tests have passed, there is no classification as such for the tissues, depending on our experience with the fabrics we can classify them according to the number of Martindale abrasion tester for textile testing cycles.

•  Less than 10,000 Martindale cycles
•  We consider it as suitable fabrics for decorative upholstery, cushions, quilts
•  Between 10,000 and 15,000 Martindale cycles
•  Light residential use, recommended for auxiliary parts, type of shoe-seat, poufs
•  Between 15,000 and 30,000 Martindale cycles
•  Moderate residential use, suitable for any piece of daily use, armchairs, sofas, chairs, headboards
•  Between 30,000 and 50,000 cycles Martindale
•  Intense commercial use, suitable for places of public attendance, subjected to high traffic.

In the market, we can also find fabrics with more than 50,000 cycles, but the behavior of a fabric of 80,000 / 100,000 cycles is practically the same as one of 50, 000, there are very few cases in which we can really appreciate the resistance of this type of fabrics.

Maybe in the automotive industry if you can get to this type of case, urban buses or congress rooms with a very high traffic, but never in decorative upholstery.

Which Fabric Is The Most Resistant To Wear Using Martindale Abrasion Tester For Textile Testing?

There are materials with higher abrasion resistance than others. In case you are looking for an extremely durable textile, first turn to fabrics made of polyester, viscose, acrylic or linen.

You can also opt for multi-fiber fabrics that offer you an excellent compromise between soft touch, good thickness, and high strength.

Check out the Home Spirit library and click on the technical data sheet to know the attributes of each fabric regarding Martindale's resistance and Pilling test.

I Had That The Fabric Is An Upholstery, But I Have Doubts About It

Of course, a piece of fabric is not an upholstery because we say it, as a general rule when in our upholstery workshop we bring pieces to reupholster with 2 or 3 years old, we see that the fabrics used are not upholstery. All fabrics have to pass quality controls, and these controls must be independent and reflected in the labeling or technical data sheet, when a manufacturer omits or makes technical sheets with incomplete information, to think that there is a locked cat.

Textile catalogs are usually presented in two formats text or hanger, in the texts the technical sheet of the fabric is usually placed in two places, a label attached to the back of each fabric, this label is usually tiny and contains abbreviated symbolism due to the size of the label.

But at the end of the text, there always has to be an extended technical sheet where it indicates all the characteristics of the fabric, width, composition, shrinkage, repetition, rapport, uses, and care. In the hanger formats, you will find the same information only in abbreviated format.

With these data, the user will have all the necessary information about the product, in cases where a professional needs specific details on a piece of textile, for example, if it complies with fire regulations. Manufacturers have an extended database on the product, to obtain this type of information you can make a query without a problem.

The textile distributors have access to the internet where they publish in detail the tests to which the fabric is subjected and its corresponding result.

My Textile Has High Abrasion Rub Testing Result! Will It Be Invincible?  

There could be a rivalry within the fabrics or perhaps the field to get greater as well as higher abrasion testing results, however, in the real world, any specific results more than 50,000 have hardly any noticeable impression and become moot in practical applications.

Finally, a Martindale abrasion tester for textile testing is designed for abrasion only. There are numerous other factors which could affect the deterioration of textile on some materials, such as chemical substances employed in washing the textile, UV exposure, inserted dirt, and also surface treatment akin to soil guard or maybe flame retardant treatments.