Overview
ISO 105-C12:2024 - Textiles - Tests for colour fastness - Part C12: Colour fastness to industrial laundering - specifies laboratory methods to determine how textile colours resist the chemical, thermal and mechanical stresses of industrial laundry procedures. Published as the second edition in 2024, this standard updates the 2004 edition and describes test conditions that approximate the effect of multiple industrial washes in a single accelerated cycle.
Key topics and requirements
- Scope: Applies to textiles of all kinds exposed to industrial laundering procedures.
- Test principle: Fabric specimens are laundered in contact with specified adjacent fabrics, rinsed and dried; colour change and staining are assessed by grey scales or instrumental methods.
- Test conditions:
- Four defined conditions, including one at (92 ± 2) °C (workwear) and three at (75 ± 2) °C (bed/table linen, corporate wear).
- Options for no bleach, hydrogen peroxide addition, or sodium perborate (or sodium percarbonate) + TAED to simulate peracetic acid bleaching.
- Reagents & materials:
- Industrial reference detergent (dispersed at 5 g/L in grade 3 water per ISO 3696).
- Sodium hydroxide addition (1 g/L) and pH adjustments (e.g., pH 12.0–12.5 without peroxide; pH 11.0–11.5 with peroxide).
- Hydrogen peroxide (30 %), TAED, sodium perborate tetrahydrate or sodium percarbonate (preference for percarbonate).
- Adjacent fabrics: multifibre TV or two single-fibre fabrics (cotton and polyester) per ISO 105 series.
- Apparatus & specimens:
- Rotating stainless-steel container device with mechanical action produced by rotation at (40 ± 2) min⁻¹ and steel balls (25 per folded specimen).
- Specimen preparation: folded 80 × 160 mm fabric bags containing steel balls; adjacent fabrics 80 × 100 mm.
- Assessment:
- Use ISO 105-A02/A03 grey scales or instrumental assessments (ISO 105-A04/A05) to report colour change and staining.
Applications and users
ISO 105-C12 is used to:
- Validate colour fastness to industrial laundering for workwear, hospitality textiles (bed and table linen), corporate uniforms and other commercial textiles.
- Support quality control, supplier acceptance criteria, product development and claims verification for textiles intended for industrial laundering.
Primary users:
- Textile manufacturers and dyers
- Industrial laundries and laundry equipment manufacturers
- Independent test laboratories and conformity assessment bodies
- Specifiers for workwear, healthcare, hospitality and institutional linens
Related standards
- ISO 105 series: ISO 105-A01, A02, A03, A04, A05, C06, C08, C10, F02, F04, F10
- ISO 139 (conditioning atmospheres)
- ISO 3696 (water for analytical laboratory use)
Keywords: ISO 105-C12:2024, colour fastness, industrial laundering, textiles testing, ISO 105, multifibre adjacent fabric, hydrogen peroxide, sodium percarbonate, TAED, industrial laundry procedures.
Open preview (PDF)Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part C12: Colour fastness to industrial laundering