How is Colour Matching Becoming a Challenge for Textile Industry?

In the textile industry, there are many departments that work parallelly to give shape to the final product. All these departments need to work hand in hand to satisfy the client’s demand. More than coordination, understanding is the primary concern. Each department must understand the limitations. The textile manufacturer should recognise Dyer’s limitation, Dyer should work as per merchandiser’s demand and designer’s requirements. All this chaos is just because of precise colour matching. This industry relies more on visual inspection instead of advance textile colour measurement solutions. So many things can be put to an ease if quantification is done. Here we will talk about some common, portable and easy to use devices in textile industry.

Technological advance colour measuring devices

Testronix offers a vast array of testing instruments. This put an end to guess work. These devices are designed with accuracy, precision and self-calibration system to deliver the high performance with every test result. The most interesting fact about these products is that their usage is not restricted to textile industry only.

Portable Spectrophotometer – Two models, TP 800 and TP 810 are available to choose from. It’s a high-end device and comes with a data storage facility. It quantifies the master colour and compares the values with sample colours. It tells about the difference in the values so that colour manager can prepare the colour recipe accordingly.

Colour Matching Cabinet – It is a very simple to use device. It is also called D65 light box. It does not quantify the colours. Instead, provides different lighting conditions to inspect the discrepancy. Five test lights are provided, UV light, Artificial daylight, White Fluorescence light, Tungsten light, Yellow light. This test is very important as working conditions of garment producer and supplier may differ. What appears crimson to the supplier may appear maroon to the producer. To end the colour debate, observations can be done by keeping the master and sample at an angle of 45° and observed under various lighting conditions.

Gloss Meter–Triangle. This device intends to quantify the glossiness of the surface. Usually, the gloss is measured from three different angels, 20°, 60°, 85°. The angle of measurement largely depends on the topography of the surface. This instrument is important for textile colour measurements as some fabrics like silk, have natural sheen while some fabrics like cotton have a matte finish. The way the surface is reflecting the light will decide the glossy finish and matte finish of the fabric.