Colorfastness to rubbing testing helps an apparel buyer evaluate whether color transfers from a colored textile surface onto a receiving cloth under specified dry or wet cloth conditions. Use it to approve contact-risk areas, document the exact test state and method, and manage changes in dyeing, printing, washing, or finishing—without treating one grade as a universal promise of wear performance.
Start with the right definition of crocking
In apparel sourcing, crocking means color transfer caused by rubbing. It is not simply fading, and it is not a prediction that a garment will or will not look new after a certain period of use. The decision question is narrower: when the specified textile surface is rubbed against the specified receiving cloth, how much staining is observed on that receiving cloth?
That distinction matters when a team uses “colorfastness” as shorthand for several separate concerns. Laundering, light exposure, perspiration, dry cleaning, and rubbing can all involve color performance, but they expose a textile to different conditions and answer different approval questions. A dark sweatshirt that performs acceptably in a rubbing assessment may still need a separate laundering colorfastness review if the product brief includes wash-care expectations or light-colored companion items.
AATCC TM8 assesses transfer onto dry or water-wet receiving cloths using a staining or chromatic-transference scale. Its public scope cautions against use on carpets and print areas too small to isolate, and recognizes that treatment can affect transfer. AATCC TM8
What a rubbing result does—and does not—approve
A rubbing result is evidence for the submitted material, color, construction, condition, and method stated on the report. It should support a defined approval decision, such as whether a dark fabric is suitable next to a pale collar, lining, pocket bag, trim, accessory, or adjacent garment layer in the intended design.
It does not, by itself, establish all of the following:
- Color retention after repeated laundering.
- Resistance to sunlight, perspiration, dry cleaning, or water exposure.
- Performance of a later bulk lot, shade, print placement, or finish.
- A conversion into months of wear, wash cycles, or consumer-use outcomes.
- Approval of every color merely because one shade passed.
Colorfastness testing generally addresses resistance to color change and/or dye transfer under particular external conditions; rubbing is one of those distinct conditions. Intertek’s colorfastness testing overview distinguishes rubbing from other colorfastness exposures, which is why buyers should attach each result to its intended risk rather than use a broad “colorfast” label.
A buyer should also avoid a universal minimum grade. Acceptance criteria belong to the product brief, retailer requirement if applicable, end use, color depth, fabric surface, contact configuration, and agreed method. A pale luxury accessory against a deep garment body may justify a more conservative internal decision than a monochrome workwear component. State the chosen criterion in the approval record; do not present it as an industry-wide rule.
Build the test request around actual contact risk
The most useful test plan begins with a garment map. Identify which colored surfaces could contact noticeably lighter materials through wear, packing, styling, or trims. Do not assume the face fabric is the only risk point.
For each candidate area, record the material, color standard, lot or roll identity, construction, and visible surface. Include colored face and back surfaces when both can contact another component. For prints, identify the print area separately from the base fabric. For contrast construction, list the component pair rather than writing only “garment body.”
Consider this hypothetical design: a deep navy fleece body uses a pale collar facing and a light branded accessory. The buyer may request dry and wet rubbing results for the navy body surface, then evaluate the report against the agreed requirement for those pale contact components. This is a focused decision about the navy surface and the intended contrast relationship—not a claim that every navy textile behaves the same way.
High-attention combinations often include:
- Dark denim, pigment-dyed, garment-dyed, brushed, coated, or heavily washed surfaces next to pale components.
- Deep prints or embellishments positioned where hands, straps, or accessory surfaces contact them.
- Colored pocket bags, waistbands, linings, labels, or piping that can touch a lighter fabric.
- Reversible garments, where an interior surface becomes a visible contact surface.
- Multi-color panels where one color has a substantially higher transfer concern than the others.
For Cotton & Organic Cotton programs, link the request to the actual fabric specification and finish description rather than treating fiber content as a shortcut to rubbing performance. Colorant system, shade, surface condition, print application, and finishing state can all be relevant to the submitted sample’s approval path.
Choose the method and report language carefully
AATCC TM8 and ISO 105-X12 are related rubbing methods, but they are not automatically interchangeable. A report that says only “crocking tested” leaves too much room for dispute. Your product specification should name the required method and edition, or identify the customer-required method before sampling is released.
The report should separate dry and wet results. It should also identify the evaluation scale used. A grade means little without the method, the receiving-cloth condition, and the stated assessment basis. Never merge two numbers into a single “rubbing result,” and do not silently substitute a method because its name sounds similar.
A practical report request includes:
- Buyer style or development reference.
- Material description, fiber composition if specified, construction, color name, and color standard reference.
- Fabric, print, or garment lot identifier.
- Exact submitted state: as received, after an agreed wash, after a stated finish, or another clearly defined state.
- Method name and edition requested.
- Dry result and wet result reported separately.
- Evaluation scale and any method-specific observations shown by the laboratory.
- Tested area and direction where that distinction matters to the design.
- Sample receipt date, report date, and enough sample identification to match the retained approval swatch.
Make the state line visible beside the sample reference. An approval reviewer should be able to match the submitted fabric to the retained swatch without guessing whether a production wash or finish happened before submission.
A numbered dry and wet transfer approval workflow
- Define the contact scenario. Write down the dark-colored source surface, the lighter receiving component or use context, and why the contact matters. This keeps testing tied to a real product decision.
- Freeze the approval sample identity. Attach a lot, shade, print strike-off, or garment sample reference. If the body and contrast collar come from different lots, identify both.
- Select test areas by exposure. Include face, back, print, and contrast areas as appropriate. For a small print, confirm that the selected method can address the isolated area; do not assume a standard rubbing result represents a tiny motif.
- State the required method, edition, and sample state. Specify dry and wet results separately. If both as-received and post-treatment performance matter, request both explicitly.
- Review the report before making a production decision. Match the report material, lot, color, state, method, dry result, wet result, and scale against the request. A technically credible report for the wrong color or state is not approval evidence for the intended sample.
- Compare against the agreed product criterion. Document the result as approve, hold, resubmit, or investigate. The criterion should be the project’s pre-agreed requirement, not an improvised universal threshold.
- Control changes. If a dyeing process, print system, wash, softener, coating, or other finish changes, determine whether the approved sample still represents bulk. Retest the changed finish against an unchanged control when the change could affect transfer.
- Release with traceable records. Retain the approved swatch, report, approval note, test state, and bulk-lot linkage. This makes later discrepancies easier to resolve without reconstructing the decision from email fragments.
How to investigate a discrepancy without guessing
Suppose a development sample gives an unexpected wet result after a softening or wash treatment, while the as-received fabric report was acceptable. Do not jump immediately to “the dye chemistry failed.” First isolate what changed: was the receiving cloth condition, method edition, tested surface, lot, shade, print area, finishing state, or evaluation scale the same?
A disciplined comparison uses matched submissions. Retain an unchanged control from the prior approved material and submit the changed-finish sample under the same requested method and defined state. Review dry and wet outcomes separately. If only the treated sample differs, the team has a narrower question about the changed process or surface condition. If the reports differ in sample identity or laboratory method, resolve that documentation gap before assigning cause.
Another hypothetical issue is a dark body with a pale collar where one report lists “navy fleece” and another lists “navy garment, washed.” Those labels may represent different states, even if the visual shade appears close. The buyer should hold the comparison until the submitted state, lot, and tested area are confirmed. This protects both the approval record and the supplier conversation from unsupported blame.
When a corrective proposal is offered, ask what is changing, which sample will represent the change, and whether the control remains unchanged. A revised finish cannot inherit approval merely because the base fabric previously had an acceptable report. Conversely, a disappointing result should not be used to reject an unrelated color, lot, or component without evidence.
Compact approval checklist
Before approving bulk, confirm that you have:
- A defined dark-to-light contact risk, not a generic request for “better fastness.”
- The exact color, material, construction, lot, and tested area on the report.
- Dry and wet entries shown independently.
- The requested method and edition, plus the evaluation scale.
- A clear as-received or post-treatment state.
- An agreed product-specific acceptance criterion.
- An approval swatch or sample linked to the report.
- A retest trigger for changes to color, print, wash treatment, or finishing.
FAQ
Can one approved color cover the whole collection?
Only if the agreed approval plan explicitly justifies that coverage. Identify which colorways and finishes the evidence represents; a navy-body report should not silently release a different red print or a separately finished black lot. Resolve coverage before allocating bulk cutting quantities.
Is wet rubbing a test of a wet garment?
No. In this context, wet identifies the condition of the receiving white test cloth specified by the method. It should not be rewritten as a general test of a wet garment, rain exposure, perspiration, or laundering.
Does a good rubbing result prove the color will not fade?
No. Rubbing assesses transfer to a receiving cloth under its defined conditions. Fading is a separate color-change question that may require a different assessment depending on the exposure of concern.
Can ISO 105-X12 replace AATCC TM8 automatically?
No. They are related methods, but the buyer should follow the method named in the product specification, customer requirement, or approval plan. Preserve the method and edition in the report record rather than treating method names as interchangeable.
What should change control look like after a finish is revised?
Identify the revised finish and the unchanged control, then decide whether retesting is needed for the affected color and contact-risk surface. Record the sample state in both the lab request and approval note. Do not transfer approval from a prior finish without confirming that it remains representative.
For help turning a style’s color, trim, wash, and contact points into a clear approval request, discuss your project requirements with JUNSHEEN.
