Most fastness labs already own the machine for ISO 105-D01. It is the same rotating-pot washing fastness tester used for ISO 105-C06, with stainless containers on a shaft turning in a water bath.
That is also why the test goes wrong. Operators treat it as "a wash test with a different liquid", and the habits that are harmless in a wash test spoil a dry cleaning result.
What ISO 105-D01 does — and does not — cover
ISO 105-D01:2010 determines the resistance of the colour of textiles to dry cleaning in perchloroethylene. "Fastness to dry cleaning" without further qualification in this standard means perchloroethylene; another solvent may be used if required, but then it must be stated on the report.
The scope is narrow on purpose. The method is not for judging the durability of finishes, and not for judging resistance to the spotting and stain-removal procedures a dry cleaner uses. Commercial dry cleaning also involves water spotting, solvent spotting and steam pressing, which have their own test methods. A D01 pass says the colour survives the solvent — nothing more.
The set-up
| Item | Requirement in ISO 105-D01:2010 |
|---|---|
| Machine | Rotating shaft with stainless containers (≈ 550 ml), (40 ± 2) min⁻¹, solvent kept at (30 ± 2) °C; containers closed with solvent-resistant gaskets |
| Specimen | (100 ± 2) mm × (40 ± 2) mm, with multifibre (DW or TV) or two single-fibre adjacent fabrics |
| Bag | 100 mm × 100 mm inside, sewn from undyed, bleached cotton twill of (270 ± 70) g/m² |
| Discs | 12 stainless steel discs, (30 ± 2) mm diameter, (3 ± 0.5) mm thick, (20 ± 2) g each |
| Solvent | 200 ml perchloroethylene at (30 ± 2) °C, stored over anhydrous sodium carbonate |
| Time | 30 min |
| Drying | Squeeze or centrifuge, then hang in air at (60 ± 5) °C inside the fume cabinet |
The composite specimen and the twelve discs go inside the cotton bag, and the bag goes into the container. The discs provide the mechanical action that the steel balls provide in a wash test.
Where labs go wrong
1. Water in the container
The standard is explicit that absorbed water in the solvent, or detergent and water in the solvent, change the colour fastness of some materials. The test is designed to be run dry, with solvent alone, in containers that contain no water.
The containers on a shared machine were usually last used for a wash test. A pot that has been rinsed and left upside down still holds water in the gasket groove and under the lid. The method asks you to wipe every container, its lid and its gasket dry with a dry cotton cloth before loading. Do it every time.
2. Steel balls instead of discs
The washing pots already contain steel balls from the last C06 run. Balls are not discs: their mass, shape and contact are different. Keep a separate, labelled set of twelve discs for D01 and check the count.
3. No bag, or the wrong cloth
Loading the composite loose in the solvent with the discs gives a very different mechanical action from the bag. The bag cloth is also specified: bleached, undyed, free of finishes, at around 270 g/m². A piece of whatever white cotton is on the shelf may carry finish into the solvent.
4. Acidic solvent
Perchloroethylene can form hydrochloric acid on storage. The standard asks for it to be stored over anhydrous sodium carbonate to neutralise any acid formed. A drum without it, or solvent decanted into an open beaker and left overnight, is no longer the reference condition.
5. Gaskets that are not solvent-resistant
Ordinary rubber seals swell or leach in chlorinated solvent. The containers for D01 must close with solvent-resistant gaskets. If you see swollen or sticky seals after a D01 run, the gaskets are wrong — and whatever leached from them is now in the result.
6. Drying on the bench
After treatment, the specimen is taken from the bag, squeezed or centrifuged between absorbent paper or cloth, opened out so the parts touch only at the stitching, and dried hanging at (60 ± 5) °C in the fume cabinet. Drying on an open bench is both a deviation and a health problem.
Safety is part of the method
ISO 105-D01 contains its own safety clause: solvents may be injurious to health, testing should be done in a well-ventilated area, containers should be opened only inside a fume cabinet or hood, gloves and goggles should be worn, and disposal guidelines should be followed rigorously. The standard lists a fume cabinet as part of the apparatus.
Check also whether local regulations restrict the purchase, storage or use of perchloroethylene in your laboratory. If D01 is run only occasionally, keep a dedicated set of pots, discs and gaskets so the set-up time does not tempt shortcuts.
Grading
Change in colour is graded with the ISO 105-A02 grey scale against the original specimen, and staining of each adjacent fabric or multifibre stripe with the ISO 105-A03 grey scale against the original adjacent fabric — or instrumentally. Grade both; a specimen can lose colour into the solvent without staining the adjacent fabric much, so a good staining grade alone does not mean the colour survived.
Checklist
- Containers, lids and gaskets wiped dry before loading?
- Twelve discs (not balls) inside a cotton twill bag?
- 200 ml perchloroethylene at 30 °C, stored over sodium carbonate?
- Solvent-resistant gaskets?
- Drying at (60 ± 5) °C in the fume cabinet?
- Solvent named on the report if not perchloroethylene?
TLI-TexLabInstruments manufactures the rotating-pot washing fastness tester used for this method in its own workshop in Istanbul.