What are the best ways to identify fabric type and quality? (2024)

My comprehensive understanding of fabrications acquired through attending two fashion design schools, including FIT, I find the burn test to be an indispensable tool in my arsenal. With the continuous evolution of fabric weaving techniques, distinguishing between natural and synthetic fabrics can indeed be challenging. The burn test, however, remains a reliable and simple method in my practice. Having hands-on experience with various fabric types, I appreciate the nuanced observations it requires—the flame's behavior, the scent, and the resulting ash texture all contribute to identifying both the fabric type and its quality.

The best way to identify the fabric type and quality by knowing its GSM, feel of it, softness and the texture. There are lots more way to test the fabric like burning test, absorbency test, tensile etc.

You can get a thread counter for 10$. It’ll help you determine the quality but also it just helps to see the textile more clearly. Basically a magnifying glass. Also just use your hands. Quality can begin to become subjective at certain points so sometimes you need to simply determine if you think it’s good or not based on your own perspective. In all honesty it’s usually just better to know what kind of machine the textile was woven or knit on. That can really tell you a lot about the general quality of the fabric.

When it comes to fabrics, just looking isn't enough. Feeling the fabric with your hands is like having a secret code to unlock what it's made of and how it feels.Each fabric has its own special feel. Cotton is soft, silk is smooth and fancy, wool is warm, and synthetic fabrics feel different – like polyester, which is smoother but not as breezy.Texture, or how a fabric feels, is another cool thing your hands can figure out. Fabrics can be crispy like taffeta or cozy like velvet. Your hands can even notice tiny details like ridges in corduroy or cool patterns in jacquard weaves. There are lots of other ways to identifying fabric but for me this one gonna be the first.

Nothing can compete with feeling the fabric with your own hands. By doing so you can actually make out the difference like smoothness, thickness elasticity, durability

Yeah that’s fine but can be a bit boring and is only really true for synthetics. There’s lots of value in the beautiful imperfections of natural fabrics and dyes. Obviously you don’t want a defective product but inconsistencies can make each garment essentially one of one. Even some natural dyes don’t show the color well in photos, you have to look at it with your own eyes in natural light to really grasp the color. To me, that’s something unique and valuable. When patterns and designs are too perfectly aligned it just looks artificial. Imperfections aren’t a sign of low quality. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that a human being made the fabric.

Another professional way to determine the type of the fabric is to use solvents to recognize the type. but burning a sample is more common and easier.

The burn test is one of the most effective ways to identify the fabric type and quality, in daily our order processing, we always burn a small pcs to check the smell and also form after burning

Raw fabrics or minimally processed textiles fade, shrink, and wrinkle. In fact, that’s a big part of their appeal. Those kinds of fabrics are generally of a higher quality and are made on vintage machines that hardly exist anywhere outside Japan. Loom state denim or loop-wheeled knits can shrink considerably you just need to take that into account when choosing your size. This is how minimally processed textiles react to life.

In my opinion, the first filter to recognize a good fabric is the experience of the people who are in charge of choosing the fabrics (designers, of course, and the team responsible for raw materials). When you have been working with different fabrics in a workshop for many years, making prototypes for collections, you develop the instinct to recognize good or bad fabrics for your business. After that first filter, it is best to wash 2 meters of that fabric in a strong wash program and make a proto-sample. It is also advisable after that to do a "use test" by people in your organization using the prototype for a week to observe if the fabric pills or changes color, sags in any area or changes its appearance or shape.

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Apart from the above points, we can know about the type and quality of the fabric through some ways-1. Microscopic Examination:Microscopes can be used to examine the fabric's fiber very closely, whether the fibers are natural or synthetic. We can also observe the fabric construction/design through this method.2. Chemicals Tests:Some chemicals can react differently with the various fibers helping to identify the fabric types (composition)3. Color Fastness Test:Through color fastness tests we can examine the quality of dyed fabrics4. Physical Tests:Through several physical tests like the Bursting Strength Test, Stretch & Recovery, Pilling Test etc. we can examine the physical quality of a fabric.5. Brand Reputation

The ideas listed here are generally fine but they are basically all geared towards mass produced textiles. That’s ok, but low volume artisanal producers need to be considered when defining quality in textiles.