Even if you choose the material you need from among many outer materials, choosing the wrong one can lead to product complaints and delayed delivery. I’ve summarized the points to watch out for and how to choose during planning, so please read on.

Points to note depending on the intended use of the fabric

In general, the companies that handle fabrics differ depending on the intended use. Test data such as durability and physical properties vary by application. Also, whether data guaranteeing human safety has been prepared differs between fabrics that should come into contact with the skin and those that should not. Broadly speaking, many bag fabrics have relatively low durability. In addition, there may be no test data for durability, so if you want to use it, you would need to have Kaken test it. For garment fabrics, we may do full-color testing for each color, but at least multiple colors have been tested, so you can check the quality. Of course, you can make bags from garment fabrics, and you can make clothes from bag fabrics, but I think you need to look at colorfastness and friction resistance.

Points to note depending on the material and weave

Although it depends on the application, the characteristics of garment fabrics also vary by material.

About cotton

Cotton is cotton in English. Cotton is found everywhere, and many people like its texture, but many types are relatively less durable. In particular, the darker the color (black), the lower the wet rub resistance (friction in a wet state), and the more dye transfer occurs.

About polyester

It is an easy-to-use fabric with good color development and high colorfastness. However, since the fiber itself does not absorb water, when using it for linings you need functional fabrics such as moisture-absorbing, quick-drying types.

About linen

Linen is a material often used in summer, but basically, debris called neps gets into the fabric. This is unique to linen, but for people who don’t know about it, it may look bad. Even if you complain that it’s not good, linen basically has neps, so there is a high chance it will not be accepted. I think you should tolerate some risk. SB2073 Cotton / Linen Hebecano Washing Machine Processing [Fabric] Shibaya Neps

About knit fabrics

For knit fabrics, the fabric width may change. I think this often appears as the last item on the knit fabric shop page under huge and small. Huge and small are read as knit fabric, but their meaning is similar to “large or small.” The key point is that knit fabrics shrink and stretch, so even if the width is 150 cm, in some cases it may be 150 cm or less, or 150 cm or more. To stabilize it, it is important to relax it before sewing. There are various precautions for other materials as well. In particular, delicate fabrics have more washing restrictions and poorer lightfastness. It is important to match your brand direction with the fabric price.

Pay attention to fabric stock

It is often said that if you try to make samples and start mass production after 3–4 months, the fabric will be out of stock! That is often the case. There are actually two types of out-of-stock situations. The first is seasonal fabrics that will not be produced after the season ends; winter-only or summer-only fabrics will remain, so even if the off-season stock runs out, they will not be produced. Of course, if you take a certain lot, it will be produced, but that is unrealistic because delivery takes a long time. The second is standard fabrics, which are always available. Fabrics that rotate continuously, such as standard-count oxford and broadcloth from major fabric manufacturers, may already have been processed even if they are out of stock. Therefore, lead times may be relatively short.

However, if you choose only standard items when making clothes, you will end up with materials that are everywhere. When selecting sample fabrics, I think it is a good idea to discuss stock and similar matters. Also, I think many brands want to reserve fabric to avoid shortages, but recently I feel the number of manufacturers that accept basic reservations is decreasing. If it is our own stock item, we will receive it, but if it is a fabric manufacturer, it can take up to about two weeks at the longest, and if you keep issuing requests, you may lose credibility. Some manufacturers only accept basic purchases, and the level of support differs by manufacturer. Due to the impact of COVID-19, stock turnover is declining, and responses are expected to become stricter.

Each wholesaler has quality standards

Although quality standards vary overseas, there are department-store quality standards within department stores, store-by-store quality standards, and overseas quality standards. Quality standards are the quality criteria set by retailers when selling to customers, and we may not handle products with colorfastness above that value or dimensional change rates below that value. Also, in countries such as Europe, there are stores that place a high value on sustainability, and I’ve heard that unless a lot of sustainable materials are used, it is useless; there are also disallowed items such as buffalo buttons. From an animal welfare perspective... This means that you may need to choose materials based on your company’s current and future sales destinations.

Summary

I’ve written notes from various perspectives. Of course, I think there are ways to choose in terms of planning and design, but if you know the shortcomings of each material in advance, I think you can proactively do quality control, so I will continue to share more in the future.