We Test Your Fabrics
Bring in, or ship to us your clothing, bedding, or any other textile item and we will analyze it with our fabric analyzer!
Our fabric-measuring equipment uses NIR, near infrared spectroscopy. We are proud to offer use of the Matoha FabriTell device. This highly-specialized unit is manufactured in the UK and cost about $4,000 USD.
We place the sample over the sensor. The identification takes about a second.
Will Analyze…
Cotton, Polyester, Viscose, Wool, Elastane (Spandex, Lycra), Polyamide (nylon), Silk, Acrylic, Acetate.
It can also read the ONE OR TWO most DOMINANT blends in the sample.
Here is the list of combos the machine is capable of reading:
- cotton-polyester
- cotton-viscose
- cotton-elastane
- cotton-nylon
- cotton-acrylic
- polyester-viscose
- polyester-elastane
- polyester-acrylic
- nylon-wool
- nylon-elastane
- wool-acrylic
- wool-polyester
- viscose-elastane
(If your sample is known to have different combinations than above, the machine will not be able to verify this.)
Limitations
“Cotton” will display for ramie, flax, linen, and hemp, as they are chemically-identical.
“Viscose” will display for Rayon, Lyocell, Tencel, Modal, Cupro and bamboo.
“Wool” will display for cashmere, alpaca, mohair, camel, mink, leather.
CANNOT READ samples containing carbon black. This pigment causes all the infrared light to be absorbed and as a result, we don’t get any useful information from the sample. Thankfully, most black samples do not have this problem and are identifiable.
CANNOT READ materials at low % (< 5%, e.g. elastane) as the NIR spectrum of the sample would look the same as the same or when hidden inside weave.
THE MACHINE CANNOT IDENTIFY THREE FABRICS IN THE SAMPLE! (Only the two most dominant components.)
How Does it Work?
Near infrared spectroscopy sends beams of light to the object. The reflection back to the sensor will detect unique differences in the object. Based on the calibration of the device, the differences in the light wavelength can be associated with different molecular structures. NIR uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, (700-2500 nanometers). The process allows for immediate material analysis without destroying the sample.
What you Get
We will video-record the testing process for each sample tested and send you the link to the video for your records.
