Current standards on textiles and clothing
Tested properties and high demands
- Credit: ASI prm
Austrians attach great importance to quality in everything they wear. Judging by the number of standards, the colour fastness of textiles is a key concern.
More then one hundred out of the 350 standards on textiles provide test methods ensuring that colours do not fade as long as possible. Wrinkle-free textiles, the proper down content of finished products (e.g. coats or jackets) as well as water repellency are also among the subjects covered.
There are, however, also standards on other textile products, such as ropes and fishing nets.
Colour fastness (selection):
ÖNORM EN 20105: Colour fastness
ÖNORM EN 29865: Water repellency
ÖNORM EN ISO 105 (82 standards): Colour fastness
ÖNORM EN ISO 1805: Fishing nets
Protection against radiation and dangerous substances
- Credit: ASI prm
Textiles should not only be colour-fast and wrinkle-free, they also have to meet special requirements. Clothes can protect sensitive skin against ultraviolet radiation and must not contain any substances damaging health. The purpose of ÖNORM EN 14362, for example, is to detect azo colorants that are partly considered to be carcinogens and, hence, banned by.
Special demands:
ÖNORM EN 13758: Solar UV protective properties
ÖNORM EN 14362: Azo colorants – textiles
As tough as leather
- Credit: ASI prm
Leather – used for shoes, furniture or automotive applications – is submitted to tough tests defined in standards that are in line with European and international requirements, with only one exception: there are seven national leather standards that are primarily used by the Austrian Army, but they may be replaced by International Standards in the next few years.
Leather (selection):
ÖNORM CEN ISO/TS 17234: Azo colorants in leathers
ÖNORM CEN/TS 14906: Upholstery leather for automotive applications
ÖNORM EN 13336: Guide for the selection of leather for furniture
ÖNORM S 7005: Testing of leather
Safety at work, play and sports
- Credit: ASI PRM
Clothes protect, but they may also give rise to risks – especially for children. To prevent hazards, special standards were drawn up: on cords and drawstrings on children’s clothing as well as on the flammability of nightwear.
In everyday life, safety is also of great concern in two other fields: work and sports. Textiles play a special role in protecting against injuries, fire or dangerous machinery parts.
Safety (selection):
ÖNORM EN 14682: Cords and drawstrings on children’s clothing
ÖNORM EN 14878: Burning behaviour of children’s nightwear
ÖNORM EN 407: Protective gloves against heat and fire
ÖNORM EN 1486: Protective clothing for fire-fighters
ÖNORM EN 13546: Protective clothing for field hockey
Correct care and clothing sizes
- Credit: ASI prm
To avoid any doubts about the proper care of clothes, a series of internationally agreed symbols are defined in ÖNORM EN ISO 3758, which is being updated.
The nagging question of designating clothing sizes – a key issue for mail-order companies – has not been finally answered to date. However, individual parts of EN 13402 are already available.
ÖNORM EN 13402: Size designation
ÖNORM EN ISO 3758: Care labelling code
Outlook
- Credit: ASI prm
There are more than 600 documents standardising textiles in the broadest sense. On account of globalisation, new materials and changing safety demands, this area will develop more and more dynamically.
