Change of blogs address

Please be informed that our blogs address has been changed to 

http://gsource.blogspot.com

for easy access of our readers.

We thank you for your support and hope to see more article contributions from our readers.

Fabric identification by burning

How to determine fabric content by using burn test.

Snip a piece of fabric equivalent to 1" square.  Using a butane lighter and holding the fabric with a pair of tweezers ignite the fabric over a non-flammable surface in a well ventilated area.Examine the quality and color of the flame, the odor produced, and the  quality of the resulting ash or cinder.  Use this table to help determine your fabric's content.

 

FABRIC	FLAME QUALITY	ODOR	ASH QUALITY	COMMENTS
WOOL	orange color sputtery	burning hair or feathers	blackish turns to powder when crushed	flame will self extinguish if flame source is removed no smoke
SILK	burns slowly	burning hair or feathers	grayish turns to powder when crushed	burns more easily than wool but will self extinguish is flame source removed
COTTON	yellow to orange color steady flame	burning paper or leaves	grayish, fluffy	slow burning ember
LINEN	yellow to orange color steady flame	burning paper or leaves	similar to cotton	takes longer to ignite than cotton but otherwise very similar
RAYON	fast orange flame	burning paper or leaves	almost no ash	ember will continue to glow after flame source removed
POLYESTER	orange flame, sputtery	sweet or fruity smell	hard shiny  black bead	black smoke
ACETATE	burns and melts,sizzly	acidic or vinegary	hard black bead	will continue to burn after flame source removed
NYLON	burns slowly and melts,  bluse base and orange tip, no smoke	burning celery	hard grayish or brownish bead	self extinguish if flame source removed
ACRYLIC	burns and melts, white-orange tip, no smoke	acrid	black hard crust	will continue to burn after flame source removed

Plus size lingerie

Some of the lingerie we see available may not be able fit some.  We have available full range of plus size intimate apparel and here are some of them.

   

    

Here is how you measure your size

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What is AQL

The most commonly used standard for product inspections is standard ISO 2859-1 (ANSI/ASQC Z1.4-2003). It uses the concept of AQL, or Acceptable Quality Limit. The standard definition of the AQL is “the maximum defective percent (or the maximum number of defects per hundred units) that, for purpose of sampling inspection, can be considered satisfactory as a process average”.

A sampling size, based on the AQL tables, will be selected and then inspected for defects.

Defects are broken into 3 categories: Minor, Major and Critical. While these can vary from client to client, the typical definitions are as follow:

• A Minor defect is a discrepancy from the standards, but one that is not likely to affect the usability of an object.
• A Major defect is one that is likely to create failure of the unit for its intended purpose.
• A Critical defect is one that is deemed to be hazardous or unsafe.

According to the number of defects found for each type and according to the number of defects allowed (figures given by the AQL tables), your QC can advise you to accept or to reject your shipment.

How to use the AQL Tables?

The AQL tables will help to determine the sampling size we will need to inspect according to your ordered quantity and your level of severity. You can choose Levels I, II or III, with Level III being the most stringent testing and Level I being the least. The standard level, the one used by default and by 98% of the people is the Level II. This is up to the client, but it is the recommended level.

In order to find the necessary sampling size to be inspected, you must first look at the first chart and find on the left side the range of items being produced in total. For example, if you are producing 8000 items, at Level II you have the letter L, which in the second table corresponds to a sample size of 200.

On the top of the second chart are the defect levels, ranging from 0 to 6.5 (we cut the higher values out of the chart, because they are not relevant for buyers of consumer goods).

You can choose which level to apply for your type of defect: critical, major and minor. Usually most importers will choose standard defect levels which are 0/2.5/4.0 but one can choose 0/1.5/2.5 if he wishes.

Using the standard 0/2.5/4 defect levels and a sample size of 200, we see that if you have more than 0 critical defects, 10 major defects or 14 minor defects, you should reject your shipment.

Of course the decision about what to do after your received the inspection results belongs to you. Most importers will wish to discuss all inspection findings with their vendor/manufacturer in order to improve whatever possible. In case the inspection results are very close to AQL limits, it is important that you double check if the level of found defects is acceptable to you or not.

http://www.asiaqualityfocus.com

Quote:  Quality of a product is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and willing to pay for - Peter Drucker

Clothing brands adopt voluntary ban on sandblasting

International clothing brands and retailers including C&A, Carrefour, Esprit, H&M,  Inditex  and Levi Strauss have collectively imposed a voluntary ban on sandblasting in their global supply chains — and are calling on other companies to join them.

Their action was agreed earlier this week at a meeting hosted by the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation (ITGLWF), the global union representing workers in the industry.

Firms who have signed the voluntary ban have agreed to end the practice of sandblasting throughout their supply chains, including the use of aluminium oxide, aluminium silicate, silicon carbide, copper slag and garnet for abrasive blasting.

They have also pledged to work with their suppliers  to make the transition to alternative methods, and say they will take the necessary steps to ensure the ban is effectively applied.   

Apparel sandblasting involves projecting fine sand with compressed air to create a worn look on denim and other garments. Sandblasting can be extremely damaging to the health of workers if proper safeguards are not followed, and can lead to a disabling and potentially fatal lung disease called silicosis.  

Soon after the impact of sandblasting on workers’ health came under scrutiny in Turkey last July, Levi Strauss & Co and Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) became the first to implement a global ban on the process.

They have since been followed by a number of other leading brands and retailers — such as Bestseller, C&A, Carrefour, and Esprit — who have also said they would eliminate sandblasting in their supply chains.

ITGLWF general secretary Patrick Itschert says that in the absence of effective government regulation a total industry-wide ban is the only way forward.

http://www.mrketplace.com/15815/clothing-brands-adopt-voluntary-ban-on-sandblasting/

Quote:  success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm - Sir Winston Churchill

Factory Outlet Insiders: Former Gap exec now COO at Children's Place

Factory Outlet Insiders: Former Gap exec now COO at Children's Place

Very expensive clothing for all

Cotton prices have skyrocketed over the past year and a half and have more than doubled in the past 12 months.  Let’s look at three key questions

1. Why is this and what affect has it had (and is it having) on the price of your clothes?

2. What can makers of cotton based products do to handle this?

3. Is it rational?  Some people believe cotton has been irrationally over-inflated in price and are looking at shorting.

The Why

According to the article in Textiles Intelligence… “the main cause is a massive hike in the price of raw cotton. In the 18 months between March 2009 and the end of September 2010 this rose by 127%, from 51 cents/lb to almost 116 cents/lb.  Cotton is in short supply because farmers cut back on plantings when cotton prices were low. Also, cotton usage is rising in response to strong retail demand growth in China and India. And a further blow to cotton prices has been struck by the devastating floods in Pakistan.” 

Pakistan is a major producer of cotton but growth has been tricky and cotton is a complicated crop to tend to.  Flooding in the region and other bad weather affecting crops in China and Australia certainly put a dent in the price and it hit demand (driving prices up). Buyers of raw cotton have to scramble to other regions in the world such as in India (which is growing in it’s cotton production) and then we have the classic example of supply and demand dictating prices.

Four ideas to manage the situation if you make cotton clothing.

• Add other materials into your cotton based products.  Instead of 100% cotton shirts for example, maybe you redesign them to be 10% polyester or some other materials.

• Work more closely with your suppliers to see what is possible to negotiate.  Perhaps consolidating 10 suppliers down to 6 or 7 and filling those 6 or 7 up with the additional orders could help mitigate on the other side the price pressure felt on the cotton products.  Give them more volume ask for better overall pricing.

• Rethink your 30 or 40 percent of your line – does everything need to be cotton?  What alternative materials could you use for 2012/2013?  Adapt the line to the times.

• Re-source apparel production to suppliers that perhaps you never used before but have larger production runs that can allow you to piggyback on the raw materials buy.

Is it Rational?

People tend to panic at times and that can also lead to irrational pricing but if you look at the graphic at the top of this piece, you’ll see that Cotton has been high in the past as well as in the early nineties and then came back down over the next 10 years.

If you take a look at the chart on this page it shows cottons has risen almost 4x that of gold and the case could be made that cotton is simply overpriced by a longshot and will come down.  There’s no doubt that the factors of high demand for cotton products coupled with China’s consumption of cotton and add in a buzz in the world about how cotton is going up up up, maybe we simply end up with a self fulfilling prophecy that pushes the price of cotton too high compared to what it should be based on real supply and demand.

We’ll find out in the next 1-2 years but in the meantime I expect that consumers will be holding on to their jeans a little while longer than they used to and retailers will be closely watching how many units they buy.  Better to sell out than get stuck with dead and perishable inventory.

http://sourcingthreads.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/very-expensive-jeans-for-all/cotton-5/