Standardised Washing Test for Microfibre Shedding
topic
Microfibre shedding quantification washes fabric specimens in a front-loading machine under defined load, water volume, agitation, and temperature conditions, collecting all effluent water through cascade stainless steel sieves at 500, 100, and 20 micrometre apertures; collected microfibres are dried and weighed gravimetrically and optically characterised for count, length, and width by image analysis.
Role
Provides reproducible standardised shedding data that enables comparison of microfibre emissions across fabric types, construction parameters, and laundering conditions, forming the analytical foundation for ecolabel threshold development and regulatory minimum performance standards for synthetic textile microfibre pollution reduction.