The fabric industry, together with the packaging industry, utilize a lot of labels. The labels of their products say a lot when it comes to authenticity and the general trust that they will receive from the public upon a sale. Branding has become a large part of the fabric industry. During large shipments, the coming together of fabrics, packages, and many more materials can lead to the labels rubbing off. This led to the rise of label rub testing in the fabric and packaging industries.

Rub Testing in Printed Labels

When it comes to printed labels, a lot of consideration comes into it in terms of rub testing. The testing is usually done to determine the amount of abrasion or scuff that may arise in times of shipping, storage, or handling of the printed label. This is vital as it will allow the organization to know the durability of their printed labels. No one wants their shipment to arrive with some of the prints having a rub-off. Print label rub testing allows the manufacturers to determine whether their image is durable or needs more work to be done on it.

Fabrics High Tendency to Rubbing

One of the most notorious victims of label rubbing is fabrics. Considering the large number of brands that are in the fabric industry, all take their fabrics seriously. A small misstep and the competition will have the upper hand as their brand with a more-prominent label, or a longer-lasting one will be preferred. No one will want to stick with a brand that has no benefit from showing the label. The label of a brand increases its marketability and price. Only an effective label rub tester will help ensure that fabrics are well labeled.

Colorfastness and Its Contribution to Label Rub Testing

Colorfastness is a term well-known to all those who label fabrics. Colorfastness can be considered as a scale that tells the susceptibility of a fabrics label to fading off when washed or from scuff. Colorfastness is usually ranked from Grade 1 to Grade 5, with grade 1 representing a high degree of color transfer and grade 5 no color transfer. 

Colorfastness is used by many fabric makers to determine if the fabric was well made, its color, darkness, and what the fabric will be used for. A test is usually conducted to determine the level of colorfastness. It plays a significant role in label rub testing, as the colorfastness can also determine how easy label rubbing can occur in a fabric.

Legal Implications

Apart from the numerous benefits that fabric and packaging owners get from label rub testing, there are legal bindings that are tied to the process. Federal laws expect all packaging and fabric service providers to provide material that is satisfactory to the clients. Failure to pass a label rub test could mean that the product is below the standard requirements. All manufacturers of fabrics and packages conduct label rub tests as a means of compliance with federal and international laws.