Martindale pilling testing
Welcome to 3 Minute Methods, where we aim to teach you a fundamental method in textiles testing, in that’s right, just 3 minutes.
Pilling can ruin the look and feel of textiles, and it is one of the primary reasons for a consumer to throw a garment away, with almost 50% of the average persons wardrobe ending up in the bin. It is because of these damaging statistics that manufacturers need a reliable way to predict the propensity that their fabrics and garments have to pilling.
What is it?
Pilling happens when loose fibres on the fabric surface tangle into small balls (pills) during wear or laundering. It’s influenced by fibre strength and type, yarn structure, and fabric construction. The Martindale pilling test accelerates this process under controlled conditions, for us to assess and grade fabrics by their resistance to pilling.
A pilling test such as ISO 12945-2 involves a Martindale tester, fabric specimens (for the top and the base), test materials if required, standard photographic references, and a grading environment for final assessments.
Why it matters
This test replicates an accelerated view of the real-life wear of garments and textiles, helping us to predict how fabrics will look after repeated wear. It’s an essential test during quality control for apparel and upholstery, as pilling is one of the first visual signs of wear on most fabrics. Because of this, pilling has a direct correlation with percieved poor quality, or deeming the product to be near the end of its lifespan.
For premium products and garments, being able to determine how long a product resists pilling, is linked directly to quality and price.
How it works
Circular samples of the test fabric are mounted onto the pilling heads of the Martindale tester. The Martindale itself is ‘dressed’ with a static abradant, which on a pilling test is more often than not the same fabric as what is being tested (face-to-face). The specimen is then rubbed in a small Lissajous pattern for a predetermined number of rubs.
Pilling testing is typically done in set stages, where the test is then stopped and assessed. Assessment is performed after defined rub counts, for example 500, 1,000, 2,000, up to 7,000 rubs.
- Lissajous movement: 16 rubs = 1 abrasion cycle
- Test Materials: Reference abradant (140mm, usually the same as the sample piece), wool felt pads (140mm and 90mm)
The number of samples per fabric/ report is a minimum of 4 (per the ISO 12945-2 standard) and this is because there are at least 4 stages of assessment to be undertaken to be able to give an overall grade at the end.
Pictured below is the pilling test holder both stored away and put together ready for testing.
Note: The Lissajous motion for pilling is smaller than that for the abrasion test. It is important to understand the difference.
What you’ll see
As with many textile tests, the grading or analysis of the test is a subjective assessment that is done by eye. When your test has stopped at its set increments, we would typically expect to see more pilling as the test progresses.
A common phenomenon we see with these increments is more pilling at the first increment/s, that appear less as the test goes on. The reason for this is that when the pills form early on, they can become loose and detatch from the specimen, essentially making the results better towards the end of the test. It is for this reason that incremental checks are essential throughout the test, from start to finish.
Grading: Visual comparison against the original sample using a 1–5 scale:
- 5: No change
- 4: Slight fuzzing/pills
- 3: Moderate pilling
- 2: Distinct pilling
- 1: Severe pilling
Results gathered from this test include:
- Frequency of pills in relation to the photographic standards (1-5, 1 being poor, 5 being good)
- Appearance of fuzzing (visual assessment)
When we talk about grading pilling testing, the higher the photographic standard grade the better. Typically, the highest grade would be a 4/5 as opposed to simply a 5, as most fabrics have some degree of pilling or fuzzing to asses, though on some fabrics where the test has clearly had zero affect, a 5 can be achieved.
The untested green fabric specimen (pictured left). On the tested specimen (pictured right), we can see moderate pilling.
Quick takeaway
The Martindale pilling test is a commonly used standard test for materials such as standard garment and upholstery fabrics, nonwovens, luxury textiles and more. Almost every fabric intended for commercial or private use, should have or will have undergone a pilling test on a Martindale tester.
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