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Wood Coatings And Stains

  • August 12,2023
  • By Q-Lab

15 min read

 

Wood Coatings And Stains

Overview and Problem Statement
The Czech University (CZU) Department of wood processing and Biomaterials is a partner to the construction industry, providing a service for the evaluation of commercially available wood coatings and stains.

Services are used by manufacturers of wood coatings and wood stains that are used in the building industry and by the companies who use these stains and varnishes in the construction industry. Another industry that uses these services is the Automotive sector, which uses wood laminates on interiors which are always stained and or coated for protection.

manufactures weather testing wood coatings and stains

The performance requirements of these coatings and stains fall into two equally-important categories:

1) Aesthetic – the appearance of the wood and its color
2) Protection - the coating needs to maintain the natural appearance of the wooden substrate while preventing failure modes like fading, cracking, and peeling of the coating or stain used. For clear coatings, the gloss loss is an additional important failure mode.

Within the construction industry, the coated or stained wood can be used in a lot of different orientations. Vertical and horizontal are the most common, though any orientation is possible based on the construction design. The primary climate is European. As this encompasses a very large range of climates - Sweden is very different from southern Spain, for example - the extremes of exposure conditions must be considered. The challenge for CZU is to determine the aesthetic and protective performance of wood coatings across these climates. To accomplish this, CZU provides a weathering testing service that encompasses accelerated lab testing and natural exposures so that performance can be correlated and a level of confidence in the service life of the coating can be understood.

CZU’s goals in working with Q-Lab were both to increase their weathering test business, as well as enhance their already-strong reputation as a leading academic organization in the field of wood processing and biomaterials. With the results achieved from performing laboratory testing using the QUV accelerated testing as well as natural outdoor exposures, CZU has become the test lab of choice for wood coatings and stains within the Czech Republic - their overall testing business has more than doubled, their customers base has increased by 150%, and profits have increased due to the low cost of operation of the QUV. Additionally, their published technical work from these weathering results has enhanced CZU’s stature as an academic organization with true expertise in weathering testing and analysis of wood coatings.

Testing Description and Results
Natural outdoor testing - Natural outdoor weathering testing is conducted using both 45 degrees South-facing as well as 90 degrees South-facing, as shown below.

90 degree exposure is a simulation of the end-use environment. The 45 degree South-facing exposure is as specified in many international test methods for natural exposures such as ISO 877-1, ASTM G24, and EN 927-3.

The 90-degree exposure is a simulation of the end-use environment. The 45-degree South-facing exposure is as specified in many international test methods for natural exposures such as ISO 877-1, ASTM G24, and EN 927-3.

Pictured Miloš Pánek, CZU (Left) and Jim Regan, Q-Lab (Right) Specimens exposed using these tests show significant weathering degradation.

Pictured Miloš Pánek, CZU (Left) and Jim Regan, Q-Lab (Right) Specimens exposed using these tests show significant weathering degradation. Below are photos of wood coating specimens before and after exposure on the roof of the CZU building for 12 months:

photos of wood coating specimens before exposure on the roof of the CZU building for 12 months:

A – Spruce Thermowood without coating
B – Spruce Thermowood with oil-based penetrating coating
C – Larch with transparent oil-based coating
D - Spruce with transparent oil-based coating
E - Oak with transparent oil-based coating
F – Larch with pigmented oil-based coating
G - Spruce with pigmented oil-based coating
H - Oak with pigmented oil-based coating

Although degradation can be observed clearly after just one year, specimens can be exposed for up to a maximum of 3 years to determine the real-world performance in the Czech Republic. This data is used as the basis for comparison when results are obtained from the accelerated testing in the laboratory.

The temperature variations in CZ range from 35 °C in summer to -25 °C in winter. A coating needs to be able to withstand this wide temperature range, which is not seen everywhere in Europe. This extreme element of CZU’s outdoor testing is of interest to the building industry and the makers of the stains and varnishes.

Accelerated weathering testing
The QUV/Spray accelerated weathering tester is used for laboratory testing. The EN 927-6 cycle is performed for a 6-week or 12-week) period. The test specimens are prepared in the same way for accelerated and outdoor exposure, except for the specimen size. Additional temperature cycling in climate chambers (80°C and -25°C) is often performed each week. The results are shown below comparing results of natural and accelerated testing. 1 

A – natural safflower oil
B – commercial transparent oil-based coating creating a thin layer
NW-natural weathering (in months)
AW – artificial weathering (in hours).2

Oak – native without coating

 

Oak – native without coating

The results from testing have indicated that different failure modes can be produced more effectively in different accelerated test devices. The QUV accelerated test is useful in predicting the failures seen in reality (rooftop in Prague) over three years and produces gloss loss failures very well. Some color changes are more accurate than others after QUV exposure, as the reactions of the wood species itself plus the coating degradation may interact to produce a macro effect. The surface roughness and species of the wood can also affect test acceleration.

Benefits of Testing
Since CZU purchased the QUV they have become the test lab of choice for wood coatings and stains within the Czech Republic, and their overall testing business has more than doubled. This is mainly because they can now offer accelerated testing performed in the lab for thousands of hours, which would take years outdoors. This capability has increased the number of customers by 150% and profits are increased due to the low cost of operation of the QUV.

Milos Panek has written several scientific articles that have been published based on this work and these have generated prestige and recognition for CZU as an academic organization. This was one of the goals of CZU. As a commercial testing organization, this has given CZU an edge within the Czech Republic, which continues to attract new customers. CZU have learned so much about the weathering performance of stains and wood coating that they are considered experts in this field.

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SDCE welcomes Ramp Impex Pvt. Ltd. to UK HQ

  • July 07,2023
  • By SDC Enterprises

5 min read

 

SDCE’s longstanding partner Ramp Impex made a 4,000-mile journey to the UK headquarters this week in a significant first visit to the company in over two decades. Made more poignant by the recent restrictions imposed upon face-to-face meetings by the Covid-19 pandemic, the visit by Puneet and Rachna Rawal was an opportunity to re-align their sales strategy for India, as well as viewing the premises for the first time since SDCE relocated to Holmfirth, West Yorkshire in 2016.

The husband-and-wife team was welcomed by sales manager Kim Briggs and managing director Mark Yare, who hosted a tour of the site’s full production facility.

 

“The absence of trade shows has left us with little opportunity to catch up with our global partners face-to-face, so we were delighted to welcome Ramp Impex to the SDCE,” he says. “Demand for our products continues to be high as the worldwide industry begins its recovery from the pandemic, and we are well-placed to continue to work with Ramp Impex to develop sales across India and the surrounding areas.”

Ramp Impex was established as an official distributor for India in 2001 when Puneet Rawal – a specialist supplier of scientific instruments – sought to bring high-quality testing consumables back from the UK to the thriving textile trade of India.

“At that time SDCE was a pioneer in the marketplace, and we were already becoming familiar with the brand as specialists in the textile field,” says Rawal. “I recognized the quality of the brand and felt sure that I could raise its profile back in my home territory.”

The relationship became one of SDCE’s most successful partnerships to date. Since officially appointing Ramp Impex as its official distributor for India in 2002, the joint enterprise has established over 650 accounts across India.

 

“The brand and the products have proven themselves over the past 17 years with regards to quality, consistency, correlations, and performance,” says Rawal. “Our key accounts include laboratories, apparel houses, brands, and processing mills, all of whom trust the SDCE name, and trust us to deliver the goods.”

Following their visit to SDCE’s UK headquarters, Puneet and Rachna Rawal have set their sights on stepping up their efforts to supply India’s rich network of textile testing professionals with the best in customer service, as well as premium products.

“Our ethos at Ramp Impex has always been that every year should be our best year and, following our visit to SDCE, we are looking forward to making that the reality for 2022.”

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How to Capture Color on Cylindrical-Shaped Items

  • July 07,2023
  • By X-Rite

4 min read

 

How to Capture Color on Cylindrical-Shaped Items 

Challenge

Controlling color on cylindrical-shaped items like cups, cans, sleeves, bottles, and tubes is a challenge. Since measuring on a curve can introduce errors, many manufacturers cut a piece from the finished product and lay it flat for an accurate reading. While this method works, it is expensive and time consuming. Each sample takes time to cut, and the process must be repeated multiple times per hour on each press. It also adds unwanted safety risks to employees who are cutting the samples, and unnecessary waste for the environment.

Solution

X-Rite’s Cup and Cylinder Solution is an integrated and easy-to-use fixture that combines the power of our eXact Advanced and Ci64 handheld spectrophotometers with a sample-positioning arm. Simply slide the sample on the arm to position a cylindrical-shaped sample at the correct height and angle for an accurate measurement.

  • Saves the time-consuming task of cutting samples and associated waste
  • Minimizes the risk of injury to employees
  • Captures actionable data to control color throughout the manufacturing run
  • When used with the eXact Advanced, can measure a wide array of opaque materials, including plastic, foam, film, and paper.
  • When used with the Ci64, can measure textured, reflective, translucent, and transparent samples using ISO-compliant Munsell backing material.

Results

For one X-Rite customer who prints plastic cups, using X-Rite’s Cup and Cylinder Fixture with the eXact has saved them 12 employee hours a day. To determine this savings, they calculated the time it took to cut a square from each cup and lay it flat to measure it, multiplied by the number of color checks per hour, per press. This tremendous cost savings is on top of the thousands of cups they save each day, and the positive impact on the environment since they package and sell each sample instead of destroying it.

How it Works

How to measure the color of cups and cylinders | X-Rite Solutions

   X-Rite’s Cup and Cylinder Fixture hold the cylindrical sample horizontally and on the same plane as the device, in perfect  

   measurement position. The arm can be customized with three offsets to accommodate samples -.025, -.045, or -.100    inches

   thick.

How to measure the color of cups and cylinders | X-Rite Solutions

 

The device sits on the stand with the aperture aligned over the sample. The sample can be moved and turned to measure different

locations. The top surface of the sample-positioning arm is flat, allowing flexible samples to flatten against the surface during

measurement.

How to measure the color of cups and cylinders | X-Rite Solutions

 

    The arm of the fixture is covered with Munsell backing material for consistent measurements on transparent samples, and to keep

    background-color from interfering when measuring samples that are not 100% opaque.

 

Featured Products

Ci60

Ci64 Spectrophotometer

X-Rite's most precise and accurate portable sphere spectrophotometer with simultaneous SPIN/SPEX, correlated gloss, and a UV option to accurately measure a variety of surfaces for products and packaging.  

 

eXact

X-Rite eXact Standard or Advanced Spectrophotometer

The benchmark for measuring color for print and packaging, this portable 45:0 spectrophotometer leverages job-based tools with industry color standards to increase process control. 

Cups and Cylinder Measurement Stand | X-Rite Solutions

 

Cup and Cylinder Fixture

This custom-made bench that holds a Ci60 series or eXact spectrophotometer at the right height and orientation to capture accurate color readings on cups and cylindrical-shaped items. 

 

ColorCert Desktop Tools

 

ColorCert Suite

A suite of quality control and assurance solutions to help brand owners, design agencies, premed, plating and ink companies, and printers manage color and ensure consistency.

 

Color iQC

Color iQC

 Ensures design intent is carried through to the final product by delivering tight tolerances and monitoring color from specification    through material suppliers, manufacturing, and assembly.

 

Achieve Color Success

With X-Rite’s Cup and Cylinder Fixture and the eXact or Ci60 spectrophotometer, packaging printers, and industrial manufacturers can easily measure cylinder shapes for a range of applications, reducing overall measurement time and eliminating waste. This combined solution also integrates with other X-Rite solutions, including InkFormulation software, ColorCert, NetProfiler, and Color iQC quality assurance software, to further streamline manufacturing workflows.

 

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Polyester Powder Coatings for Architectural Applications

  • June 21,2023
  • By Q-Lab Corporations

6 min read

 

POLYESTER POWDER COATINGS FOR ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATIONS

Company Overview
DSM Resins is a Netherlands-based manufacturer of polyester powder coatings for architectural applications. Their customers are principally in the building and construction industry. Naturally, the service environments they are most concerned about are outdoors encompassing all climates, weather conditions, and building structures.

In the 60 years that DSM has been producing powder coatings, they have carried out a lot of weathering testing, amassing more than 30 years of data. The primary degradation types that DSM is concerned about are color change and gloss loss. Like many paints and coatings producers, their products are durable materials meant to last a long time – DSM evaluates and tests for color and gloss change over approximately 10 years. DSM has a policy of performing accelerated testing of any new product developments, formulations, and changes before a decision is made to submit it to Florida to be added to the Outdoor Testing Programme. DSM sees weathering testing as a key component in its Product Development strategy. The library of data they have gathered allows them to offer a 10-year warranty. According to DSM, the most important benefit of this testing work is happy customers, which you can’t put a price on.

Problem Statement
DSM was experiencing problems that stem from their purchase of three fluorescent UV chambers from a Q-Lab competitor. DSM was carrying out a test according to ASTM G154 (for >500 hours), with a Gloss Loss value of >50% representing their critical failure mode. This test was chosen as it is an internationally-recognized standard for architectural and steel coatings. DSM requires consistency and stability from their weathering results, as reputation is extremely important to them to earn application recommendations. However, even though the three fluorescent UV testers are installed in the same laboratory and are only meters apart, they could not deliver Gloss Loss or Colour results that were stable, consistent, or comparable. The manufacturer’s repair representative spent a considerable amount of his own time over three years attempting to get the testers to provide usable, stable, and consistent results, without success.

Testing Description and Results
The inconsistent performance of the competitive apparatuses allowed Q-Lab to work with DSM on a solution for their accelerated weathering testing needs. After the problems encountered with the competitive chambers, DSM asked our distributor for help. They wanted to purchase three UV fluorescent testers; however, after their previous experience they wanted to prove that QUV accelerated weathering testers would provide the stable, comparable, and consistent results required that our competitor had failed to deliver.

Q-Lab agreed to run a 500-hour test using three QUV/se testers to verify that test results met DSM’s expectations. They provided two colors of samples for each QUV apparatus - brown and white. The expectation is that the darker color will lose gloss faster than the lighter color, with DSM providing an expectation for the amount of expected Gloss Loss and the timescale involved. We took three new QUV/se testers from our European warehouse, set them up in our European Accelerated Lab, and began the test.

During the test, we took regular evaluations of the test specimens and shared them with DSM. The result was that all three instruments provided results that not only fulfilled the criteria for providing comparable results between the three testers but also fell within the time parameters laid down by DSM. The customer was pleased with the results and took delivery of the three QUV testers used during the work. The three graphs below show the repeatability of testing by the three apparatus. In each graph, the y-scale represents % gloss retention. The upper grouping of gray lines represents gloss measurements taken from white specimens; the lower grouping is from brown specimens.





This final graph averages all white and all brown specimen measurements from each of the three QUV accelerated weathering testers (solid lines) as well as the overall average from all three testers (dashed lines) shown with error bars. This demonstrates the reproducibility of results observed among the three test instruments.



Benefits of Testing

DSM Resins has been seeing consistent gloss and color results from their QUV testers, as shown above. They have a high degree of confidence in their combined accelerated and outdoor test program for new coatings developments. This approach to accelerated weathering testing is very much in line with a key way in which Q-Lab promotes accelerated weathering testing – as a tool for directional decision-making. The QUV testing allows them to quickly screen out new developments in the laboratory before spending the time to put them to the true test of outdoor weathering.

Since this test, DSM has gone on to purchase additional testers from Q-Lab such as the QUV/Spray/RP, two Q-SUN Xe-3-HS, and one Q-FOG CRH600. They are a very satisfied customer of Q-Lab and our distributor. This is because we listened to what they wanted, delivered what they needed, and have become a good and trusted partner to work with.

DSM is a well-known and internationally recognized company that places a high value on using internationally recognized weathering testers such as the QUV to provide stable, comparable, and consistent test results. Key benefits to DSM from using Q-Lab testers are happy customers, as well as a more robust and trustworthy test program that now gives them an effective tool to reduce risk and make better decisions. DSM sees the cost of weathering testing as a small investment compared to the risks of not testing, which aligns with Q-Lab’s philosophy that “you can’t afford to test.”

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How to Cut Production Time in Half with a Digital Textile Color Program

  • June 21,2023
  • By X-Rite Pantone

5 min read

 

How to Cut Production Time in Half with a Digital Textile Color Program

Fashion and Apparel Colorists can get to approved colors faster and more efficiently while dramatically decreasing the textile industry’s environmental impact by leveraging more digital tools to specify and communicate color as a part of their color program.

Challenges

Colorists are faced with several challenges as the coordinators of the entire portfolio of color throughout the textile supply chain, including:

  1. Designers present ideas based on fashion trends without much thought of color achievability, but most brands don’t have the budget to achieve all the top trending colors presented on the runways in Paris and New York.
  2. Color achievability varies on solid mixed media across multiple suppliers simultaneously, so each new color requires a lab dip from the supply chain. Shipping physical samples or representatives around the world for review is expensive and time-consuming, and dyeing rework contributes to air and water pollution.
  3. With a push for fast fashion and increased consumer demand for more sustainable practices, colorists are under a lot of pressure to work faster and smarter.

Solution

Leveraging digital color data from a fleet of calibrated spectrophotometers that have a tight inter-instrument agreement, formulation software, QC, and QA software, colorists can holistically manage a textile color from concept through formulation much faster, often with a single round of lab dips.

Results

By introducing spectral data and color digitization in the design-to-manufacturing workflow, colorists can get to approved colors faster and more efficiently.

  • Reduce lab dip, shipping, and review time from 40 to 50 days to just 10
  • Formulate, produce, finish, evaluate quality, and ship in just 6 days instead 30 to 40

How It Works

The process starts with a digital database of approved brand color palettes that clearly defines technical and appearance specifications for each media, such as cotton, nylon, and polyester. The colorist communicates this digital color data and an acceptable tolerance to the supplier(s), who enters the digital data into formulation software to quickly calculate an accurate recipe. After dying a fabric sample, the supplier measures it with the spectrophotometer to ensure it is within a tolerance of the brand standard and sends a physical lab dip to the colorist for review.

The colorist measures the lab dip and enters the color data into quality assurance software to compare against the digital color specification and make intermediate decisions on metamerism. If the lab dip is within tolerance and visually matches the other components, the supplier gets a green light to begin production. If not, the colorist can provide specific L*a*b* direction on how to adjust the color and even run QA reports to help suppliers improve their processes. 

Featured Products

PantoneLIVE - Plastics, Coatings, Texiles

 

     PantoneLIVE Production – Plastic, Coatings, and Textile

     A cloud-based database that offers instant access to spectral colors and brand palettes for cotton, nylon, and polyester applications. These standards can be used during design, formulation, and quality control. 

  

Ci7860

 

Ci7800 or Ci7860

Benchtop sphere spectrophotometers with the tightest inter-instrument agreement and repeatability available to capture precise color data and generate accurate digital color standards.

Netprofiler 3

 

NetProfiler

Quality assurance software to ensure all onsite and offsite instruments are measuring within tolerance and performing within specification.

Color iMatch

 

Color iMatch

Formulation software to achieve initial matches up to 50% faster, cut correction steps in half and identify ways to rework leftover materials for a more sustainable formulation process.

Color iQC

 

Color iQC Professional

Quality assurance software to verify color quality and consistency and generate color data performance reports for a real-time view of production quality. 

 

Achieve Color Success

To continue to compete in the textile industry, apparel companies must accelerate speed to market, bridge the art and science of design, and master digital color. Applying digital color management throughout the design, formulation, and quality control processes provides a seamless way to produce accurate color and reduce the carbon footprint of the textile industry.

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Should you buy a washer dryer? Top 6 benefits of owning a washer dryer combo

  • June 16,2023
  • By Electrolux Group

3 min read

 

The best appliance is the one that works with your lifestyle. Some people may opt for a separate washing machine and a tumble dryer, while some go with only a washer to maximize space and rely on air drying instead. For those who want the best of both, a washer-dryer combo is a perfect fit.



What is a washer dryer combo?


A washer dryer combo, to put it simply, washes your clothes then dries them — all in one go, and all in one machine. It’s great for small households looking to streamline their laundry system for an efficient yet hassle-free experience.

The innovative features of the UltimateCare 500 Washer-Dryer give you all of these, plus a host of benefits that will preserve your favorite looks longer. Here’s why it’s worth it.

6 benefits of a washer dryer combo

 

1. A washer dryer is a space-saver

 


A washer dryer allows more space for homeowners who live in small flats or houses to store both a washing machine and a tumble dryer.

There are some places where you can fit your washer dryer, like the built-in laundry area, the corner of the bathroom or the kitchen. This will help you save space for your apartment and arrange the house more smartly and neatly.

The Electrolux UltimateCare 500 washer dryer can neatly fit in a designated laundry area or can be tucked in the bathroom or kitchen, allowing you to have more flexibility to customize and maximize your home space.

And if your home is spacious enough, then of course, there will be many benefits of owning a tumble dryer such as energy savings and the capability to connect your dryer to a smartphone via Wi-Fi.

2. Save your valuable time and energy

 


Trust the washer-dryer to do most of the heavy lifting for you from start to finish — an advantage that comes in handy when you have to multi-task.

Begin your fuss-free laundry experience by throwing everything in the washer, including your stained items - and you don’t need to pre-wash them like you usually would. 

As your washing cycle finishes, your clothes then go straight to drying, cutting your laundry time by almost half compared to air drying. Electrolux’s EcoInverter motor is quiet, durable, and uses up to 50% less energy consumption, so you’re free to do whatever you want while it works its magic.

3. Dry clothes fast in any weather conditions

 


Didn’t expect it to rain? For emergencies when you need a quick dry or when your clothes are still wet, a washer-dryer comes in handy because it can dry your clothes independently. You are assured to rest easy knowing that you have a plan B regarding the situation.

Give your drying a boost with Electrolux UltimateCare 500’s smart features like Anti-Crease, Reverse Tumbling, Smart Sensors, that gently revives your garments and smooths out creases by up to 32% versus air drying, reducing your ironing time.

4. Easily wash bulky items


Washing bulky items such as bed sheets or duvet covers could be a hassle, especially during winters when there is no sunshine. With Electrolux washer dryer, all you need to do is load your bedding items and wait for your fresh-feeling sheets. Now you can create bedtime comfort at home!

Our flexible cycle times can adapt to any load size. You can choose the Quick 15 Cycle which delivers an efficient, 15-minute wash for a small amount of clothes. The Daily 39 program is ideal for your soiled daily loads. And for a regular full load with bulky items, set to the Full Wash 60 cycle, the ideal one-hour program.

5. Incredibly easy to use

 


A washer dryer unit is designed with a horizontal axis drum. This design is pretty similar to a front load washing machine so that the combo will be gentler on the clothes tumbling around inside it. It also uses much less water and detergent, saving on your utility bills.

Since it’s a two-in-one appliance instead of two separate machines, the process of washing your clothes is incredibly simple. Simply pick the right settings for your load and hit Start. Plus, our washer dryers come with Delay Start option, allowing you to load your clothes and set the washer dryer to start its cycle at whatever time is most convenient for you.

6. Better clothing care with a washer dryer

 


Garments look new and vibrant longer when detergent is efficiently used. The UltraMix technology of the UltimateCare 500 premixes your cleaning detergent to fully activate it so that fibers remain soft with no remaining visible residue.

Your clothes can also use another layer of protection especially when you’ve used them outside. The HygienicCare function ends the wash cycle with a soft spray of vapor to remove up to 99.9% of allergens and germs.

What makes a washer-dryer combo, or any appliance, worth it is the convenience it brings and the worries it lessens. With the Electrolux washer dryer UltimateCare 300 for example, small households can properly care for their clothes and live their lives without worries.

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NEW generation of MESDAN-LAB tensile STRENGTH testers

  • June 16,2023
  • By Mesdan

5 min read

 

The revision of the popular TENSOLAB semi-automatic single-column strength tester was announced during the last ITMA with the introduction of the 4thgeneration, the TENSOLAB 4. TENSOLAB 4 replaced the former model which several hundreds were sold worldwide in the past 20 years.

The new TENSOLAB 4 embodies a combination of the best ingredients:

the latest technology, best electronics, new software & new accessories, stunning performances (in terms of capacity, versatility, accuracy, and testing efficiency), and Italian design.

The new TENSOLAB 4 represents the forefront of testing flexibility, being configurable for testing any kind of textile & leather material, from single and bundle fibers up to garment accessories and technical fabrics. Based on the new structure of TENSOLAB 4, a new single-position automatic version was developed, the AUTODYN 3, endowed with the automatic yarn-loading device.Ideal for the automatic multiple testing of a single bobbin/yarn package. It can be used in the semi-automatic mode as well for testing all other materials, such as fibers, threads, skeins, fabrics, etc.

 And finally the latest innovation, the AUTOFIL, a fully automatic 24 positions yarn strength tester.The integrated automatic cop feeding system, the built-in PC, its versatile applications, compact design, and high testing speed are only a few features that characterize the new AUTOFIL.To complete the range, Mesdan offers two models of double-column heavy-duty strength testers, TENSOLAB 1000 (10KN capacity) and TENSOLAB 5000 (50KN capacity), designed for high-tenacity technical yarns and fabrics, ropes, straps, and similar heavy materials.

 Last but not least, the third generation of the well-known portable SPLICE SCANNER. The first model was launched 25 years ago, its success and popularity are unrivaled, from spinning to dye-houses.The functional diversification, product diffusion, and price fairness brought forward to rank MesdanLab's range of strength testers among the most complete and popular worldwide.

 Such a long presence of MesdanLab products across the global textile supply chain testifies, not only its leadership but also its commitment to serving the textile industry with constant up-to-date technologies and improvements.

 

source of this article

 

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SDCE Verification fabrics set the Standard worldwide

  • June 16,2023
  • By SDC Enterprises

3 min read

 

SDCE Verification fabrics set the Standard worldwide

Test materials specialist Fineetex Co. has adopted SDCE’s range of verification fabrics to assess its extensive range of testing equipment. The Hong Kong-based company – which has become a global player in the quality control of textiles and toys since its inception in 2003 – has incorporated the verification range to add an extra level of reassurance to customers.

SDCE’s verification fabric are now an essential tool in the ongoing quality of control of Fineetex’s range of testing tools, which include crockmeters, circular cutters, fabric weight balance machines and sharp edge testers. The incorporation of the fabrics adds a point of reference result to the firm’s certificates of conformity, further cementing its position as a reputable supplier of reliable machines and their related physical test materials (Schröder), such as cork liners and felt sleeves.

“It is very hard to find reliable test fabrics for test continuity,” said a spokesperson for Fineetex Co. “We selected SDCE verification fabrics as our core standard because they offer a constructive solution to any facility looking to monitor the ongoing quality of their procedures, technicians, and equipment.”

The incorporation of SDCE’s verification range came about as part of a collaboration among Fineetex, LabTEX, GTE, and a range of other textile testing specialists. As SDCE’s long-standing distributor for Hong Kong, those at the helm of GTE are advocates of the SDCE range, which offers unrivaled quality and consistency across textile testing consumables for testing at BS, EN, and ISO Standards.

And Fineetex Co. is not alone in its adoption of SDCE-verification fabrics. More and more test specialists across Hong Kong and worldwide have adopted SDCE’s verification range as core standard samples, as part of a wider commitment to stringent quality control.

“We watch our customers make strides and develop solutions, and it energizes us to improve test reliability through innovation,” says GTE’s managing director Henley Cheung. “We noticed that retailers and brands are increasingly looking to test their products repeatedly within a simulated retail environment to identify any potential quality issues prior to a consumer complaint.

“SDCE’s verification fabrics have become an essential tool for many independent labs as a core standard sample. We use the fabric ourselves to simulate real-life conditions with our standard washers, such as LabTEX M8 (ISO) and LabTEX M6 (AATCC) to do both crucial tests in colorfastness and washability, such as dimensional stability. And, having seen how they improve test continuity, we were keen to extol the virtues to our associates at Fineetex Co.”

By guaranteeing consistent results and removing the variable of the base material, SDCE’s verification range assures professionals that the skill, equipment, and procedures of their facility are being correctly assessed for quality control purposes.

 

Source of this article

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Evaluate and Control the Colors of Windows and Doors

  • June 16,2023
  • By X-Rite Pantone

10 min read

 

How to Accurately Evaluate and Control the Color of Windows and Doors

Color control is incredibly important for window and door manufacturers. Not only must all parts match throughout the home or building and retain color integrity over time, but manufacturers must also be able to produce an exact color match years down the road for replacement parts.

Challenge

Home and commercial buildings are designed to last. However, creating timeless and durable colors on doors and windows holds many challenges:

  1. The color of incoming materials varies and can impact the final color.
  2. Visual evaluation using physical standards under inconsistent lighting can lead to poor color decisions.
  3. Textured and glossy surfaces require extremely tight color tolerances to ensure all parts match when assembled and installed.
  4. Color must be reproducible across multiple supplier and production sites.

Solution

To control the color of windows and doors, building material manufacturers need a complete quality control solution that includes a custom physical sample that represents both color and appearance effects, a light booth with standardized lighting for visual evaluation, a spectrophotometer to capture accurate spectral data, and quality control software to compare and track quality and trends.

Results

A quality control solution can help window and door manufacturers reduce rejections.

  1. Rejecting off-color materials instead of adding the wrong color to stock.
  2. Capturing spectral data to eliminate the subjectivity of visual evaluation.Evaluate and Control the Color of Windows and Doors | Using X-Rite Solutions
  3. Comparing color against accurate standards ensures compliance.
  4. Setting clear expectations and ensuring device performance across sites.

How It Works

Many window and door manufacturers utilize physical color standards to communicate expectations and evaluate quality against a production sample. To successfully represent both color and appearance, each physical color standard depicts both color and special effects like gloss and texture. Samples and standards are then compared in a light booth to ensure the color does not shift under different types of light, such as showroom, outdoor, and home.

 

Although visual evaluation is important, adding a sphere spectrophotometer can quantify color acceptability without the subjectivity of visual evaluation. A benchtop model creates digital standards and ensures incoming color is within tolerance, while a portable handheld is ideal to evaluate color on the receiving dock or offsite at a customer or accelerated weathering test location.

Quality control software ties everything together by communicating accurate color data with suppliers and providing pass/fail tolerance information for each material color measurement. Quality assurance software takes it a step further to offer insight into color trends and monitors, optimizes, and ascertains the performance of the entire spectrophotometer fleet to ensure all sites are reproducing color the same way.

Featured Products

Evaluate and Control the Color of Windows and Doors | Using X-Rite Solutions

 

Munsell Custom Standards

Replicate color, texture, and gloss to establish realistic color targets for suppliers and visually evaluate color during final assembly.

 

 

Ci7800

 

Ci7800

A benchtop spectrophotometer to measure incoming materials to verify compliance and reject shipments that are out of specification.

 

Ci64

 

Ci64

A portable spectrophotometer to capture spot measurements on the dock or in the lab, evaluate color stability during weathering tests in the field, and specify accurate color offsite for replacement products.

 

 

Color iQC

 

Color iQC

Quality control software to compare and evaluate spectral data to track trends, ensure color consistency at every site, and evaluate suppliers across the supply chain.

 

 

SpectraLight QC

 

SpectraLight QC

A light booth to visually evaluate color matches under multiple standard lighting conditions.

 

Netprofiler 3

 

NetProfiler

Quality assurance software to verify all onsite and offsite instruments are measuring within tolerance and performing within specification.

 

Achieve Color Success 

A complete color control solution from X-Rite can help window and door manufacturers ensure the color of all parts match throughout the home or building and produce an exact color match years down the road.

 

 

 

 

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Case Study:Automotive Paint & Coatings

  • June 16,2023
  • By Q-Lab Corporation

2 min read

 

One of the world’s leading suppliers of automotive clear-coats and their automotive OEM began to notice a problem of small, permanent spots appearing on cars arriving through shipping ports near Jacksonville, Florida.  They determined that the spots were acid etch marks caused by air pollution in the area.

Through a joint development effort between Q-Lab and the customer, a secondary spraying system was developed for the Q-SUN Xe-3 to accommodate an acid solution that would recreate the acid etch problem. The Q-SUN Xe-3 tester’s near-horizontal flat array format (vs. vertical rotating drum machines) eliminated runoff of the solution, allowing it to remain on the surface and simulate the real-life application.

As a result of extensive experimentation, a test protocol was developed that mimics the harshest 12 weeks in Jacksonville,in an accelerated laboratory test of only 400 hours.  This has allowed customer scientists all over the world to quickly formulate and retest specimens in their efforts to find ways to resist the acid etch problem.

 

 

 

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