b'BULLETINNO. 499TABST E X T I L E A N A LY S I S B U L L E T I N S E R V I C EBy Jim Kirby, DLI Textile AnalystWear Causes Fabric Damage What Is The Problem?Local fraying, pilling, thinning, and/or tears in the fabric that appear aftera period of time in normal wear. What Does It Look Like?The surface of the fabric can appear rough, pilled, frayed, thin, or eventorn. Such local damage can occur anywhere but is most often seen in theelbows, seat, waistband, crotch, edges, folds, or other areas that are abradedor stressed during use.The neck fold on the collar of this shirt has been worn thin from wear.What Caused It?Such damage occurs when an area of the garment is repeatedly abradedand rubbed during the circumstances of individual wear.After a periodof time, the fabric in these local areas becomes thin and threadbare.Eventually, the fabric will separate and pull apart, but may not becomeobjectionable until the agitation of some later professional cleaningprocess aggravates already thin, frayed, and weak areas. Since this type offabric damage is a condition of use, it could appear anywhere dependingon individual wear circumstances.Can It Be Prevented?The type of construction, dye, and finish of a fabric may decrease its over-all life expectancy to some degree. Heavier, thicker fabrics with tighter The rear waistband and belt loops of these slacks are beginning to ripweaves will be more durable than soft fabrics with low-twist yarn or looser from repeated abrasion in use. weaves. However, wear abrasion is a circumstance of individual use andeventual damage cannot be prevented. Who Is Responsible?Unless a garment is very new and it can be shown that it has not beensubjected to unusual circumstances of wear, this type of damage cannot beassociated with defective fabric. Professional drycleaning and wet cleaningprocesses use total immersion to subject the entire garment and all of itscomponents to the same treatment. Thus, they cannot create localizedfrayed, thin, or weak areas.Is There A Remedy?In some instances with some fabric constructions, the damaged area canbe satisfactorily mended or professionally re-woven, but the original con-ditions of abrasion may still exist, meaning that the same damage might Stress and abrasion damage can be seen on this shirt in the sleevere-appear.above the placket near the elbow. Note: All in-print DLI bulletins, including this one, are available on DLIs Drycleaning Encyclopedia App or on the Drycleaning Encyclopedia webedition accessible in the Members Only section of DLIonline.org. This resource is available to Silver, Gold, Premier, and International Members.THIRD QUARTER 2019 35'