Testing fiber loss in fabrics

1 . A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:

providing a sample of the fabric material within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample, wherein the providing the sample within the container comprises pinching the peripheral edge portions of the sample between facing surfaces within the container;

adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;

agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water;

after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers; and

analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

cutting the sample from the fabric material in a shape that corresponds with a cross-sectional shape of the container.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the agitating of the water within the container comprises:

inserting a stir bar into the container including the sample; and

facilitating a rotation of the stir bar within the container filled with water for the predetermined time period.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the container comprises a vessel with an open end and a lid that is securable to the open end of the vessel, the sample is provided between the vessel and the lid, and the lid is secured to the vessel such that the edges of the sample are pinched and covered by the facing surfaces of a container edge at the open end of the container and a surface of the lid that faces the container edge.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fiber collection system comprises a filtration system including a filter and a filtration vessel, and the transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into the fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers comprises:

directing the water with entrained fibers to the filtration system and onto the filter so as to separate the water from the entrained fibers in the water by passing the water through the filter and into the filtration vessel while the fibers are collected on the filter.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the analyzing the captured fibers comprises:

analyzing the filter including collected fibers under one or more magnified views to determine an amount of collected fibers on the filter.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the filter has a pore size of at least 0.5 micrometers.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the filter comprises a mixed cellulose ester (MCE) membrane filter material.

9 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the filtration system further comprises a funnel, the filtration vessel comprises a flask including an open end that is in fluid communication with the funnel, the filter is disposed between the funnel and the open end of the flask, and the method further comprises:

applying a vacuum to an outlet port of the flask to draw water from the funnel, through the filter and into the flask.

10 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the analyzing the captured fibers comprises analyzing a magnified view of the filter to determine an amount of fibers collected on the filter and disposed along a predetermined area of a surface of the filter.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

assigning a value based upon the determined amount of fibers collected on the filter; and

correlating the assigned value to the degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the fibers released from the fabric material have cross-sectional dimensions of no greater than 10 micrometers.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

assigning an indicator of fiber loss to the fabric material based upon the determined degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the determined degree of fibers shed from the fabric material comprises a measured number of fibers shed from the fabric material.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a quality of the fabric material based upon the determined degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the determining the quality of the fabric material further comprises:

assigning a quality grade for the fabric material based upon the determined degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.

17 . A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:

providing a sample of the fabric material within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample;

adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;

agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water;

after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers, wherein the captured fibers are collected along a surface of a filter; and

analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material, wherein the analyzing comprises determining an amount of fibers per area along the surface of the filter based upon a count of fibers.

18 . A method of determining an amount of fiber loss from a fabric material after washing of the fabric material, the method comprising:

securing a sample of the fabric material at a secured location within a container, the sample having a shape defined by peripheral edge portions of the sample;

adding water into the container to facilitate contact of the water with a surface of the sample that faces the water while preventing the water from contacting the peripheral edge portions of the sample;

agitating the water within the container for a predetermined period of time so as to cause fibers to be released from the fabric material and entrained in the water, wherein the fabric material remains secured and is prevented from moving from the secured location within the container during the agitating;

after agitating, transferring the water with entrained fibers from the container into a fiber collection system to obtain captured fibers; and

analyzing the captured fibers to determine a degree of fibers shed from the fabric material.