Quality control is an important aspect of the garment production process. Today’s post shows information related to clothing quality inspection. Let’s take a look.
What is QC in the garment industry?
Garment QC ensures that clothing meets the necessary standards for design, durability, comfort, and other factors through inspections carried out before, during, and after production.
For simpler garments like T-shirts, this process is straightforward. However, high-end fabrics and complex designs require very stringent quality control, especially for branded apparel.
Additionally, with 80% of the world’s clothing produced in China, quality control is also essential for verifying compliance. In the textile industry, every country must adhere to strict regulations and quality standards. Non-compliance can result in products being rejected by customs, shipment delays, and even legal disputes.
When it comes to quality control, Uniqlo stands out for its strict standards. One of our sourcing agents, who previously worked at Uniqlo, told us that while the industry average for defective items is around 2-3%, Uniqlo insists on reducing this to just 0.3%. Even a simple Uniqlo T-shirt rarely shows any flaws – you’d be hard-pressed to find even a 1-millimeter loose thread. This commitment to quality has made Uniqlo a symbol of excellence for many.
How to check the quality of clothing?
The standard inspection process involves checking at every stage: before production, during production, and after mass production.
Material Inspection
You need to inspect all materials used for making clothes. This involves examining fabrics, buttons, zippers, etc., using light sources, touching, stretching, etc., to ensure they meet requirements.
In-process Inspection
When a small portion (e.g., 1/5) of the clothing production is completed, you can inspect the size, stitching, decoration, functionality, etc., of this batch. For instance, conduct stretch tests on fabric and seams and repeatedly pull zippers to check smoothness. If any issues are found, correct them promptly to avoid costly problems later on.
Finished Product Inspection
This is crucial. You need to conduct a comprehensive check on the finished garments. Hiring a third-party quality inspection company is a convenient option. They will come directly to the factory to inspect the products and provide detailed quality inspection reports, ensuring the clothing meets design specifications and customer requirements.
What should be checked in apparel quality control?
Generally speaking, the inspection agency will issue a garment quality control report. It mainly includes the following key contents:
Fabric Quality
This aspect primarily inspects whether the fabric has issues like color variations, spots, stains, defects, broken yarns, and more. It also evaluates the uniformity of the fabric, ensuring there are no noticeable stripes, mottling, or defects. Pantone postcards are often used to compare colors for consistency.
Size and Stability
Quality inspectors usually use a ruler or tape measure to carefully compare the size to see if it is consistent with the requirements. Also, you need to consider fabric size changes after processes like washing, drying, or other treatments.
Shrinkage and Deformation
This focuses on determining if the fabric experiences shrinkage, deformation, or contraction after washing or heat treatments. Especially with fabrics like cotton or linen, shrinkage is an important consideration. You have to test to make sure the shrinkage is acceptable.
Color Fastness Test
For dyed garments, such as denim jeans, it’s important to check whether the fabric maintains color stability under conditions like washing, friction, or exposure to sunlight. This helps avoid severe color fading issues.
Decorations and Accessories
Decorative elements such as beads, embroidery, and ribbons, as well as accessories like zippers and buttons, are elements that give clothing a unique style and personality. However, they also directly impact the overall quality and durability of the product. Check if they are securely attached to the clothing to avoid falling off or damage during use.
Stitching Quality
Good sewing quality, such as the uniformity of sewing threads, tension, and stitch density, ensures the stability and durability of seams. In addition, the accuracy of seam placement and alignment, the secure attachment of buttons and buttonholes, as well as the proper trimming and finishing, are all key elements to ensure the neat appearance and durability of the clothing. All of these aspects need to be thoroughly inspected.
Label and Packaging
You should not overlook the accuracy of labels. It’s essential to ensure that information such as size, composition, washing instructions, and brand identification is correct and clearly visible on the labels. Additionally, labels should be securely attached to the garments.
As for packaging, it must effectively safeguard the product’s condition during transportation. Furthermore, ensuring that all necessary information is present on the packaging is important. The environmental friendliness of packaging materials should also be considered, making sure they do not have any negative impact on product quality.
Durability and Performance
Assessing the durability of clothing involves checking how well it holds up against normal wear and tear, like repeated washing, stretching, and other stresses. High-quality garments should be able to withstand common wear, such as wearing, washing, and friction, without significant changes in shape or fabric texture.
Who can best handle garment quality control?
Large clothing companies like Uniqlo and ZARA usually have their own internal quality inspection teams. In contrast, small and medium-sized companies, considering labor costs, do not hire long-term quality inspectors. Instead, they typically outsource quality inspections to third-party inspection companies. These third-party inspectors only check according to the given checklist and send you the inspection report. They won’t pay attention to other potential issues with the product, as their approach is very rigid. Since third parties do not understand the fabric, craftsmanship, and production process of the products, it is challenging for them to evaluate and inspect from the product’s perspective. This is an objective problem.
So, when you don’t have your own quality inspection team, you can turn to Jingsourcing. Jingsourcing is the only company in China that provides professional sourcing and quality inspection services, thanks to their 10 years of experience helping over 4,000 importers with supplier sourcing, purchasing, product development, quality inspection, and shipping from China. Let’s see why they can truly help you.
1. Jingsourcing’s inspectors are very familiar with various clothing fabrics and craftsmanship, making it easy for them to spot defects during production. This means they not only check according to your requirements but also enhance the inspection to solve potential issues in the product that you might not have noticed. After all, you can’t always touch the actual product in real-time.
2. While at the factory, Jingsourcing’s inspectors will directly video call you via WhatsApp. They will send you photos/videos of the product details and discuss potential issues with you to see if they are acceptable. If improvements are needed, they will negotiate and discuss the issues with the factory on-site, ensuring a thorough and efficient inspection as if you were doing it yourself.
3. In China, a third-party inspection company’s fee typically ranges from $200 to $300, including labor costs and travel expenses, charged per inspection. If the first inspection fails and you want to arrange a second one, you need to pay again. Jingsourcing’s inspection fee is $40 per person per day, making it very cost-effective for a comprehensive inspection.
What are quality standards and regulations in the garment industry？
In addition to the above, you also need to consider compliance issues for your specific clothing category and target market.
Different countries have varying legal requirements for clothing products, especially for special groups like children, with strict certifications and regulations to ensure that clothing is harmless to people’s health. The following lists the seven most common certifications in clothing manufacturing.
ISO
ISO is short for International Organization for Standardization. It develops globally accepted standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products and services. For example, the most famous ISO 9001 quality management.
In the apparel industry, ISO involves several standards, such as ISO 105-B02 for evaluating the color fastness of textiles, and ISO 12945 for the abrasion resistance test of textiles.
AATCC
AATCC stands for the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. It develops testing methods and standards for textiles and apparel products. AATCC plays a significant role in the textile and apparel industry by providing guidance on colorfastness, fabric performance, chemical testing, and other relevant aspects to ensure the quality and safety of textile products.
CPSIA
CPSIA is a U.S. regulation that sets safety standards for consumer products, including children’s clothing. It establishes limits on certain chemicals (e.g. lead and phthalate content) in textiles and mandates third-party testing for children’s products.
ASTM
ASTM stands for the American Society for Testing and Materials. It publishes technical standards for a wide range of products and industries, including textiles and garments.
In the garment industry, ASTM standards are used for testing and evaluating fabric properties, garment performance, flammability, and other critical parameters.
REACH
REACH is a regulation of the European Union that addresses the production and use of chemical substances in products, including textiles. It aims to protect human health and the environment by regulating the use of hazardous chemicals.
GOTS
GOTS stands for Global Organic Textile Standard, which is an international certification standard for textiles and clothing. It ensures that textiles meet strict organic and environmental standards during production, including fiber cultivation and treatment, processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and other links.
If you need to import 100% organic cotton clothing, your supplier needs to issue this certification and mark it on the label.
OEKO-TEX
The standards and requirements of OEKO-TEX certification cover the ecological aspects of textiles, ensuring that textiles and clothing products do not contain harmful substances and are harmless to humans and the environment.
It is not a mandatory legal requirement, but a voluntary sign. Products that have obtained OEKO-TEX certification can be affixed with the “OEKO-TEX Standard 100” logo on the label to convey the environmental protection and safety of the product to consumers.
FAQ
What is the difference between QA and QC in garment industry?
QA and QC both serve to improve product quality. However, QA typically involves setting standards and processes, monitoring, and other planning and preventive measures. On the other hand, QC is an inspection method that focuses on verifying whether produced or developed products or services meet quality standards.
The main difference between the two is that QA focuses more on prevention, while QC involves actual inspections and testing during the production process.
