How to Approve Colourfastness and Crocking on Printed Reusable Bags
Separate visual colour approval from dry and wet crocking performance when approving printed reusable bags for procurement and factory release.
· BagWorks Malaysia
Approve two different things before releasing printed reusable bags: the visual appearance of the colour, and the resistance of that colour to transfer when the bag is rubbed.
A logo can match an approved artwork under office lighting and still stain a white shirt, another bag, or pale packaging.
Conversely, a print can resist rubbing while its shade, opacity, or contrast is visually wrong.
Treat these as separate approval gates, with separate evidence and a project-specific dry and wet crocking threshold.
Colourfastness in this context is not a promise that a bag will never fade.
Crocking asks a narrower question: how much colour moves from the printed or coloured surface to a rubbing material under defined conditions.
AATCC TM8 describes rubbing a coloured textile specimen with white crock cloth and grading the transferred colour; it includes both dry and water-wet cloth procedures (AATCC TM8 summary).
ISO 105-X12 likewise covers resistance of dyed or printed textiles to rubbing off and staining other materials, using dry and wet rubbing tests (ISO 105-X12:2016).
That distinction matters on a corporate-bag project because the approval sample is usually viewed, not rubbed.
A brand approver may compare the printed panel with a PDF, a colour reference, or a previous campaign.
This confirms visual acceptability under the agreed viewing conditions.
It does not establish whether pigment, dye, or ink binder will transfer during packing, transport, repeated handling, or rubbing from damp hands.
Keep the visual decision aligned with the project’s office-lighting colour approval controls, then request rubbing evidence as a separate line in the specification.
Before testing, freeze the variables that can change the result.
Identify the bag material, print method, ink or transfer system, colour areas, curing or finishing condition, and the face that will contact users.
Record whether the test is required on a flat print, a seam-adjacent area, a folded panel, or a textured canvas surface.
A print method comparison can help explain why the same artwork behaves differently across screen print, heat transfer, embroidery, or UV processes, but it does not replace performance evidence (printing-method guide).
Specify the rubbing direction as well as the conditions.
A bag may experience rubbing along the print, across it, or over a frequently rubbed edge.
If the buyer’s use case includes damp handling, dry-only evidence is incomplete.
ISO 105-X12 and AATCC TM8 both distinguish dry and wet rubbing, so the request should identify which condition is required, what wetting medium is used, and whether the test is performed before or after a defined conditioning or use simulation.
AATCC’s summary notes that treatments such as washing, dry cleaning, shrinkage, ironing, and finishing can affect transfer, which is why the sequence must be recorded rather than assumed.
Do not copy a familiar grade into every purchase order.
The right acceptance threshold depends on print colour, substrate, user handling, garment colour, humidity exposure, expected handling, and the consequence of visible transfer.
The standards describe methods and rating approaches; they do not provide one universal pass value for every reusable bag application.
Agree the threshold with the brand owner before production, and write it as a dry requirement and a wet requirement.
If the team cannot justify a number, state that the threshold is pending risk review rather than inventing a value.
A practical approval record can separate the decisions as follows: | Approval question | Evidence to retain | Release decision | |---|---|---| | Does the printed colour look right? | Signed visual sample, artwork version, viewing condition, and approved colour reference | Accept appearance or revise artwork/colour | | Does colour transfer under dry rubbing? | Method named, specimen location, direction, dry condition, rating or observed result, and test image | Compare with the agreed dry threshold | | Does colour transfer under wet rubbing? | Wetting condition, specimen location, direction, rating or observed result, and test image | Compare with the agreed wet threshold | | Is the evidence representative? | Material and print-process identification, cure or finishing record, sample traceability | Accept evidence or repeat on the production-representative sample | Ask for the actual specimen identity, not only a sentence saying “passed rub test.” The record should connect the test to the same substrate, print construction, colour coverage, and finishing state that will be used in the order.
Include the test direction, dry or wet condition, rating scale, number and location of specimens, and photographs of the rubbing cloth where permitted by the method or laboratory report.
A pass result from a different fabric or a different print layer answers a different question.
Keep textile crocking separate from printed-material abrasion.
ASTM D5264 covers abrasion resistance of printed materials using a Sutherland Rub Tester or equivalent and is aimed at graphics on flat packaging substrates (ASTM D5264 scope).
It can be useful when the concern is scuffing or print wear on a flat printed component, but its scope does not make it a substitute for a textile colour-transfer method on a flexible bag.
If both transfer and surface wear matter, specify both evaluations and explain what each result controls.
The most common failure is approving colour from a tabletop sample and discovering transfer only after packing.
Compression can place printed faces against one another; dark prints can mark pale panels; moisture can change the rubbing condition; and a soft textile surface can interact differently from a smooth proof.
These are not reasons to reject every printed bag.
They are reasons to define the rubbing scenario and make the release decision evidence-led.
A canvas tote, for example, should be assessed in the exact print and fabric combination rather than inferred from a generic canvas tote product category.
For factory coordination, place crocking at the sample-approval and pre-production gates.
At sample approval, confirm the visual colour and the proposed test plan.
Before bulk release, confirm that the production-representative sample has the agreed dry and wet results.
If the result is borderline or inconsistent between colours, quarantine the decision and investigate print coverage, curing, surface preparation, or colour-specific behaviour.
Do not silently lower the threshold after production starts; any change should be version-controlled and approved by the same owner who accepted the original risk.
The final sign-off should therefore contain two statements, not one: “visual colour accepted under the agreed viewing condition” and “dry and wet rubbing performance accepted against the agreed project thresholds.” This wording prevents a visually accurate print from being mistaken for a transfer-resistant print.
It also gives procurement, production, and the brand team a common record when a later complaint concerns staining rather than colour mismatch.
Where a threshold remains unavailable, record the intended user exposure and obtain explicit agreement before the order is released.