Know how a fabric will feel, wear and wash before you buy it.
Shrinking, fading, pilling, itchy seams, a size that never fits — most clothing problems start with the fabric. These guides explain why they happen and what to buy instead.
Written by Kamrul Islam, textile engineer — Head of Dyeing & Development
Cotton jersey
Grade 1–5- BreathabilityAir and moisture through the fabric 4/5
- Pilling resistanceFuzz balls after wear 3/5
- Shrink resistanceSize change in the wash 2/5
- Wrinkle resistanceCreasing in wear 2/5
- Color holdFading and bleeding 4/5
Soft and breathable; shrinks unless pre-shrunk (compacted) at the mill. Typical fibre behaviour — each guide adds measured results for real garments.
Start with the problem you have
Each topic is a shade on our card — pick one to see every guide in it.
Measured, not guessed
Where a guide gives a number — shrinkage, color fastness, pilling grade, fabric weight — it comes from a stated test method, so you can see exactly how it was found.
- Shrinkage
- Length and width marked before and after washing (ISO 6330 / ISO 5077 method).
- Color fastness
- Washing and rubbing, graded 1–5 on the grey scale (ISO 105-C06, ISO 105-X12).
- Pilling
- Martindale abrasion, graded 1–5 against photo standards (ISO 12945-2).
- Strength
- Bursting strength for knits (ISO 13938-2).
- Weight
- Grams per square metre (GSM) from a cut sample.
Kamrul Islam
Kamrul Islam is a textile engineer who has worked in industrial fabric dyeing and development since 2012. He studied wet processing (dyeing) at the University of Chittagong, ran dyeing production, and has headed dyeing and fabric development since 2017 — recipes, shade approval and functional finishes. He writes here so shoppers can understand fabrics the way the people who make…