Crockmeter, a Testex Instrument for Color Fastness

A Crockmeter is a scientific machine used in the textile industry, mainly used for the meter and textile fabric often referred to as a testex instrument. In Simple terms, testing the transfer of color from one material surface to another and giving a very accurate result that the industry can fully rely on.

The Working of a Crockmeter can be divided into two main categories that operate in a completely unique way. Two methods, dry and Wet rubbing, it is important to understand from thier roots when learning how to use crockmeter.

Dry Rubbing

The described work is for a standard copier designed by B-Tex Engineering that comes at a good price.

The first step is to mount your specimen and test clothes properly. The counter of the crockmeter can be reset to zero by Shifting the knob all the way to the left (in the Electronic Crockmeter, simply set the digital reading to zero for Resetting or press the reset button). The test method, as specified in the manual that comes along with the crockmeter, can be performed by revolving the Handle in the  clockwise direction or in the case of electronic meters Specifying the number of revolutions per seconds needed to perform the transference.

The number of revolutions is term as strokes, and when the strokes has reached the desired number in the testing manual, the crocking cloth  can be removed.The degree of staining as measured by the SDC grey scale will determine the transference. If the device is eletronic, it will dispay the colour range on a digital Screen. Each Crockmeter specifies  everything Ranging from the size of the cloth that is  to be used to the diameter of the finger that is supported by the meter, so it is important to take note of this criteria.

Wet Rubbing

The process start  with soaking the crocking cloth in freshly distilled water and draining off the excess, allowing the cloth to hold its own mass of water. The dyed fabric that is to be transfered on the new material is mounted on the lower end of the meter while the wet cloth is fixed to the end of the finger of the crockmeter.

During the test, the abrading finger is covered with layers of white cloth that pick up the color lost by the coloured fabric. Conclusive and reliable results are obtained from the test when the rotation of the abrading finger is stopped and an SDC is used to determine the degree of colour onto the new surface.

Conclusion

crockmeter mostly  comes with the option of using both methods as determined correctly by the textile manufacturer or as specified by the clothes that are used as fabrics dyes. However, that the result are only as reliable as the experiment being carried out, so regardless of whichever crockmeter is used, it is advised that the user Pays strong heed to the manual given along with it.