ASTM D5237-14 Standard Guide for Evaluating Fabric Softeners

The standard “ASTM D5237-14 Standard Guide for Evaluating Fabric Softeners” developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) describes a guide for evaluating the performance characteristics of fabric softener products. It provides guidance for evaluating the effectiveness of process chemicals on fabrics dosed into the wash, rinse, or dry cycle of a household washing machine or dryer. This guide can be used to screen fabric softener products or to evaluate products over multiple cumulative cycles.

The relative ranking of products evaluated by these procedures may be affected by factors such as machine type and settings, fabric load composition, and washing and drying procedures used.

For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply:

• A softener is a laundry aid or laundry detergent ingredient, or a combination of these, that gives fabrics a soft feel, a smooth finish, neutralizes odor, or reduces static electricity.
• A front-loading high-efficiency washing machine is a horizontal or nearly horizontally oriented machine used for washing clothes, using varying amounts of water to wash fabrics. These washing machines
  • May show no visible free water or may show significant amounts of visible free water
  • Can lift and spin laundry load
  • Can use both spin and spin in both wash and rinse processes
  • You can use jet sprays of wash solution or rinse solution, or
  • May use thermal or chemical inputs, or both, to present sanitation or allergen claims.

These washing machines use significantly less water and energy during the washing process than traditional deep-loading washing machines.

• Home laundry is the cleaning or conditioning, or both, of textiles using washing and drying equipment commonly found in the home.
• A top-loading high-efficiency washing machine is a vertical-direction agitating machine used for washing clothes at home. The main difference from a traditional top-loading washing machine is that this washing machine uses less water resources during the process. These washing machines are
  • Can have one deep fill (during wash or rinse), one or more partial fills and a full agitator, can have an impeller instead of an agitator
  • Use thermal or chemical inputs, or both, to present sanitation or allergen claims, or
  • It may use spray wash or spray rinse technologies or a combination of these.

These washing machines use significantly less water and energy during the washing process than traditional deep-loading washing machines.

• A traditional deep-load top-load washing machine is a vertically oriented agitator used for home laundry. This washing machine fills to the top of the basket at least twice during the wash cycle: once for the wash and once for the rinse. This type of washing machine may also include a spray wash during the wash or rinse portions of the cycle.

Fabrics are evaluated using test panels or instrumental methods for the effect of softener products applied in the wash, rinse or dry cycle on softness, whiteness retention, rewet or water absorbency, static control or odor, or a combination of these.

The methods in this guide can be used to screen fabric softener products or to evaluate their performance against an established reference product or comparative products, either through a single cycle or multiple cumulative cycles.

A single evaluation of each of the product properties tested by these methods will not determine the overall performance of the softener product. A single test run under the constant conditions specified cannot be expected to reflect comparative performance under a wide range of other possible conditions of use.

During testing, all new fabrics, whether received directly from the factory or purchased from vendors, must be free of factory conditioners and processing aids. Test fabrics will be used for a single evaluation only, while ballast used for the load volume can be reused indefinitely if purged between each evaluation.

Our organization has a strong staff that closely follows the developments in the world in the field of science and technology and constantly improves itself. Among the numerous test, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies provided for businesses in various sectors, there are also testing services in accordance with the "ASTM D5237-14 Standard Guide for Evaluating Fabric Softeners" standard.