Colour is the most visible part of a uniform program and the easiest to get wrong. The garment that looks perfect at sample approval can drift badly once it enters a real laundry cycle — and by then the container has shipped. Specifying for fastness up front costs nothing; discovering the problem after rollout costs a reorder.
Why industrial laundry is brutal on colour
Commercial and rental laundries wash at 60-90 °C with aggressive alkaline detergents and high mechanical action — nothing like a domestic 30 °C cycle. That combination strips poorly-fixed dye, and the damage shows up three ways: overall fading, crocking (colour rubbing off onto skin or other garments), and differential fading where high-abrasion zones like cuffs, collars and pocket edges go pale first. If your garments are professionally laundered, the colour spec must be written for that environment — not a home washer.
Dye type is the first decision
| Dye type | Wash fastness | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Vat dyes | Excellent (high-temp, alkali-stable) | Industrially laundered workwear; deep navies, FR cotton |
| Reactive dyes | Good (bonds to cotton fibre) | Cotton / poly-cotton brights, hospitality |
| Disperse dyes | Good on polyester; can sublimate | 100% polyester, hi-vis fluorescents |
| Direct / pigment | Poor without fixative | Avoid for laundered programs |
For workwear that goes through industrial laundry, vat-dyed cotton or cotton-rich fabric is the safe default. For polyester hi-vis, disperse dyes are unavoidable — but watch for sublimation migration onto lighter garments in mixed loads.
Reading the ISO 105 fastness scales
Colour fastness is measured against the ISO 105 family of tests and reported on a 1-5 grey scale (5 = no change, 1 = severe). Put minimum grades on the tech pack:
- ISO 105-C06 — fastness to commercial/domestic washing (target 4-5)
- ISO 105-X12 — fastness to rubbing/crocking, dry and wet (target 4 dry, 3-4 wet)
- ISO 105-B02 — fastness to light, for outdoor crews (target 4+)
- ISO 105-E04 — fastness to perspiration, for high-sweat roles
Lab-dip and Pantone control
Before bulk, approve a lab-dip: a small swatch dyed to your target shade that you sign off under controlled lighting. Tie it to a Pantone Color Matching reference (TCX/TPG for fabric) so 'navy' is a number, not an opinion. Specify the approval lighting — D65 daylight is standard — because a colour that matches under factory fluorescents can be visibly off in daylight. Keep the signed lab-dip as the contractual standard the bulk lot is checked against.
What to put on the tech pack
- Dye class (e.g. vat-dyed) and the approved Pantone reference
- Minimum ISO 105 fastness grades for wash, rubbing and (if outdoor) light
- The laundry conditions the colour must survive — temperature and cycle count
- Approval lighting (D65) and a signed, retained lab-dip
- A pre-shipment AQL 2.5 check that includes a shade-band comparison to the lab-dip
Tired of colours that fade?
Send us your Pantone references and how the garments will be laundered. We will spec the dye class and ISO 105 fastness grades, run a signed lab-dip, and check shade against it at pre-shipment inspection.
Lock in your colours →