Fabric abrasion testing helps manufacturers determine a textile’s quality, performance, and lifespan to ensure the product meets the needs of its intended use. As one would expect, durability expectations for a cotton t-shirt are very different than for a backpack or airport terminal chair.

What Tests Measure Fabric Abrasion?

There are three primary lab tests to test for fabric abrasion, but which one is best and why? The right answer to that question: start with the end-use in mind.

The Martindale, Taber, and Wyzenbeek tests replicate real-life wear resistance. Each test rubs a fabric repeatedly gathering data on how much abrasion a textile can take before creating a hole, degrading aesthetically, losing strength, and/or decreasing in thickness.

While each test assesses durability against wear and tear, they all work differently to find unique results across various material types. The three tests are not designed for comparison because they are looking for different results. All three tests comply with ASTM International, the governing body for materials testing standard.

How Does the Martindale Abrasion Test Work?

The Martindale abrasion test (ASTM D4966) measures a fabric’s resistance to friction. A top plate applies pressure while oscillating between 16 sequentially elliptical motions over the textile. The abradant might comprise worsted wool or steel mesh. Each completed oval constitutes one rub. The test continues for 50,000 rubs or until any change in the fabric’s appearance becomes noticeable. The test also assesses pilling and snagging. Loose fibers tangled with the textile’s surface that create a poor appearance is pilling. Snagging involves pulling a group of fibers from their normal pattern or original bundle.

The Martindale Abrasion Test evaluates abrasion resistance in three ways:

• Sample breakage method – this represents the most used assessment and looks for how many rubs occur before a two-yarn break or hole appears. This assessment presents low errors and is easily compared to other samples.
• Mass method – the mass, or weight loss, process measures how much material the abrasion test removes.
• Appearance quality change method – this technique looks for aesthetic variations in the sample at different friction stages. This method is the most comprehensive accounting for loss in breaking strength, coating, and color, as well as other appearance changes.

The Martindale test scores a fabric’s use based on the number of rubs, or cycles, it endures without compromise. Textiles surviving less than 1,000 rubs are considered decorative and not for general use. Results of 10,000 to 15,000 rubs fall into the light domestic category. These fabrics are ideal for occasional-use furniture and products. Fabrics recommended for daily-use furniture can sustain up to 30,000 rubs. Commercial environments and heavy-duty use fabrics should endure at least 40,000 cycles.

How Does the Taber Abrasion Test Work?

The Taber test (ASTM D3884-09) offers a versatile and quick abrasion assessment. The test extends beyond fabrics for materials like leather, plastics, and paints. Testers mount a flat material to a turntable that rotates at a fixed speed vertically. Two abrasive wheels similar to emery boards lower onto the textile’s surface as it spins. The contact produces a rubwear action while a vacuum system removes the created debris. Fabrics undergo different levels of wear using various weights applied to the abrasive wheels.

The Taber abrasion test allows users to evaluate four types of wear on fabric:

• Two-body abrasive wear – this method slides a hard surface material across a softer material to assess how much the abradant digs in and disrupts the more delicate material.
• Sliding wear – the process uses the contact between materials to create linear grooves from the repeated motion.
• Mar abrasion – this evaluation looks for permanent distortions to surfaces and coatings that diminish the appearance of a material.
• Rolling abrasion – also known as three-body wear, the process allows loose particles to roll between the test subject and the abradant.

Taber measures revolutions as cycles. Textiles must exceed 1,000 cycles with a mild abradant under 500-gram weights to be viable for high-traffic areas and materials.

How Does the Wyzenbeek Abrasion Test Work?

Whereas Martindale and Taber test fabrics with circular or elliptical motions, Wyzenbeek (ASTM D4157) uses a back-and-forth movement. The rub occurs along the warp (vertical thread) and weft (horizontal thread) of the weave. A heavy canvas or wire screen attached to a rocking arm serves as the abradant. The machine holds the textile stationary as the abradant rubs against the material applying pressure and tension.

Each forward and back motion is measured as a double rub. The test runs in sets of 5,000. Wyzenbeek counts the maximum number of double rubs before a two-yarn break or wear becomes noticeable.

Fabrics categorized as delicate endure less than 3,000 double rubs. Light duty textiles good for occasional use must absorb up to 9,000 double rubs. Regularly used fabrics for home furniture can survive 15,000 double rubs. Heavy-duty materials for high-traffic and commercial use need double rubs exceeding 30,000.

How to Choose the Best Fabric Abrasion Test

Each abrasion test has its nuances, so deciding which to use can seem daunting. Here are a few simple questions to help you decide which fabric abrasion test to use:

• How will the fabric be used? Wyzenbeek is good for fabrics likely to experience wear on a single axis. Martindale is better for fabrics receiving multi-directional wear. Consider a window curtain versus a backpack. Taber is ideal for print-coated textiles to measure print retention.
• What is the fiber type? Labs most frequently use Martindale for wool and other natural fibers. Synthetic fibers typically undergo a Wyzenbeek abrasion test. Leather, plastics, and coated materials should undergo a Taber test.
• Where does the fabric originate? Synthetic fibers are popular in the United States making Wyzenbeek the common choice. European countries lean more heavily on natural fibers and use Martindale more frequently. Taber is based less on location and more on the type of material.