ISO INTERNATIONAL STANDARD 10528 First edition 1995-06-01 Textiles Commercial laundering procedure for textile fabrics prior to flammability testing Textiles - Blanchissage commercial des étoffes textiles en vue des essais d'inflammabilite ISO Reference number ISO 10528:1995(E) ISO10528:1995(E) Foreword ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (IsO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be and non-governmental, in liaison with isO, also take part in the work. IsO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization. Draft International Standards adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International a vote. International Standard ISO 10528 was prepared by Technical Committee resistancetests. Annex A of this International Standard is for information only. ISO 1995 All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, inciuding photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from the publisher International Organization for Standardization Case Postale 56 · CH-1211 Geneve 20 · Switzerland Printed in Switzerland ii OSI 0 IS010528:1995(E) Introduction The methods specified in this International Standard simulate the effect of commercial laundry procedures using soft water. The washing ma- chines specified are all horizontal rotating drum types with reversing action which are already in laboratory use but which differ considerably in cage volume, frequency of rotation and the methods of controlling liquor level and temperature. Alternative procedures for assessing the effect of domestic washing using hard water on the flammability of textile fabrics are given in isO 12138:—: Textiles -- Domestic laundering procedure for textile fabrics priorto flammability testing (to be published). The methods specify the use of liquor/load ratios of 5:1 for washing and 9:1 for rinsing, which are at the low end of the ranges used in normal laundry practice. For practical reasons they are determined with no fabric present. Extra water is added during the washing procedure but the amounts will vary according to the type of machine used and cannot be controlled. The specified wash temperature of (75 ± 3) C has been shown to be adequate to ensure sterilization of hospital items, while the use of higher cleansing effect. Some items may not be suitable for washing at this temperature, because of shrinkage or other factors, and an alternative procedure with a wash temperature of (40 ± 3) C is provided for such fabrics. Different washing machines vary in their mechanical action and in the time taken to heat to the washing temperature. It is also difficult to control the and washing is specified for the standard wash. This is longer than would be used in practice but it helps to eliminate the uncontrollable variations between different types of installation and ensures that the test is more severe than actual use. In order to eliminate variations in the period taken to heat to temperature, agitation is not started until a temperature of (40 ± 3) °C is reached. This allows the water input temperature to vary without affecting the period of agitation. In interlaboratory trials carried out by ISO/TC 38/SC 2/WG 6 in 1989, this procedure was found capable of distinguishing between flame retardant finishes with good and poor stability to washing. However, it was noted that the flammability test used to assess the performance of the fabrics (specified in ISO 6941:1984, Textile fabrics - Burning behaviour Measurementofflame spread properties of vertically