A lab dip, or l/d for brief, is a teeny swatch of colour – we’re speaking only a few inches –  that holds the key to matching colours. Regardless of its measurement, it has a really in-depth course of, and one of the simplest ways to elucidate what’s going on and why it’s essential is to stroll you thru your entire process – which I’ll do in only a minute. 

Consider the lab dip course of because the mini-dye course of that happens earlier than manufacturing. If the majority dye machines are like the large Ben and Jerry’s manufacturing facility (sure, I went on the tour in Vermont), then a lab dip is like one thing made in an Straightforward Bake Oven (I begged for this for Christmas, anybody else?). Primarily, the lab dip course of is proof that the mill has the capabilities to match the colour that the model wants (and imagine me, that is usually simpler stated than finished).

SO, IS A LAB DIP THE SAME AS A STRIKE OFF?

No. However, they’re comparable.

Each lab dips and strike offs are a part of the event course of as a approach to check if the material goes to come back out appropriately in bulk. However, lab dips are strictly for stable dye materials, whereas strike offs are for print materials.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

Not within the temper to learn? Take a look at this fast 7-minute video of me at a dye home in Italy, breaking down the entire course of in particular person.

HOW TO CHOOSE A COLOR STANDARD: PANTONE 

Step one within the lab dip course of is selecting a colour normal. A colour normal permits the designer or model, the mill, and dye home to all be on the identical web page. It’s a bodily reference of what the colour must be.

Now, let’s discuss how the Pantone color standard works. Pantone is the most well-liked color-matching system, and also you might need heard of it due to its notorious, “Coloration of the Yr.” When Pantone broadcasts a colour, style manufacturers race out to dye the whole lot in that shade. It’s so well-known, even my sister and her non-fashion faculty pals would have a Pantone Coloration of the Yr social gathering, the place the theme revolved across the chosen colour – meals, drinks, costumes, you title it. Pantone simplifies colour communication within the international provide chain. 

Pantone has a large number of colours (2161 to be precise), with every colour having a numerical code. There are even completely different quantity programs for various supplies. For instance, if you’re dyeing polyester, you’ll use a unique colour system than for dyeing pure fibers like cotton and rayon. It is because pure fibers, particularly on the subject of vivid and neon colours, are rather a lot more durable to dye. 

Again after I labored in quick style, one in all my first issues to unravel on the job was to determine why some dyed materials turned out sizzling pink, whereas others seemed muted and pale. What was taking my boss months to determine, I knew the answer instantly: the brilliant materials had been polyester, and the dingy ones had been cotton. 

How did I do know? 

PANTONE!

Merely, the Pantone colour system doesn’t embody neons for cotton materials, as they’re nearly not possible to create utilizing the kind of dye that cotton wants. Fairly cool, proper?

A model sometimes buys Pantone’s huge guide of colours, generally known as their “Coloration Passport,” to select colours they like for his or her designs. Each colour, whether or not for print, material, or dangle tags, and even packaging, is assigned a Pantone colour code and put into the tech pack. The tech pack can then be despatched digitally, permitting the manufacturing facility to open up their Pantone guide and select their desired colours to match to. 

Now, you may surprise: Why can’t we use digital colours? Why can’t I simply use my pc or cellphone to decide on colours? Why do I would like to purchase this passport when the colours can be found on-line? 

Nicely, matching colours on screens may be very troublesome, if not not possible. Totally different screens present colours in another way relying on the dvices settings. And, colour seems to be completely different on display screen than it does on a bodily material. So, colour matching turns into very troublesome.

The great factor about Panton is that they supply dye formulation. A dye system is sort of a recipe, that when adopted ought to enable a dye home to dye a colour precisely. By Pantone sharing the dye system (most individuals maintain this prime secret) it provides dye homes a head begin in creating lab dips (learn: you’ll be able to work faster). Whereas Pantone is the largest colour system and doubtless essentially the most well-known, there are a couple of different colour programs that you simply won’t have heard of earlier than.

NEELAM

Neelam is a well-liked colour system utilized in India, particularly by smaller artisan dye homes. There are rather a lot fewer colours i the Neelam system. However, the benefit to those small dyers is that they’re A LOT cheaper. 

The opposite factor about Neelam is that they’re truly thread shade playing cards. Which means for all the colours you’ll be able to simply purchase matching threads. This makes the event and garment manufacturing course of very simple, as a result of stitching thread that matches is definitely obtainable. Whenever you select a Pantone colour, you’ll often must cusome dye your thread. And this not solely advertisements on an additonal expense, however extra logistical work. 

CREATE YOUR OWN COLOR SYSTEM

If you recognize me, you recognize I like DIY money-saving startup fashion hack. Pantone Passports can value hundreds, and shopping for a single colour could be $15 or extra. That provides up shortly, particularly for a small model. However right here’s a savvy tip – and, even huge companies use it, so that you received’t look unprofessional when you do it too. What’s the trick? Free Dwelling Depot paint chips. 

Yup, your native ironmongery store is a good way to speak your colours. After the startup manufacturers I work with create their print and color designs, I counsel them to go to the ironmongery store and decide up some free paint chips within the colours they like. Then, we match these paint chips again to the designs. As soon as we’ve chosen the proper paint chips, we staple them proper on to the exhausting copy of the tech pack. Then, your entire tech pack, full with paint chips, is then shipped to the manufacturing facility, the place they may use the chips to match the colours on the primary set of samples.

Now, it is true that this methodology might contain a bit of additional money and time spent on delivery in comparison with investing in Pantone. Nevertheless, it nonetheless often comes out considerably cheaper than utilizing Pantone, making it a superb cost-saving different. Plus, it is a tried-and-true method utilized even by outstanding manufacturers, proving its effectiveness and reliability.

CREATING A LAB DIP DYE FORMULA

As soon as the lab dip reaches the mill, step one (if we arne’t given a Pantone dye system) is popping it right into a machine known as a photograph spectrometer to learn the colour. Have you ever ever seen these viral color-matching videos the place a painter chooses a random object and, utilizing simply pink, blue, yellow, and white, and magically matches the precise shade of orange on a pumpkin on the grocery retailer? Nicely, a photograph spectrometer is principally the machine model of those folks. 

It reads the colour, breaks down the precise mixture of main colours that make it up, and even suggests the preliminary dye system (which dyes to make use of to match the colour). Now, like I stated, the good factor about utilizing Pantone is that they offer you all of this information – the colour breakdown and the dye system. And that’s a part of the explanation Panton is so costly; it supplies a critical head begin to the lab dip course of. 

PREPARING THE FABRIC FOR DYE

Now that we now have the dye system, you’ll suppose it’s time to begin dyeing the lab dips. However, there may be nonetheless yet one more step we have to do with a purpose to guarantee the whole lot comes out completely: the PFD, or Put together for Dye course of. The PFD is a material preparation course of that entails washing it with a gentle detergent and a really gentle bleach. This step is tremendous essential and, please by no means, ever skip it! 

REASON #1 TO NEVER SKIP THE PFD PROCESS

When materials are knit or woven on industrial machines (and even within the hand woven khadi course of), the yarns that kind the material are coated in a substance known as sizing. Sizing is used as safety to strengthen the yarns and preserve the general high quality of the material throughout the weaving or knitting course of. It may be eco-friendly, constructed from supplies like cornstarch, or much less environmentally pleasant, constructed from petroleum. No matter its composition, we have to take away sizing earlier than dyeing. That’s as a result of, dye molecules discover it difficult to penetrate the sizing and attain the fibers. If the sizing is just not correctly eliminated, the colour will wash proper off the material the primary time the client launders it.

REASON #2 TO MAKE SURE YOUR FABRIC IS PFD

The PFD course of creates a clean canvas for the applying of colour. In its uncooked, unprocessed state, materials sometimes have a slight yellowish tint. That is particularly essential to pay attention to when you’re dying lighter colours. As an illustration, if you wish to dye the material a lightweight blue, but it surely has a yellowish base, the ensuing colour may find yourself trying just a little inexperienced (blue and yellow make inexperienced) because of the affect of the underlying yellowish hue. To make sure that the colours specific themselves as supposed primarily based on the dye system, the semi-bleach course of is essential for attaining a pleasant white base to work with.

Now, some folks go overboard with the semi-bleaching course of, believing the whiter the material, the higher. Consequently, they find yourself utilizing one thing known as optical brighteners. Optical brighteners are what make your whites tremendous vivid. Whereas they’re nice for white clothes, they’re horrible for the dyeing course of. Materials handled with optical brighteners after which dyed end in a remaining material that seems splochy and lacks uniform colour. So, at all times keep away from optical brighteners to make sure a profitable dyeing course of.

MIXING THE DYE FORMULA

A dye lab could have completely different beakers of main colours prepared to make use of. Then, relying on the dye recipe, particular portions of every main colour will probably be mixed. So, the dye recipe may name for five drops of blue 1, 2 drops of blue 2, 3 drops of pink, and three drops of yellow. All of those colour elements will probably be meticulously mixed and combined in a separate beaker.

DYEING THE LAB DIP

It is time for the dyeing course of to start. Now that the material is prepared, and we now have a customized colour combine – it is showtime, child! 

Step one that many individuals don’t learn about however is without doubt one of the secrets and techniques to getting uniform dye, is wetting out the material. Principally, we dampen the material with plain previous water. And, identical to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you don’t need the material to be too moist or too dry. As soon as the material swatch (about 6”x6”) is prepared, we put it  right into a small metallic beaker. Subsequent, we rigorously pour within the dye recipe and securely screw on the highest. Lastly, we place the metallic beaker right into a machine that may shake and warmth it up. 

Each warmth and motion are vital elements within the dyeing course of. 

The motion is essential as a result of it would create a uniform dye. Have you ever ever dyed an Easter egg, and the underside of the egg is darker than the highest? That’s as a result of the dye is heavier than water and tends to sink changing into extra concentrated on the backside. So when you simply let materials sit in a dye bathtub, the dyes will sink, and the material is not going to come out the identical colour all through. So, to keep away from uneven coloring, we guarantee the material is repeatedly transferring throughout the dyeing course of. 

Warmth can be essential as a result of it opens up the fibers, permitting the dye to penetrate them extra successfully. You possibly can consider warmth throughout the dye course of like steam in a facail. The warmth will assist to open up the fibers pores permitting the dye molecules to penetrate deeper (that means the colour will get caught in there, and received’t fade). 

DRYING AND CHECKING THE FABRIC

The primary colour examine happens after about 20-Half-hour of dyeing. At this level, we cease the machine, and thoroughly take away the lab dips to dr. a moist material could be very deceiving as a result of they have a tendency to look rather a lot darker than the precise colour. So, at all times ensure that to do your colour assessments on completely dry textiles. 

Within the video above you’ll be able to see the particular little devise we use to shortly dry the material. 

As soon as the material is dry, the mill will evaluate the lab dip to the unique colour normal. They may then make a couple of tweaks to the dye recipe, and check out once more. The mill will generally do a couple of trials earlier than exhibiting the client, as a result of after they current the lab dips to the model, they wish to ensure that they’re matching nearly completely. 

ANALYZING COLORS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

Have you ever heard of a lightbox? Right here is one thing attention-grabbing about colours: They will look completely different in numerous mild. Generally a colour that matches completely within the lab is not going to match in any respect in pure dye mild. The technical time period for this phenomenon is a metameric match (which we wish to keep away from). To stop this confusion from occurring and to make sure colour consistency, lap dip swatches are analyzed in a lightbox. Because the title suggests, a lightbox is a field outfitted with various kinds of mild sources, equivalent to UV, outside, incandescent, and fluorescent. The lab dip is checked below every setting to make sure it matches all lighting situations.

THE ART OF COLOR ANALYSIS

Not everybody can do that job. Working with colours requires a eager eye and a pointy notion. Sadly, colour is a younger (wo)mans sport. As we get older, our capacity to understand colours might alter, and we are likely to see them with a slight yellowish tint. This variation in colour notion emphasizes the significance of getting well-trained professionals who can precisely analyze colours.

Coloration specialists are should move a collection of colour assessments yearly. These assessments include ombre blocks that have to be lined up from one colour to a different. It’s not so simple as transitioning from main colours like pink to purple to blue. As a substitute, think about aligning completely different shades, like going from lime inexperienced to highlighter yellow. These assessments are fairly difficult, and the typical particular person would discover them troublesome to move. At FIT (Vogue Institute of Expertise), we had been subjected to all of those assessments, and even at 21, with youth on my aspect, I could not obtain an ideal rating each time.

So, ensure you have somebody effectively certified in your group that’s commenting on lab dips, and colour approvals.  

CUSTOMER LAB DIP SUBMISSION FOR APPROVALS AND REVISIONS 

After creating about 3-4 lab dips, every utilizing barely completely different dye recipes, we ship the swatches to the client for evaluation. Some clients might imagine all the colours look the identical and surprise why they obtained 4 duplicates. However, bear in mind, to a extremely educated eye, these lab dips are all truly fairly completely different. The shopper will select the lab dip they like essentially the most, and this may turn into the official system for his or her bulk manufacturing order. 

However, what if the client doesn’t like all of the lab dips? Nicely, then the method might want to occur once more. However usually, bear in mind this, if the manufacturing facility isn’t capable of hit the colour within the first spherical, they won’t be the manufacturing facility for you. 

ADVANCED COLOR DEVELOPMENT AND LAB DIP TIPS

TIP 1

This is a useful tip on being buyer (your factories and mills will actually respect this). Give your factories an enormous piece of colour normal to work with. Usually a model or purchaser sends a microscopic cuttings of colours to match, and this makes it troublesome for the machines to learn the colours precisely and for the mill to do in-person colour matching. All the time attempt to ship a minimum of a 3”x 3” colour normal to make their lives simpler. Belief me, as your pleasant manufacturing facility consultant; it’s the little issues that make your provide chain companions love you. 

TIP 2

Cloth tip: All the time have your lab dips made on the very same material that you simply plan to make use of in manufacturing. And after I say precise, I imply precise. Totally different materials, relying on their weights, building, and even yarn density, will take in the dyes in another way and create materials that look completely completely different. To ensure that your bulk matches your lab dip approval, ensure you are utilizing the proper materials. When you take nothing else away from this complete article, please let or not it’s this. As a result of, this error may find yourself costing you hundreds of {dollars}.

TIP 3

Tip for colour evaluation: Use photographs first. Transport lab dips and samples could be costly. Nothing hits you more durable than opening up a long-awaited bundle from a manufacturing facility and being completely disillusioned in what they despatched. So, I prefer to have my manufacturing facility ship me photographs however it’s worthwhile to do that in a really particular approach.

As beforehand mentioned, some colours in sure lights {photograph} completely in another way. I as soon as had this teal colour I used to be engaged on matching in India, and when the dye home despatched me a photograph, I used to be like, “What is that this? It seems to be completely brown.” They assured me they’d matched the colour, however I didn’t imagine them, so I used this trick. To assist work out if the colour is definitely matching to the usual, I at all times have them take 1 side-by-side photograph with the colour normal and the lab dip proper subsequent to one another.  Within the above India instance, I used to be capable of see that they had been certainly matching. By seeing the photographs of the lab dips earlier than delivery, it provides the model a chance to have them remake them earlier than they spend time and money on delivery.

READY FOR BULK

With the dye recipe authorised, it is time to proceed to the majority dyeing course of.

MORE RESOURCES

Need to study extra about bulk material dying try these articles…

1. WORK WITH THE DYE HOUSE FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO
2. Pigment dyes and prints
3. Textile printing machines
4. DIY indigo dye