Textile Chemical Testing
Why Should Textile Manufacturers carry out Chemical Testing?
Do you manufacture textile-based wall coverings or upholstery fabrics? If so, you may benefit from chemical emissions testing to demonstrate that your products emit low levels of VOCs. Building rating systems, such as LEED v4/4.1, Green Globes Assessment Protocol, ANSI/GBI 01-2019, and CHPS-National Core Criteria, v3.0, offer environmental credits or have requirements for low-emitting wall coverings. Textile companies are turning to Berkeley Analytical to conduct textile chemical testing on their products by CDPH Standard Method V1.2. Test results can be used to support self-declared product claims and to obtain third-party certification for textile wall coverings to SCS Indoor Advantage Gold and other certification programs that include a low emitting material environmental attribute.
Why Should Furniture Manufacturers Test Upholstery Fabrics?
Commercial furniture manufacturers increasingly are pushing the requirements for testing of component products for VOC emissions upstream to their suppliers. As a substantial portion of the fabrics used with commercial furnishings are specified by interior designers, textile manufacturers may want to market this attribute to both manufacturers and designers. Berkeley Analytical can help manufacturers with both screening level and full compliance textile chemical testing. Screening level testing of upholstery fabrics, which is the less expensive option, meets the material substitution guidelines in the ANSI/BIFMA M7.1 protocol.
Textile Chemical Testing Can Help You Earn Credits!
NSF/ANSI 336 – Sustainability Assessment for Commercial Furnishings Fabric addresses the environmental and social accountability aspects associated with the manufacturing of fabric products used for furniture upholstery, vertical drapery and panel systems, and decorative applications. Certification to the standard by NSF is based on a weighted points system. Half of the points are awarded for fabric chemical composition and the safety of materials. In this section, there are a number of prerequisite credits related to chemical inventory, avoidance of hazardous substances, and supply chain chemical management. The section also contains optional credits for textile chemical testing and demonstrating the conformance of fabric products with CDPH Standard Method.