Summary

The homecare stage of a pair of jeans contributes up to 40% of the total carbon dioxide produced across its full garment lifecycle. As consumers are being encouraged to keep clothes for longer, there is little understanding of how long garments will be washed for and the impact this has on dye fixation.
This project explores the homecare stage of denim jeans. This will be investigated by analysing the colour fastness to washing for three shades of synthetically dyed denim across a series of washes simulating a garments ‘lifetime’ rather than one wash as stated in British Standards BS EN ISO 105-C10: 2007.
In addition, this project will also analyse the water produced using a spectrometer. These results will highlight any dye loss in the water, further facilitating analysis of the ‘home care’ stage of the garment lifecycle.