Quality Inspection for Apparel and Garment

Apparel?and garment quality control inspection is a crucial step in the manufacturing and distribution of textile products?encompassing a wide range of clothing items, including underwear, shirts, pants, dresses, jackets, and accessories like hats, scarves, and belts.

Apparel and textiles play an essential role in consumers’ everyday lives, designed to ensure that the items meet the required quality standards and safety regulations.

Apparel quality assurance?involves a comprehensive and detailed check of various aspects of the garment?to identify any defects or issues that need to be resolved before the shipment. Conducting?apparel and garment?inspections enables you to hold your suppliers accountable and uphold a good brand reputation.

The Importance of Apparel and Garment Inspection

It is the key step for the manufacturing and supply chain process, ensuring that your clothing products meet quality, safety, and compliance standards. This process not only safeguards a brand’s reputation but also contributes to customer satisfaction and long-term business success.

1. Ensures Product Quality

Apparel inspection verifies that garments meet specified standards for design, material, construction, and functionality.

2.?Protects Brand Reputation

inspection helps maintain Apparel Brands?by preventing the release of defect products that could damage trust and ensuring compliance with market?standards to safeguard reputation.

3.?Improves Operational Efficiency

Apparel inspection conducted at?various stages?of production enables early problem identification, reducing costs and delays by minimizing rework and providing feedback for process improvement.

4.?Ensures Compliance with Safety Standards

The final inspection in the garment industry ensures compliance with safety regulations, particularly in industries such as children's clothing, by focusing on designs that are free from hazards and meet international standards like REACH and CPSIA.

Regulations and Standards for Apparel and Garment Quality Control

Apparel Compliance Requirements in the US

All clothing must comply with the?Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles, 16 CFR part 1610. Manufacturers and importers must certify clothing as compliant in a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) (for adult or general-use apparel) or in a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) (for children’s apparel primarily intended for children 12 and under).

Adult Apparel

• GCC
• Must meet Clothing Textile (or Vinyl Plastic Film) requirements.
• Children’s Apparel
• CPC and third-party testing by a CPSC-accepted laboratory
• Clothing Textile (or Vinyl Plastic Film)
• Lead content (zippers, buttons)
• Lead in paint or surface coating (screen printing)
• Phthalate (bibs)
• Tracking label
• Drawstring; does not require certification, but the standard must be met.

Apparel Regulations and Standards in the EU

If you want to export apparel to the European market, you need to comply with several requirements. There are many legal requirements for exporting apparel to Europe, including those concerning product safety, the use of chemicals (REACH), quality and labelling.

● General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR): The General Product Safety Regulation covers consumer products and mandates that “only” safe products can be placed on the EU market. Harmonised standards that are relevant to textile products:

a. EN 14682 – Safety of children’s clothing – Cords and drawstrings on children’s clothing – Specifications.

b. EN 13209-1 – Child use and care articles – Baby carriers – Safety requirements and test methods – Part 1: Framed back carriers

c. EN 13209-2 – Child use and care articles – Baby carriers – Safety requirements and test methods – Part 2: Soft carrier

● REACH: REACH regulates harmful chemical substances in consumer products, including clothing and textiles.

● EU regulation on textile labeling and fiber?composition: According to the Textile Labelling and Fibre Composition Regulation, products have to be labeled with information concerning their fiber composition (e.g. 100% Polyester).

Note that there exist voluntary standards:

EN 13402, which covers the size designation of clothes; and

ISO 3758, which covers textile care labeling

● Other standards: Children’s clothing EN standards

a. EN 17394 Safety of children’s clothing – Security of attachment of buttons – Test method

b. EN 14878 Textiles – Burning behavior of children’s nightwear – Specification

c. EN 17394– Textiles and Textile Products:-Safety of children’s clothing – Security of attachment

Essential Apparel and Garment Inspection Checklists?during an Onsite Inspection

1.?Quantity

inspectors count products and shipping cartons to verify that the correct quantity of an order has been finished which includes PO quantity, shipment quantity, packed quantity, unpacked quantity, and unfinished quantity.

2.?Workmanship

The inspector will select a sample size according to the statistical sampling procedure ISO 2859-1, and conduct a visual check for any damages and flaws in workmanship, and classify them as major, minor, or critical defects.

3.?Product Description

Inspection will verify that the products conform to the specifications against PO, photos, and samples.

4.?On-site Check

The selected sample will undergo rigorous testing to ensure that it functions properly and meets safety standards. The essential tests performed by our inspectors during an onsite inspection of garments and apparel:

• Drop test
• Assortment check
• Metal detection
• Color shade check
• Function check
• Reliability test for Zipper/button/snap or any other functional component
• GSM test per fabric type
• Product Size / Weight measurement
• Tape test on the printed label
• Fitting check
• Barcode readability check
• Tension test
• Odor check

5.?Packaging

inspectors will check the packing method and packing information to ensure that everything is accurate and safe for transportation. Inner and outer packaging are inspected to ensure that they meet client specifications, with results provided in the report.