Appendix 3 – Cleaning and Weathering Procedures

1 General Considerations

It is assumed that any fabric intended for marine use will either have been subjected to a permanent fire-retardant treatment or have been made from inherently flame-resistant materials. This appendix describes procedures intended to permit verification of this assumption.

2 Application

2.1 These procedures should be applied to fabrics.

2.2 Each fabric should be subjected to only those exposure procedures which are applicable to its intended use. It should meet the flame-resistance requirements of paragraph 5 after passing through the appropriate exposure cycles.

2.3 Accelerated exposure tests described in this appendix should provide sufficient testing to permit a reasonable appraisal of the durability of the treatment (under the conditions for which it was designed) for the useful life of the fabric.

3 Accelerated Dry-Cleaning

3.1 The treated fabric should be dry-cleaned in a coin-operated dry-cleaning apparatus as part of a load made up with dummy pieces of dry-cleanable fabrics. The effective liquor ratio should be 1:10 or 10 kg of liquid per kilogram of fabric.

3.2 The coin-operated apparatus with perchloroethylene solvent (about 1% charge system involving an emulsifying agent and water) should run for the full 10- to 15-minute cycle which includes tumble-drying. At the end of each dry-cleaning cycle, remove the load from the unit and separate the pieces.

3.3 The above dry-cleaning should be repeated until 10 full cycles of cleaning and drying have been completed.

3.4 Test specimens should then be cut from the dry-cleaned fabric for testing.

4 Accelerated laundering

4.1 A specimen of the treated fabric should be washed in an automatic commercial washing machine using the commercial detergent, or the preparation of the test specimen should be carried out according with the instructions/recommended method given by the manufacturer.

4.2 The operating cycle outlined in table 1 should be followed.

4.3 The specimen should then be dried in a tumble dryer at a temperature of 80°C.

4.4 The above procedure should be repeated until 10 full cycles of washing and drying have been completed. If the material is to be subjected to a special use, more laundering may be required.

4.5 Where instructions for laundering a fabric are supplied by the manufacturer or finisher, those instructions should be followed in preference to the above procedure which simulates a typical commercial laundering practice.

Table 1 – Operating cycle for accelerated laundering ⁽¹⁾

Operation	Time (min)	Temperature (°C)
1 Sudsing	6	55
2 Sudsing	6	70
3 Sudsing	6	70
4 Bleaching	8	70
5 Rinsing	2	70
6 Rinsing	2	70
7 Rinsing	2	70
8 Rinsing	2	55
9 Blueing	3	40
10 Hydroextraction	3	40

⁽¹⁾This cycle is intended for white fabrics. For coloured fabrics, the bleaching and blueing operations are omitted and the temperature of the "sudsing" and "rinsing" operations is reduced by 17°C.

5 Accelerated Water Leaching

5.1 A sample of the treated fabric should be totally submerged in a vessel containing tap water at room temperature for a period of 72 h. The vessel should be capable of use with a liquor ratio of 1:20.

5.2 The water should be drained from the tank and replenished at 24-hour intervals during the immersion period.

5.3 At the conclusion of the immersion period, the sample should be removed from the test vessel and dried in a tumble dryer or oven at a temperature of about 70°C.

6 Accelerated Weathering

Either a suitable accelerated weathering procedure using a xenon lamp or one of the following described procedures may be called for by the responsible Administration.

6.2 Alternative procedure No.1

6.2.1 Apparatus:

.1 the apparatus should consist of a vertical metal cylinder fitted with a vertical carbon arc at its centre and having a specimen holder mounted within;
.2 the diameter of the cylinder should be such that the distance to the face of the specimen holder from the centre of the carbon arc is 375 mm;
.3 the cylinder should be arranged to rotate about the arc at a rate of approximately one revolution per minute;
.4 a water spray should be provided within the cylinder and fitted with means to regulate the amount of water discharged;
.5 the vertical carbon arc should be either 13 mm diameter solid electrode type, if operating on direct current, or a single-cored electrode, if operating on alternating current. The electrodes should be of uniform composition; and
.6 the arc should be surrounded by a clear globe of quartz glass, 1.6 mm thick, or other enclosure having equivalent absorbing and transmitting properties.

6.2.2 Operation of the test equipment:

.1 the specimens for test should be mounted on the inside of the cylinder facing the arc;
.2 the cylinder should rotate at approximately one revolution per minute for the duration of the test;
.3 the water spray should discharge about 0.0026 m³/min on to the specimens for about 18 min during each 120-minute period;
.4 the arc should operate on 13 A direct current or 17 A, 60 Hz alternating current, with voltage at the arc of 140 V;
.5 the electrodes should be renewed at intervals sufficiently frequent to ensure full operative conditions of the lamp; and
.6 the globe should be cleaned when the electrodes are removed or at least once in each 36 h of operation.

6.2.3 Test cycle:

.1 specimens should be subjected to this exposure for 360 h;
.2 specimens should then be allowed to dry thoroughly at a temperature of between 20°C and 40°C; and
.3 after drying, the specimens should proceed through the flame test.

6.3 Alternative procedure No.2

6.3.1 Apparatus:

.1 the apparatus should consist of a vertical carbon arc mounted at the centre of a vertical cylinder;
.2 a rotating rack should be mounted on the inside of the cylinder such that the distance from the face of the specimen to the centre of the arc is 475 mm;
.3 the arc should be designed to accommodate two pairs of carbon electrodes No.22 upper electrodes and No.13 lower electrodes. However, the arc should burn between only one pair of electrodes at a time;
.4 no filters or enclosures should be used between the arcs and the specimens; and
.5 spray nozzles should be mounted in the cylinder so that the specimens should be exposed to wetting for about 18 min during each 120-minute period.

6.3.2 Operation of test equipment:

.1 the specimens for test should be mounted on the rotating rack, facing the arc;
.2 the rack should rotate about the arc at a uniform speed of about one revolution per minute;
.3 the arc should operate on 60 A and 50 V across the arc for alternating current or 50 A and 60 V across the arc for direct current; and
.4 water-spray nozzles should discharge about 0.0026 m³/min on to the specimens for about 18 min during each 120-minute period.

6.3.3 Test cycle

.1 specimens should be subjected to this exposure for 100 h;
.2 they should then be allowed to dry thoroughly at a temperature of between 20°C and 40°C; and
.3 after drying, the specimens should proceed through the flame test.