Spray Rating Test: Water Repellency Performance and Durability
The spray test shows how well a surface sheds water, and repeating it after washing reveals whether the finish is durable.
What follows is a practical breakdown for sourcing and development teams, from specification through to verification.
Test procedure
Water is sprayed onto a taut sample from a fixed height, and the wetting pattern is graded from zero to five.
Buyers who set expectations at the development stage spend far less time resolving complaints after the season has started.
Grading interpretation
Grade five means no sticking or wetting, while grade one indicates complete wetting of the surface.
Record the measurement conditions alongside the target, including conditioning, sample size and number of test specimens.
- Ask for a separate price line for the requirement
- Confirm minimum quantities before committing the colourway
- Build one extra approval round into the calendar
Durability testing
Ratings are repeated after five, ten and twenty washes to quantify how the finish degrades.
In production, consistency matters more than the best single result, because batch-to-batch variation is what customers notice.
Common causes of low results
Contamination from softeners, insufficient curing and over-application can all suppress repellency.
Verify with an accredited test on production fabric rather than a development sample, and repeat the test after laundering.
- Confirm the numeric range and the test method in the specification
- Keep an approved physical standard at the machine
- Retest after the agreed care regime before shipping
Care instructions
Heat activation in a tumble dryer often restores repellency, which should be explained to the consumer.
Review the requirement annually against market prices, as the cost of some materials moves faster than others.
Summary
A clear specification, a trained operator and a documented test together remove most of the risk from this part of the programme.
