How to Inspect Uniform Fabric on Delivery

Why inspection happens at delivery, not at cutting

The window for raising a fabric problem closes the moment the first roll is cut. Until then a roll is a saleable, returnable unit. After a cutting table has been through it, the fabric is a set of panels and no supplier can take it back, which means an inspection skipped at delivery converts a supplier's problem into yours.

This is not about distrust. Woven fabric is produced in batches on machinery running at speed, and a small number of faults per hundred metres is normal and expected in the trade. Inspection is how both sides establish what actually arrived, against an agreed standard, while it can still be acted on.

Before you unroll anything

The first checks are documentary and take a few minutes. They catch the largest and most easily corrected errors.

• Roll count against the packing list, and total metreage against the invoice
• Lot or batch numbers on every roll label, recorded before the rolls are separated into storage
• Fabric name, composition, weight and width on the invoice against what you ordered
• Visible transit damage: crushed edges, water staining on the outer wrap, torn packing
• Whether all rolls carry the same lot number, or the consignment spans more than one lot

That last point matters more than it looks. A consignment spanning two dye lots is not a fault in itself, but it means shade has to be checked lot to lot before cutting, and rolls from different lots should not be mixed within one garment.

Checking width, weight and length

These three are measurable, and disagreements about them are usually disagreements about method rather than about the fabric. Settle the method with your supplier once and both sides can check the same way.

Width should be measured edge to edge and again as cuttable width inside the selvedges, because the difference between the two is what actually reaches your cutting table. Check the measured width against the width stated for that specific fabric rather than against a figure assumed for the whole range, since width varies by quality. Our guide to fabric width and cutting yield covers how width translates into panels per metre.

Weight is checked by cutting a known area from a sample roll and weighing it, which gives GSM directly. Because GSM is usually specified with a tolerance either side, a small variance is within specification rather than a defect. Length is verified on a measuring table or by a calibrated roll meter, not by trusting the label.

The defects to look for

Most woven fabric faults fall into a short list of recognisable types. Knowing the names is useful, because a described fault is far easier for a mill to investigate than a photograph captioned as a mark.

Bowing and skewing deserve particular attention on checks and stripes, where an out-of-square weft is immediately visible in the finished garment even though the fabric has no fault you can point to in a single spot.

How graded inspection works

The trade standard for grading woven fabric is the four-point system. Rather than counting faults, it scores each one by length, so a long fault counts more heavily than a short one, and totals the points across a measured area.

Points are assigned by defect length: up to about three inches scores one point, three to six inches two points, six to nine inches three points, and anything longer four points. No single linear metre is scored more than four points, and the total is expressed per hundred square yards of fabric inspected.

• Inspect a sample of rolls rather than the whole consignment, agreed as a percentage in advance
• Score each defect by its length, using the point bands above
• Total the points and convert to points per hundred square yards
• Compare that total against the acceptance threshold agreed with your supplier

There is no universal pass mark. The acceptance threshold is something buyer and supplier agree in advance, and it should be part of the order terms rather than something discussed for the first time when a consignment is being disputed.

Checking shade, roll to roll

Shade is the most common cause of a rejected consignment and the easiest to check badly. Compare fabric against your approved shade standard, not against a previous delivery or a printed reference, and do it under consistent light. Two fabrics that match under one light source can differ visibly under another, which is metamerism rather than a fault in your eyes.

Check the start and end of each roll as well as roll against roll, because a within-roll shade change tells a different story from a roll-to-roll difference. Our guide on dye-lot consistency explains why these differences arise, and the lab dip guide covers how the approved standard you are checking against is established in the first place.

If something is wrong

Raise it before cutting, with specifics. A mill can act on a roll number, a lot number, a distance from the roll start and a named defect type. It can do very little with a general complaint about quality after the fabric has been cut.

• Stop cutting on the affected rolls and keep them intact
• Record roll numbers, lot numbers and the position of each fault along the roll
• Photograph the fault next to a scale, and against your approved shade standard where shade is the issue
• Report it in one message with the invoice reference, rather than in stages
• Agree the remedy in writing, whether that is replacement, a credit for the affected metreage, or acceptance with an allowance

Reconciling the total quantity against the order

Measuring each roll tells you whether the rolls are honest. It does not tell you whether the delivery is complete, and those are separate checks that get collapsed into one surprisingly often. Add the measured lengths, compare the total against the purchase order, and do it before the first roll goes to the cutting table, because a shortfall found after cutting has started is a shortfall you can no longer prove.

Woven fabric is not produced to an exact metre, so most supply agreements carry a quantity tolerance, commonly a small percentage either side of the ordered quantity, with the invoice raised on the actual measured despatch rather than on the ordered figure. If your order does not say what that tolerance is, that is the gap to close at the next order rather than the argument to have at this one.

A short delivery and an over delivery need different responses. A shortfall matters most when it puts the garment count at risk, so the first question is not whether it is within tolerance but whether it still cuts the required number of garments at your consumption; if it does not, the top-up needs to come from the same lot and needs asking for immediately, while that lot still exists. An over delivery is usually harmless and occasionally not: it is only a problem if you are being invoiced for cloth you cannot use, which is a conversation to have before it is unrolled.

Record the reconciliation even when it balances. A delivery note countersigned with the measured total, the roll count and the date is what settles a question raised eight months later, when the only other evidence is two different memories.

Storing rolls between delivery and cutting

Buying a year of cloth in one dye lot is the right answer to shade drift, and it creates a problem nobody mentions at the time: the cloth now has to survive months in your store before it is cut. Fabric that passed inspection on arrival can fail at the cutting table nine months later, and when it does the mill is long out of the picture. Almost all of it is preventable with storage habits that cost nothing.

Keep rolls off the floor, on pallets or racking. A concrete floor wicks moisture upward, and in a humid month that is enough to mark the outer layers of a roll and, over a long enough hold, to grow mildew that no wash will remove. Lay rolls parallel and horizontal on their racking rather than crossing them over each other, because a roll bearing the weight of another roll across it takes a crease that sets into the cloth and shows as a line down the finished garment. If rolls have to be stacked, stack few and rotate the bottom ones.

Leave the mill's wrap on until the roll goes to the cutting room. It is not packaging you are meant to remove on arrival; it is what keeps dust, light and handling marks off the cloth. Inspect through an opened end rather than by stripping a roll you are not about to cut. Keep the store out of direct sunlight, because a roll sitting in a window strip fades unevenly along its exposed face and you will discover it as a shade difference between garments cut from the same roll. Ventilated and dry beats sealed and damp.

Two habits matter more than the rest for a programme held in one lot. Work first in, first out by lot, and label rolls so the store can actually do it, because a store that picks whatever is nearest will mix lots into one batch of garments. And re-check the shade against your filed reference before cutting stock that has been held a long time, under the same light source you approved it under. That check takes minutes and it is the last point at which a problem is still cheap.

None of this replaces the arrival inspection above. It extends it: the arrival check tells you what the mill sent, and these habits decide what your cutting room receives. If your programme is planned around a single annual lot, read this alongside planning annual purchases, where the buffer quantity you hold is exactly the cloth that sits in store longest.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much of a delivery should be inspected?

That is an agreement rather than a rule. Many buyers inspect a percentage of rolls, chosen at random, and inspect fully only if the sample fails. What matters is that the percentage and the acceptance threshold are agreed before the order rather than after a dispute.

Is a small number of faults per roll normal?

Yes. Woven fabric is produced on machinery running at speed and a low incidence of faults across a roll is expected in the trade, which is exactly why a graded system exists rather than a zero-fault standard. The question is whether the total sits inside the agreed threshold, not whether any fault exists.

What is the difference between edge-to-edge and cuttable width?

Edge to edge includes the selvedges, the finished borders on each side. Cuttable width is what remains once selvedges are excluded, and it is the figure that determines how many panels you get per metre. Always confirm which one a quoted width refers to.

Can fabric be returned after it has been cut?

No. Once a roll is cut it cannot be returned or resold, which is why inspection belongs at delivery. If a fault is found during cutting, stop on that roll immediately and keep the remaining fabric intact so at least the uncut portion can be assessed.

How long after delivery can a quality claim still be raised?

For as long as your supply agreement says, and if it says nothing, for a reasonable time only. Most agreements set a claim period running from the delivery date, commonly a short one measured in days, after which the consignment counts as accepted. The law behind that default works the same way: keeping goods past a reasonable time without saying anything, or doing something with them that only an owner would do, is treated as acceptance, and cutting is exactly such an act. The practical consequence is that the claim clock and the cutting schedule are the same deadline, so inspect on arrival and put the claim period into the purchase order rather than discovering it in the seller's terms after a fault appears.

What should be recorded at delivery even when nothing looks wrong?

Roll count, total metreage and the lot numbers on every roll, before rolls are separated into storage. If a shade or specification question comes up weeks later during cutting, those three records are what make it possible to trace which lot the fabric came from.

What if the delivered quantity does not match the order?

Add the measured roll lengths and reconcile against the purchase order before cutting starts, since a shortfall found after cutting cannot be proved. Woven fabric is not produced to an exact metre, so most agreements carry a small quantity tolerance either side and invoice on the actual measured despatch. The real test of a shortfall is whether it still cuts your required garment count; if not, ask for the top-up immediately while the same dye lot still exists.

How should fabric rolls be stored between delivery and cutting?

Off the floor on pallets or racking, laid parallel rather than crossed over each other, with the mill's wrap left on until cutting, out of direct sunlight, in a dry ventilated space. Label rolls by lot and issue first in, first out, so the store cannot mix lots into one batch of garments.

Can fabric be damaged in storage after it passed inspection?

Yes, and it is common on programmes held in a single annual lot. Floor moisture marks outer layers and can grow mildew, weight from stacked rolls sets creases that show in the finished garment, and a roll in a sunlit strip fades unevenly along its exposed face. All three appear at the cutting table months after the mill's involvement ended.

Should I re-check the shade on stock that has been held for months?

Yes, against your filed reference and under the same light source it was approved under, before that stock is cut. It takes minutes, and it is the last point where a storage problem is still cheap to deal with.