Care, Maintenance, Quality and Occupational Safety
Overview
This domain covers care and maintenance, quality inspection and occupational safety in apparel work.
Care and quality
Care labels use symbols for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry cleaning. Fibre rules: cotton tolerates hot washing but may shrink; wool needs cool water and neutral detergent; silk needs gentle handling; polyester is heat-sensitive when ironing. Stain removal uses the right agent, not heat: protein stains such as blood need cold water; oil needs absorbent and solvent; unknown stains are tested on a hidden seam. Quality uses inspections at fabric, cut, sew and final stages; the 4-point system assigns 1–4 points by defect length, then calculates points per 100 square yards.
Worked example
A 60-square-yard lot has 10 defect points. Points per 100 sq yd = 10 × 100 ÷ 60 = 16.7. If the buyer's limit is 20 points per 100 sq yd, the lot passes; if the limit is 15, it fails. Reasoning: raw points cannot be compared across lot sizes; the calculation normalises them.
Safety
Machine guards, needle guards, correct earthing, dry floors, guarded blades, fire extinguishers and first aid are non-negotiable. Keep needles in a container, do not remove guards for speed, and maintain posture and lighting.
Traps
Hot water on blood, chlorine bleach on wool, ignoring care symbols, comparing raw defect counts, and bypassing guards are common. Safety violations are disqualifying, not minor errors.