Effect of the fabric color on the visual perception of pilling

Purpose Pilling is a fabric surface fault comprising of small, fuzzy balls on the surface of a fabric that leads to poor handle and quality. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the fabric color in terms of depth and hue on the visual perception of pilling on the fabric surface. Design/methodology/approach Acrylic fabrics were prepared at various color depths and hues and then were applied with relatively equal amount of pilling on the surface of samples. The amount of perceived pilling was evaluated by human observers by employing paired comparison method and the results were analyzed using statistical methods. Findings According to the results, color depth and the visual perception of pilling in achromatic sample were nearly independent. Color hue can be considered as an important factor in the visual perception of pilling so when the color contrast between the pill and background decreases, the visual perception of pilling decreases as well. Hence, the achromatic sample have the most amount of pilling perception whereas green and blue samples show less pilling, in visual sensation. Originality/value There is a strong demand for acrylic fabrics in apparel industry but they have high tendency for pilling formation. To overcome this problem, experts have suggested some methods to prevent or reduce pilling. If it is proved that color influences on pilling perception, an useful instruction will be available for acrylic fabric manufacturers in order to satisfy their customer with good quality of products. In this work, the authors tried to find such relationships between the color and the pilling perception for human observers.