This part of ISO 105 provides general information about the methods for testing colour fastness of textiles for the guidance of users. The uses and limitations of the methods are pointed out, several terms are defined, an outline of the form of the methods is given and the contents of the clauses constituting the methods are discussed. Procedures common to a number of the methods are discussed briefly.

Colour fastness means the resistance of the colour of textiles to the different agents to which these materials may be exposed during manufacture and their subsequent use. The change in colour and staining of undyed adjacent fabrics are assessed as fastness ratings. Other visible changes in the textile material under test, for example surface effects, change in gloss or shrinkage, are considered as separate properties and reported as such.

The methods can be used not only for assessing colour fastness of textiles but also for assessing colour fastness of dyes. When a method is so used, the dye is applied to the textile in specified depths of colour by stated procedures and the material is then tested in the usual way.

For the most part, individual methods are concerned with colour fastness to a single agent, as the agents of interest in a particular case, and the order of application, will generally vary. It is recognized that experience and future developments in practice can justify procedures in which two or more agents are combined.

The conditions in the tests have been chosen to correspond closely to treatments usually employed in manufacture and to conditions of ordinary use. At the same time, they have been kept as simple and reproducible as possible. As it cannot be hoped that the tests will duplicate all the conditions under which textiles are processed or used, the fastness ratings are interpreted according to the particular needs of each user. They provide, however, a common basis for testing and reporting colour fastness.