Quality For Life
3 Mar 2023
Author: SportscraftMarketing
OUR QUALITY PROMISE
We’re proud of the quality of our clothes and we want them to stay with you forever.
From the beginning, longevity has been at the heart of every product we make. Our rigorous quality testing processes and care guidelines exist to ensure your product not only looks great but goes the distance, adapting and moving to fit the changes in your life.
TESTING MATTERS
All our products are quality tested against international standards by Intertek, SGS and Bureau Veritas. This means we put our clothing through the wear and tear of everyday life before it even hits the racks, so you can be sure it’s going to last.
By giving you a glimpse into the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, you can be confident that your Sportscraft products will last the test of time. Here’s everything you need to know.
'WHAT'S IT REALLY MADE OF?'
We test the fibre composition of our garments, including main fabrics, linings, and waddings. Percentages of blends can sometimes vary. Through our testing, we can guarantee that what is listed in the product description is exactly what you’re getting.
'IS IT HARM-FREE?'
We carry out a range of chemical tests to ensure nothing nasty ends up in your clothing. We reject any material with high or low pH levels, banned AZO dyes or formaldehyde, which some manufacturers add for wrinkle resistance. Keeping toxicity out of your clothes is a number one priority for us.
'IS IT GOING TO LOOK LIKE IT DID ON THE RACK?'
Worried about your garment looking worn out after just a few washes? That’s where dimensional stability testing comes in. This examines how the structure of a fabric changes with wash and wear and is one of our most critical tests to ensure garment longevity.
During production, your clothes go through several mechanical processes – spinning, weaving, knitting, printing, and finishing. Unstable materials and print processes can lead to the weakening or fading of your clothes. We test our garments by putting them through vigorous machine wash, hand wash or dry-cleaning tests depending on the content and end use.
'WILL THE COLOURS DISAPPEAR?'
We want our favourite prints and colours to stay bold and bright but between work, play and laundering, there can be a lot of elements working against us.
That’s why our colourfastness tests are developed to reflect daily life. We check for cross-staining and colour loss in wash cycles using steel balls to emulate real-world abrasion. Rubbing tests ensure colours (especially dark ones) don’t transfer onto other clothes or surfaces. We also check for light resistance, perspiration resistance in jacket linings, and seawater and chlorine fading in swimwear.
While these tests guarantee your colours will stay put for years to come, all clothing eventually feels the effects of UV light and a lifetime of laundering. For tips on how to extend the life of your clothing, check our care guide.
'WILL IT STAND UP TO WEAR AND TEAR?'
Yes! That’s where our performance testing comes in.
To ensure your garment is physically robust, we test the tear strength of woven fabrics and the bursting strength of knits. We test to make sure the fabric doesn’t rip at the seams, that a stretch fabric will recover its shape by 90–95%, and that it can withstand abrasion and rubbing.
WHAT'S NEXT?
We design our quality products for life.
BY 2025 WE ARE AIMING TO:
Develop a guide to extending the life of Sportscraft products
Work towards minimising waste in the design process and ensuring our products can either be repaired, upcycled, or recycled
Work with our charity partners to keep unsold or used products circulating throughout the community