About Us

The Textile Testing Lab provides assistance to the textile and apparel industry through the development of high-quality products, evaluation and/or development of specifications for an existing product, and/or evaluation of the end-use performance of a product. The lab also offers expert consultation to assist industry members with analyzing product failures.

The Textile Testing Lab operates under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Easter, a professor and consultant for textiles and textile care. Dr. Easter has over 25 years of consulting and applied research experience.

The Textile Testing Lab provides research and laboratory technician experience to both graduate and undergraduate students who work as paid technicians under the direction of the laboratory supervisor and Dr. Easter. The lab also provides funding for graduate student research assistants and the opportunity for students to conduct thesis research projects within the industry and gain experience in solving real-world problems.

Projects include the Lion Apparel label study and firefighter durability studies. These research projects are funded through a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) grant. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has played a large role in the firefighter durability studies through their development of Standards on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting.

Tricia Hock completed the initial durability study on the Post-Use Evaluation of Fire Fighter's Turnout Coats in 1996. In 2009, Deena Cotterill completed Phase I of the Post-Use Analysis of Firefighter Turnout Gear durability study, followed by Stacy Trenkamp who completed Phase II of the study in 2011. Meredith Cinnamon completed Phase III in fall 2013.

On top of research projects, the lab performs basic textile testing and is equipped to evaluate textile properties including physical properties, chemical properties and product failures. Tests are conducted using standardized test methods developed by ASTM, AHAM, AATCC, NFPA, IEC and ISO.

Extensive product testing and research projects are conducted for companies including General Electric, Lion Apparel Inc., Louisville Bedding and the Clothes Care Research Center.

The lab provides a Test Piece service to the Association for Linen Management (ALM) and offers special product testing for members of this organization. ALM has provided contract funding for the lab since 1988.