Root Cause Analysis Report 2025
April 2025
This report identifies the material characteristics most likely to influence fibre fragmentation according to our dataset.
Summary
This work represents the first large-scale global study into the effects of fabric characteristics on fibre fragmentation during laundering. We have utilised data housed in The Microfibre Data Portal, which contains standardised test results and their respective fabric specifications from over a thousand diverse fabrics, tested using the TMC Test Method.
Reasons to download:
In this report, you can discover:
Actionable Fabric Design Insights
Why Finishing Stage Modifications should be prioritised
How we can Develop Predictive Modelling for Fabric Design
What is required to Expand Research Scope
The need to Consider Environmental Impact Beyond Shedding
Key Takeaways
The model suggests that woven, filament and synthetic fabrics are associated with lower predicted fibre fragmentation compared to knitted, staple and natural fabrics, in line with the results from other smaller-scale studies. The effects of dyeing and finishing on fibre fragmentation have been mostly unexplored in existing work but here we present evidence that these processes strongly influence fibre fragmentation and their effects vary depending on the methods used. The findings highlight the multifaceted nature of fibre fragmentation and the need to consider all fabric characteristics together when addressing this issue and attempting to design lower-shedding textiles.
“This report marks a significant milestone in the fashion and textile industry’s efforts to address the challenge of fibre fragmentation. The research has been extensive and robust, which is only possible thanks to the collective data contributions of our signatories.”
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