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DOE Energy Test Cloth


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Batches: QC Batch/Lot Data, Correction Coefficients
MSDS: not available

 

DOE Clothes Washer Rulemaking: Appendix J1

Standardized test cloth (Energy Test Cloth) is used to simulate a washer load of clothes in a test determining the RMC.

Background information

The U.S. government established the first federal test procedures for clothes washers in 1977. In the 1990’s, concurrent with the development of new energy conservation standards for clothes washers, the Department of Energy began revising the clothes washer test procedure.

The current appendix J1 test procedure specifies an energy efficiency descriptor called the the modified energy factor (MEF). In contrast with the previous EF descriptor which only calculated the energy use of the clothes washer itself, the MEF descriptor accounts for the remaining moisture content (RMC) of clothes leaving the clothes washer. In order to calculate the RMC, appendix J1 requires manufacturers to use a particular lot of standardized test cloth (Energy Test Cloth) to simulate a washer load of clothes.

The DOE Energy Test Cloth is available from wfk:

 

Fabric Specifications

Parameter Specification
Yarn composition Cotton/Polyester 50/50 CO in warp and weft each 50% ± 4%
Area weight (190 ± 8,4) g/m²
Weave Momie or Granite weave
Thread count
Warp

Weft
65 / inch ± 2%
(≈ 25 / cm ± 2%)
57 / inch ± 2%
(≈ 22,4 / cm ± 2)
Yarn count
Warp

Weft
15/1 cotton count ± 5%
wfk: 35,5 tex (Nm 28/1), ± 5%
15/1 cotton count ± 5%
wfk: 35,5 tex (Nm 28/1), ± 5%
Yarn twist
Warp
Weft		 (wfk internal specification, not formally required)
410 - 450 t/m
410 - 450 t/m
Yarn construction Open end spun
Finish Pure finish: desized/washed, bleached, without optical brightner
Color White

 

Quality Control

Samples of the lots are tested by a formally approved test lab; the results are then evaluated and the lot officially approved by the AHAM DOE Task Force to confirm the required quality and establish the correction coefficients.

Correction coefficients

The Correction Coefficients for different lots can be found here.