Home / News / Hohenstein offers test services on auto interior textiles

Hohenstein offers test services on auto interior textiles

13 Nov '13
3 min read

A soil burial test is used to determine how well a material will rot away at the end of its lifetime. This test requires a material sample to be buried in biologically active soil under standardised conditions. The soil provides an ideal environment for bacteria and fungi. The material is analysed at defined time intervals and compared with its new condition. This provides information about the degradation process.

The sensory lab at the Hohenstein Institute also allows a reproducible quantification of odour formation and answers a range of questions: Does the material have an inherent odour? Are bad odours the result of microorganisms settling on the textile?

Specially trained test subjects – so-called panellists – detect very fine odour differences on a special test device (olfactometer). These are then evaluated with the help of a dedicated software.

And what about the “allergy-free interior”? The Hohenstein scientists answer the question about the allergenic potential of interior materials by using a cost-efficient cell culture test for which they use the body's own immune cells. If a sample has allergenic potential, the reaction of these guard cells works like an alarm during the tests in the lab.

Hohenstein Institutes

Leave your Comments

HB Fuller bags F&S Innovation Leadership Award
HB Fuller bags F&S Innovation Leadership Award
Celanese wins award for composites pressure pipe
Celanese wins award for composites pressure pipe

Follow us