Before we recommend a fabric for hospital use, we wash it the way a hospital will. Not once, and not gently.
We run repeated cycles at higher temperature with detergent, then check three things: colour, shrinkage and seam condition.
Colour is judged against an unwashed control piece. A slight softening is normal. A visible fade or a shift toward grey is a warning.
Shrinkage is measured before and after. Most fabrics settle after the first wash, but some keep shrinking. If the numbers are unstable, we either pre-shrink or reject the fabric.
Seams are checked at the stress points. Puckering, fraying or popped stitches after ten washes means the thread or the stitch density is wrong, even if the fabric itself is fine.
This test is not glamorous and it slows down fabric selection. It is also the reason we can talk about how a uniform will look in month six, not just on delivery day.
