How to Choose Baby Clothes - Part 3
How to Choose Baby Clothes - Part 3
-- Textile experts who have been in the industry for 28 years tell you a simple method of judging
The fabrics used in ready-made clothing are basically divided into woven fabrics and knitted fabrics. Considering the comfort of the clothes for babies, most baby clothes are made of knitted fabrics. Because the knitted fabric structure is softer and the fabric elastic. Here we will share with you more knowledge about baby-knitted clothing and fabrics.
When choosing baby clothes, new parents usually consider the following points:
1. Brand and quality of baby clothes
The brand and quality of baby clothes should be recognized by consumers, and the brand and quality of clothes cannot be judged by PRICE. A very high price is not necessarily the best, but a very low price is definitely NOT good quality - because any good raw materials and reliable brand quality control have costs; if the price of a piece of clothing is low enough to be close to the production cost, then you can imagine: Where are the costs of shipping clothes from the factory to consumers, import and export taxes, importer wholesale profits, and final retail store expenses and profits?
Here is a simple way to tell you the difference. Under the condition of the same quality, the price of niche brands will be slightly higher than that of big brands or chain brand products; this is because big brands or chain brand products will have more advantages in product cost control. The general sales price of brand chain products is basically between 3-4 times the ex-factory price of the product; then you can simply judge that if the chain brand store discounts by 40-50%, the price is basically the best purchase time during sales, and the specific If the big promotion discount reaches 60-70%, the merchant will basically lose money. If you find similar quality products online store or on Amazon for less than half or more of what you pay at chain stores, you can hardly believe the quality. (Except for luxury goods, the reference here is mainly similar to Baby GAP, Buy Buy Baby and Chapters Indigo, etc.; in chain stores like Buy Buy Baby, there will also be many different brands because of different brand designs, different raw materials and different origins. The price will vary. We will introduce this in detail later)
2. The style and comfort of baby clothes
The most popular or basic styles of newborn baby clothes are kimonos, Onesies and Rompers. The more choices are the different printing styles on the related clothes. It is recommended to choose clothes for babies under 6 months old and avoid choosing embroidered styles.
3. Material and grade of baby clothes fabric
This part is the most difficult for consumers to judge. At present, the most common baby clothes on the market are Pima cotton, Organic cotton, Natural coloured cotton, Regular pure cotton, Bamboo-cotton blended materials and Recycled textile materials (prices of raw materials are from high to low, the first four are purely natural fibres, Bamboo Cotton fibre and Recycled textile materials belong to viscose fibre) If the baby clothes you choose are marked with Pima cotton, Organic cotton or Natural coloured cotton, you basically don’t need to worry about the quality of the material, just look at your satisfaction with the style of the clothes and price acceptance. Among them, there is a slight difference in quality, that is, the three types of products are also divided into carded yarn and combed yarn (the quality of the combed yarn is better). In Regular pure cotton products, there is the most complicated product grade: first-class yarn, second-class yarn, high-ratio cotton, and short-fibre cotton. Bamboo cotton fibre and regenerated fibre are viscose fibres added with cellulose. I do not recommend choosing clothes made of such materials for babies, especially newborn babies.
Pima cotton, Organic cotton, Natural coloured cotton -- if 32TK (sticks) or 40TK (sticks) combed cotton is used, it is basically the best fabric on the market. The surface of the fabric is smooth, the fibres are long and uniform, and the fabric is more durable. The interlock knit fabric is about 190-220gsm, and the jersey structure is about 140-160gsm.
Regular cotton yarn can also achieve the same corresponding weight of interlock and single jersey, but the smoothness of the fabric is poor (many factories use chemical methods to remove hairiness, which is difficult for non-experience to judge), and the hand feel is relatively poor. Harder (similarly, many factories can also use a large amount of chemical or even excessive amount of softener to process the fabric to make it softer, which is also difficult for non-experience to distinguish)
So how do consumers distinguish between good and bad products?
1. First of all, it can be distinguished from the price, because the price and cost of good raw materials Pima cotton, Organic cotton, Natural coloured cotton, and COMBED cotton have been fixed; even if the sewing and processing costs of different origins are different, and the regional transportation costs are different, But these distinctions that affect price are not too big. So the price of a really good raw material Onesies should be around 25-35 Canadian dollars (about 20-30 Canadian dollars for non-combed cotton products) and the price of a Romper is about 35-45 Canadian dollars (30-35 Canadian dollars for non-combed cotton products). Then, in order to reduce the cost, some brands choose OEMs from low processing costs origins and reduce the weight of fabrics, so there are also Onesies that can reduce the price to 15-25 Canadian dollars. Even if the product cost of Regular cotton first-grade yarn is relatively low, we do not recommend buying Onesies with a price of less than 10 Canadian dollars and Rompers with a price of less than 15 Canadian dollars for newborn babies, because products sold below this price already push their supplier cost close or lower than normal cost. The supplier cannot guarantee that the raw material of the product is pure cotton material using first-class yarn.
2. Second, It can be tested by smell. Good pure cotton raw materials and good printing, dyeing and sewing processes will not leave a peculiar smell to the product. Pima cotton, Organic cotton, and Naturally coloured cotton baby clothes should smell of cotton naturally. If you smell a weak sour or pungent odour, it is not recommended to buy the product.
3. Third, Touch the fabric with your hands. If it feels soft and silky, and the fabric surface is clean without too much hairiness, it is a good material; if it feels rough or the fabric is hard, it is a regular cotton product; if you touch it a few times with your hands, there will be cotton hairiness on your hands, such a product cannot be purchased.
4. Fourth, Take a piece of white envelope paper (ordinary paper, not clean card), and rub it hard on the dyed or printed clothes to see if there is any slight colour falling on the white paper. If there is, it is not recommended to buy. Especially for baby clothes, avoid buying dark red, dark green and Navy; because of these three colours, many manufacturers have difficulty in controlling the quality of their products.
5. When you buy a good quality product, wash the clothes with warm water at 30-35 degrees and there will be no dying colour falls in the water. If some parts of the clothes are stitched with dark and light colours, there should be no colour transfer (dark Transfer of the coloured parts to light-coloured fabrics). Dry the clothes at medium and low temperatures; see if the clothes shrink too much? Are the clothes badly deformed? The shrinkage rate of good-quality clothes should be controlled within 6%, and the clothes will not deform too much!
If you have any questions about textiles, baby clothes or baby products please consult our experts. DM on IG or Email is welcome.
In the next episode, we will continue to share the origin of home textile products and baby clothing products.