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Fashion & Textiles vocabulary · Colours, Prints & Decoration

Lab dip

Meaning in fashion & textiles, with examples

/ˈlæb dɪp/nounCommon term

In fashion & textiles, lab dip means: A small piece of fabric or yarn dyed in the laboratory to match a target colour, sent to the buyer for approval before bulk dyeing.

In Turkish: labdip, renk onay numunesi, laboratuvar boyaması

How it is used

Dyehouses usually send two or three options (A, B, C) for each colour. Buyers compare them in a light box under set light sources, then approve one or ask for it to be redone, for example slightly redder or brighter. Target colours are often Pantone TCX references.

Example sentences

  1. Option B of the lab dip is approved for the sage colourway.

  2. The lab dips look too green under shop lighting; please resubmit.

Common collocations

  • approve a lab dip
  • lab dip submission
  • resubmit lab dips
  • lab dip options
  • colourwayOne of the colour combinations in which the same design, fabric or print is produced, for example the navy and the khaki version of a jacket.
  • dyeingThe process of adding colour to fibre, yarn, fabric or finished garments by treating them with dyes, usually in water and with heat.
  • strike-offA short test print of a design on the actual production fabric, sent to the buyer to approve colours, scale and quality before bulk printing.
  • colourfastnessHow well a dyed or printed fabric keeps its colour without fading or staining other fabrics when it is washed, rubbed, exposed to light or sweat.

More terms: Colours, Prints & Decoration

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