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  Faults in material

  Posted by Sally Wolff on at 17:01

  Hi All,
  I was investigating using waxed cotton but the cost was too high for my target price. I considered using ‘faulty stock’ / second grade which was cheaper. Even though I have decided against this now in favour of using the highest quality material I can I though the conversation between myself and Ana may be useful to everyone. It explains what the vocab used when talking about faults. I was looking to save money on manufacturing costs but have realised that I was trying to put a square peg in a round hole because I wanted to use this material for a pair of kids outdoor trousers.Hope this is useful to everyone.

  As mentioned, we have a 47m roll available in second grade stock with the faults ‘-6% Shrink and 738/787 Tensiles (spec 850)’.
  Please let me know if this is of interest and I will check what discount can be offered. I will also need to ask our warehouse team to locate the roll.

  ana – Regarding the faults:
  The shrinkage could be worked around by pre-washing the material. The manufacturer has to do this and then press the material again, but this can add yet another cost. Another way to work around this is that you state clearly that the pants are going to shrink x-amount of % so the customer knows.
  In general it’s a pain in the ass to work with shrinking issues and this can be a problem along the way when people wash their garments and want to have refunds etc…

  The tear strength could be less of a problem because the garments won’t be used that way. The kids will mostly play and rub knees and butts against things and you won’t have an actual tearing situation, but yes, the lowered tensile is not so good. You want a strong material for your playwear. Plus this should be your selling point – durability!

  Regarding FOV, there are plenty of other people working at FOV, I’m sure you can speak with someone there even if Pernilla isn’t in the house:)

  Regarding being at a crossroad – as you know from the course you took with us, to our webinars, to our podcast and all the content we put out plus what Charles mentions, profitability is very important for a startup. If your pricing is weak from the start, you will have a VERY hard time getting those money in later or increasing your prices. Making a simpler pant to cut on price may not be a smart move (but then I don’t really know what it is that you will be cutting back on). The design and the functions I assume are what’s gonna make you stand out.

  Your decision should be based on your priority nr one. If profitability is key, that’s your priority. If you have durability, hand-me-down your second priority, then that dictates your decision regarding materials etc etc.

  You can also use a stronger (more expensive) material in parts of the pant like the knees and bum area and use a cheaper material in the rest of the pant. You can always play with this idea as well:)

  Sally Wolff replied 4 years, 3 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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