There are many textile tests. Some of them are physical tests, in which a sample of textile material is examined closely for feel and appearance. Such tests are done on individual fibers or strands of material and on yarns, threads made of several fibers twisted together.
Textiles are also subjected to light and other elements to see how they react. Some of these tests are done in a weather-ometer, a machine that tests for weathering and lightfastness of textiles. It's basically an enclosed box. Textiles are placed inside and subjected to conditions replicated from the natural environment.
Mechanical tests are those in which textiles are subjected to different pressure and stressors, usually in specialized testing machines. These include tests to measure breaking strength, the force needed to break a fabric under tension. Such tests can ensure fabrics are strong enough to maintain integrity even when under great stress. Other tests gauge tearing strength, or the strength required to make an already existing rip or tear worse. And abrasion tests determine how quickly a textile wears out when it's rubbed against another surface. Such tests make sure that fabrics used in products like parachutes and car seat belts won't break when needed most to keep the user safe.
Still other tests are chemical tests, in which a textile is analyzed through chemical means to determine what it contains. These tests are often done in laboratories, and they're important to determine whether textiles might have harmful substances in them like lead or other heavy metals, banned chemical dyes or pesticides that could possibly endanger the consumer.
Specialized textile testing is also done to test for flammability, or how quickly a given textile burns. Various methods of performance testing are done on textiles that must possess special qualities, like be effectively bulletproof or provide a layer of filtering on construction projects. In short, there are as many ways to test textiles as there are uses for textile products in our world.
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