ISO 105 B02 is the most common lightfastness test for textiles worldwide. In this standard, a xenon-arc apparatus is used to expose test specimens and reference materials to light. The reference material consists of a set of eight bluish dyed wool pieces with UV/light durability ranging from low (Blue Wool #1) up to very high (Blue Wool #8). The performance of the test specimens is then compared to the performance of the reference materials to determine how “lightfast” the materials are. Five different exposure methods are described in ISO 105 B02 that vary in how they are set up and the information they generate. All of the methods use masks to cover a portion of the specimens to allow for easy visual assessment of the contrast between the area of the specimen that has been exposed to light and the unexposed area of the specimen (faded area vs. original area). The masks are shown in the photos below.


Textile Masks for Xe-2 (⅓ and ⅔)


Textile Masks for Xe-3 (¼, ½, and ¾)

The table below outlines the five Exposure Methods in ISO 105 02 including why one would choose each method and what reference material and specimen mask(s) are required.


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