Lab Dips: Why Your Colour Approval Process Is Too Fast

Short answer: approve lab dips under controlled lighting, against a physical standard, with a numerical tolerance agreed in advance. Everything else is guesswork, and guesswork in colour costs you the whole order.

Colour is the single largest cause of disputes between brands and mills. It is also the one with the most established solution, and most buyers skip it.

Why Lab Dips Go Wrong

The failures are remarkably consistent:

The Process That Actually Works

This is the sequence I would hold any program to:

Why Reorders Drift

The most expensive colour problem is not the first order, it is the second one.

Brands that retain their approved dips and reference them at every reorder rarely argue about colour. Brands that do not, argue every season.

What to Put in the Purchase Order

Three lines prevent most colour disputes:

How Many Rounds to Expect

Buyers get frustrated by repeat lab dips without knowing what is actually normal:

The cost of an extra round is a few days and a small fee. The cost of approving too early is the entire production run.

Conclusion

Colour approval is a process, not a judgement call. Slow it down by two days and you will save two weeks later.

Key Takeaways for Buyers

About HONGTEX

Our in-house dye house returns lab dips in 5-7 days and we send three options as standard, because a single dip forces you to guess. Every approved dip is retained against your style number so reorders match the original rather than the recipe. Send us a physical standard and we will tell you what is achievable before you commit.