Many of our customers have called us over the last few weeks with concerns about strong odors coming from shipments upon receipt in their distribution centers. Some of the concerns stem from the dyeing and finishing process in the factories. Other issues may have been caused by units being packed damp after pressing, packed in an extremely humid factory, or the shipment may have become wet in transit.
The latest call to our apparel repair team, came from a customer who told us that there was a visible hole in the container when it arrived. They found water stains on the boxes and the presence of a mildew odor in the pants. They were not sure if the pants themselves were still wet or had any moisture in them or if they just smelled from the moisture in the container.
Darn It has a few methods to get rid of the moisture and make the smell disappear. We reviewed samples and partnered with our customer to find the best method. They sent the pants to our facility for remediation but wanted to be sure that there was no moisture left in the garments when our process was complete. They provided a handheld moisture meter to check the pants after processing. They use this meter in their factories and have a standard for moisture allowance.
Upon arrival, we immediately took the garments out of their boxes and bags and hung them to dry. Once hung, we used the handheld moisture meter and found that there was certainly quite a bit of moisture in the pants. After 24 hours of drying, we tested them again to find that the levels were in an acceptable range for our customer. Once dry, the Darn It apparel repair team moved the pants into our two ozone chambers to remediate the smell and ensure that any possible mold spores caused from the moisture would be eliminated. Once the ozone treatment was complete, we were able to bring the pants to our apparel inspection team. They were responsible for performing a visual inspection of the pants (for stains caused by the wet shipment) before re-bagging and re-boxing them into new supplied bags and boxes.
Before leaving our facility, we used the moisture meter during our final audit to test the moisture in the pants. The levels were acceptable, the pants smelled great and were sent back to our customer.
Besides the obvious ways, you now know how to test to see if your pants are wet!
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