Soft Goods & Garment Inspection in China

What counts as soft goods

Anything sewn, knitted or stitched: adult and children's apparel, home textiles such as bedding and curtains, footwear, bags, luggage and leather accessories. Orders are cut-and-sew work, so quality is decided at three points — fabric incoming, the sewing line, and finishing — long before cartons are sealed. Children's wear carries extra checkpoints such as small parts, drawcords and sharp points, because regulators treat it differently.

Typical defects in soft goods

• Measurements drifting outside tolerance, especially across sizes rather than within one
• Open seams, skipped or broken stitches, puckering along topstitching
• Needle damage: holes, snags and oil stains from the machine head
• Shade variation between panels, between lots, or against the approved swatch
• Fabric flaws passing through: slubs, pulls and thin patches visible against the light
• Wrong or missing care labels, composition labels and hangtags; mismatched trims

Footwear adds its own list — bonding failure at the sole, size mismatches inside a pair, lasting marks and loose hardware on bags.

What the inspection focuses on

Measurement is the backbone: several units per size are measured against the spec sheet and recorded, not eyeballed. Inspectors check seam strength by hand-pull, compare shade under a consistent light source against the approved sample, verify label content and placement, and confirm the size ratio inside each carton matches the packing list — a carton of all mediums is a classic soft-goods packing error.

Why do measurements matter so much?

Fit drives returns in apparel more than any visible flaw. A dress five percent off across the bust and waist wears wrong even if every stitch is perfect, so tolerance tables are agreed before production and enforced at inspection.

How is colour consistency judged?

Against the approved swatch or lab dip, under the same light source each time, and always between panels of the same garment as well as between garments. Borderline shades are photographed for your decision rather than argued on the floor.

Soft-goods shipments typically use a mid-production visit to catch measurement drift early, then a final random inspection at packing. Both follow the AQL logic explained under product inspection; report formats are available as sample reports, and quotes are returned as a fixed fee within one working day.