Lab dip, shade card, bulk lot: how shade approval actually works
The step that goes wrong most often, and the one buyers are least often walked through.
PrathamArt Exports · 10 Aug 2026 · 1 min read
Shade is where bulk fabric orders go wrong, and almost always because the approval steps were skipped to save a week.
The shade card
What you pick from. It is dyed on a different lot, possibly a different base cloth, and it is a starting point rather than a promise.
The lab dip
A small sample dyed on your base cloth to your reference. This is the one that matters. You approve it in writing, and it becomes the standard the bulk lot is judged against.
View it under the light your buyer will view it under. A shade approved under a tube light and rejected under daylight is the most common argument in this trade, and it is avoidable.
The bulk lot
Dyed against the approved lab dip. Ask for a cutting from the actual production lot before the whole quantity ships.
What we do
Lab dip within four working days, and we do not start bulk dyeing until it comes back approved in writing. It costs a few days at the start and saves the argument at the end.
Looking for this quality?
Tell us the composition, GSM and quantity, and we will come back with a rate.