DEAS 1084: 2021  
ICS 803.08.01  
 
© EAC 2021                                                                                                                               First Edition 2021   
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cobweb duster — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1084: 2021  
ii © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1084: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references.  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.1.3  Block and handle  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 2 
4.1.4  Bristles  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  2 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5 Dimensions  ................................ ................................ ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6 Tests  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1 Bristle diameter  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 7 
6.2 Bristle length  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  7 
6.3 Handle length  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  7 
7 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....Error! Bookmark not defined.  
7. Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
Annex  A (normative)  Determination of Moisture Content for wooden cobweb duster Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.1 Test Specimen  ................................ ................................ ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.3 Calculation  ................................ ................................ ................................ .Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  B (normative)  Determination of Pull Strength  ................................ ................................ ....................  5 
B.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  5 
B.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
Annex  C (Normative)  Determination of Corrosion Resistance  ................................ ................................ ..... 6 
Annex  D (Normative)  Sampling of Cob web duster and Criteria for Conformity  ................................ ........  7 
D.1 Scale of Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 8 
D.2 Criteria for Conformity  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........................  8 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  9 
 DEAS 1084: 2021  
iv © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade bar riers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is co mposed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are r epresentative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The com ments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technologica l advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 072, Plastics and  related 
products ] 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1084: 2021  
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cobweb duster — specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African  Standard specifies the requirements, methods of sampling and test for cobweb dusters 
used for removing cobwebs on ceilings and part of the walls that are not easily reached by human hands.  
2 Normative references.  
The following referen ced documents referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content 
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (in cluding any amendments) applies.  
ISO 13061 -1, Physical and mechanical properties of wood — Test methods for small clear wood specimens 
— Part 1: Determination of moisture content for physical and mechanical tests . 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply. ISO and IEC maintain 
terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses: — ISO Online browsing 
platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
plastic  
synthetic mat erial made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, Polyvinyl chloride 
(PVC), nylon, high -density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Phenolic resin, 
Polypropylene, and ultra -high-molecular -weight polyethylene (UHMWPE,  UHMW) . 
3.2  
wood 
hard fibrous material that forms the main substance of the trunk or branches of a tree or shrub  
3.3  
lot 
definite amount of same product, material or service collected together  
3.4  
tuft 
bunch or cluster of bristles, usually flexible, att ached or fixed closely together at the base and loose at the 
upper ends  
3.5  
block  
part to which the filling material “bristles” are secured   
2 © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
 3.6  
bristle  
stiff animal hair, feather, extruded plastic, metal or natural material e.g. sisal fibre, coconut fibr e, on a cobweb 
duster head.  
3.7 
cobweb  
tangles of the silken threads of a spider web usually covered with accumulated dirt and dust  
3.8  
pith 
a tissue located in the center of the stem of vascular plants, which is composed of soft, spongy parenchyma 
cells 
3.7 
bristle length  
length of the monofilament that protrudes from the block  
3.8 
handle length  
part of handle that protrudes from the block  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  The cobweb duster shall have smooth finish and  all components (block, b ristles  and handle) shall be 
free from imperfections and defects which  may affect its appea rance or serviceability  
4.1.2  The cob web duster may be extendable and coloured  
4.1.3  All metallic components of the duster shall be corrosion resistant  
4.1.3  Block and handle  
4.1.3.1 The material used for the block and handle  shall be made of plastic, metal, wood or any suitable 
material.  
4.1.3.2  For plastic cobweb duster, the handle and block shall be made of hard plastic which does not 
deflect while dusting. The ha ndle shall fit firmly in the block hole and shall not come out during dusting  
4.1.3.3  The block and handle  for wooden cobweb duster, shall be free from brashness, any kind of 
biological or non -biological deterioration, insect attack, pith, knots (except pi n knots), cracks and any other 
defect that may reduce the life of the duster  and affect its serviceability  
4.1.3.4  Metallic handles shall be insulated  
4.1.4  Bristles  
4.1.4.1 The bristles shall be made of animal hair, plastic natural material such as coconu t fibre, sisal fibre 
or any other suitable materials  
4.1.4 .2 Suitable adhesive, wire, nails o r staple shall be used to fix  the bristles in the  tuft holes.  
4.1.4.3 Each tuft shall contain bristles of uniform length, diameter (for synthetic fibres), quantit y and same 
Material” ..  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1  The cob web duster shall conform to the requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance 
with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Specific requirements for cob web duster  
Characteristi c Requirement  Test method  
wooden  plastic  
Moisture content,%, max  15 - ISO 13061 -1 
Tuft anchorage  Neither a tuft nor its individual bristle shall dislodge.  Annex A  
Bristle diameter, mm, min  0.25 Annex C  
Bristle length, mm, min  90. 
Handle length, mm , min  1000.0  
Number of bristles per head, mm, min  6300.0  
Pull out Force  for 1min (N)  50.0 Annex A  
 
4.2.2 All metallic components of the duster  shall be corrosion resistant or shall be protected from corrosion, 
when tested in accordance with Annex B; the surfaces shall show no sign of corrosion  
5 Packaging  
The duster shall be packaged in suitable packages, the head may be. detached from the handle . 
6 Labelling  
6.1 The cobweb duster  shall be legibly and indelibly labelled  in English and/or any other off icial language 
(French, Kiswahili  etc.) of the importing East African country  with the following information:  
a) Name of the manufacturer and /or trademark;  
b) Batch number; and  
c) Code of resin if plastic material is used.  
6.2 The package shall be legibly and indel ibly labelled  in English and/or any other official la nguage (French, 
Kiswahili  etc.) of the importing East African country with the following information . 
a) Name of product “C obweb duster ”; 
b) Country of origin;  
c) Batch number  
6.3 The bulk package shall be legib ly and indelibly labelled  in English and/or any other official language 
(French, Kiswahili  etc.) of the importing East African country with the following information : 
a) manufacturer’s name, physical address and /or registered trade mark;  
b) name of the product a s, “Cobweb duster ”;  
4 © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
 c) declaration of the number of cobweb duster s in the bulk package;  
d) batch or code number;  
e) extendable or non -extendable ; 
f) instruction for storage and disposal of the bulk packaging material ; and  
g) country of origin.  
7 Sampling  
Sampling shall b e done in accordance with  Annex D  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of Pull out Force  
A.1 General  
A simple instrument as shown in Fig. 1 can be used for testing the pull strength. This unit is suitable for 
mounting on wall. It consists of dial force gauge  /weighing scale (0 -10 kg) operating on spring (A) mounted on 
wooden plate (B). A tubular tuft holder (C) is hung on the hook of dial gauge. A clamp for holding cobweb 
duster head (E) is provided which is movable downward and upward with a screw (F). The d ial force 
gauge/weighing scale shall be calibrated having traceability  
A.2 Procedure  
A.2.1 Fix the head  with bristles in upward direction in the  holder with the help of screw (G). Divide the 
bristles into segments of about 10 mm length.  
A.2.2 Insert all br istles of one segment in the hole provided at the bottom of tubular tuft holder (C). Care 
should be taken not to allow bristles from adjacent segment to enter in to the hole. Fix the bristles firmly with 
the help of screw (D) . 
A.2.3 Adjust the pointer on d ial to zero by adjustment of screw (F).  
A.2.4 Move down the brush holder slowly with screw (F) watching the pointer on dial carefully till it reaches 
5 kg mark and keep it there for 1 min. Then remove the brush from the gadget and examine. The bristles of 
any segment shall not come out of the cement during the test.  
Note: The tufts shall not fail when subjected to a pull by thumb and finger grip or the force required for pulling out an 
individual tuft shall not be less than 50.0 N for 1 m  
 
 
6 © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Annex  B 
(Normative)  
 
Determination of Corrosion Resistance  
Submerge all metal components for 7 h in distilled water, then dry them as rapidly as possible at a 
temperature not exceeding 70 °C and examine the surfaces that are required to be corrosion resistant for 
freedom from corrosion . Check for compliance with 4.2 .2 
  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  7 
 Annex  C 
(Normative)  
 
Dimensional Tests  
C.1 Bristle  diameter  
The bristle diameter  shall be measured by a micrometer screw gauge or a vernier calliper or any instrument 
that can measure to the nearest 0.01 mm, measure the diameter  of six bristles to the nearest 0.01 mm. Select 
the six bristles from six random t ufts from the same brush h ead, ten c alculate the average bris tle diameter   
C.2 Bristle length  
The bristle length shall be measured using a vernier calliper, measure the length of six bristles to the nearest 
0.01 mm. Select the six bristles from six random tufts from the same brush head. Calculate the average bristle 
length.  
C.3 Handle length  
The handle length  shall be measured using a graduated ruler with a scale of 1 mm or any other suitable 
means, capable of  measuring length to the nearest 1 mm.  
  
8 © EAC  2021  – All rights  reserved  
 Annex  D 
(Normative)  
 
Sampling of Cob web duster  and Criteria for Conformity  
D.1 Scale of Sampling  
D.1.1 Lot – In any consignment, all the dusters of the same size and quantity shall be divided into groups of 
500 dusters or less and each suc h group shall constitute a lot. Care shall be taken to ensure that cobweb 
dusters included in a lot do not differ in construction as far as possible  
D.1.2 The conformity of the cobweb dusters in a lot to the requirements of this specification shall be 
asce rtained for each lot separately. The number of cobweb duster to be selected for this purpose shall be in 
accordance w ith col umn. 1 and col. 2 of Table D1  
Table D1  ─ Scale of Sampling  
No. of dusters  in a lot  
N No. of dusters  to be selected  
n 
Up to 10 2 
11 to 25  3 
26 to 50  4 
51 to 100  5 
101 to 150  6 
151 to 300  7 
301 to 500  8 
 
D.1.3 The cobweb dusters shall be selected at random. To ensure randomness of selection one of the 
following procedures is recommended for use:  
a) If all the cobweb duster s in a lot are packed in a one b ox, then starting from any duster , count them 
in any suitable order as 1, 2, …… up to r and so on, where r is the integral part of N/n (N and n being 
the lot size and sample size respectively). Every r th cob web duster thus counte d shall be withdrawn 
to constitute the sample.  
b) If the cobweb dusters in a lot are packed in more than one box, approximately equal number of 
cobweb dusters shall be picked up at random from as many boxes as possible so as to obtain the 
required number o f cob web  dusters as specified in Table D1  
D.2 Criteria for Conformity  
For declaring the conformity of the lot to the requirements of this specification, all the cobweb dusters se lected 
according to D .1.3 shall satisfy the relevant requirements given in cl ause 5  
  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  9 
 Bibliography  
[1] IS 11750:1986, Brushes  — Fitch flat with long handle  
[2] IS 4301:1999, Brushes,  — brushes foundry flat  
{3} US 2228:2021 , Cob web duster ─ Specification  
 
 DEAS 1084: 2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved