DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
ICS 61.020 
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                              First Edition 2023  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Textile garments — Specification — Part 1: General 
requirements  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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 DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative refe rences  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 Fibre co mposition and proportion  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 2 
4.2 Restricted chemical substances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  2 
4.3 Garment defects  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 3 
4.4 Colour fastness requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  3 
4.5 pH requirement  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 4 
4.6 Size designation  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 4 
4.7 Workmanship  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
4.7.1  Seam finishing  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
4.7.2  Hems  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  4 
4.7.3  Buttons and buttonholes  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  4 
4.8 Ancillaries  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  4 
4.8.1  Eyelets and hooks  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
4.8.2  Zippers  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  5 
4.8.3  Drawstrings  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  5 
5 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
6 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
6.1 Unit package  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
6.2 Bulk package  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  5 
7 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
iv © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East Afric an 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 barriers that are encountered when goods an d 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 composed of representatives of the Nationa l 
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 representative of key 
stakeholders includ ing 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 comments received are discussed and incorpo rated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological 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 061, Textiles , textile products 
and accessories . 
Attention is dra wn 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.  
EAS 1141 consists of the following parts, under the general title Textile gar ments — Specification : 
⎯ Part 1: General requirements  
⎯ Part 2: Shirts  
⎯ Part 3: T-shirts  
⎯ Part 4: Skirts and dresses  
⎯ Part 5: Jackets and coats  
⎯ Part 6: Cardigans and sweaters  
⎯ Part 7: Trousers and shorts  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  1 
 Textile garments — Specification — Part 1: G eneral 
requirements  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African standard specifies requirements, test methods and labelling for garments made from 
any textile fibre and their blends  
This standard is only intended to be used, not on a stand -alone basis, but in line w ith other standards 
containing specific requirements for garment performance  
This draft standard does not apply to personal protective wear.  
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of thei r content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
EAS 223, Zippers — Specification  
ISO 105 -B01, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part B01: Colour fastness to light: Daylight  
ISO 105 -B02, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part B02: Colour fastness to artificial light: Xenon arc 
fading lamp test  
ISO 105 -C10, Textiles — Tests for colour fa stness — Part C10: Colour fastness to washing with soap or soap 
and soda  
ISO 105 -E04, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part E04: Colour fastness to perspiration  
ISO 105 -X12, Textiles — Tests for colour fastness — Part X12: Colour fastness to rubbing  
ISO 1833 (all parts), Textiles — Binary fibre mixtures — Quantitative chemical analysis  
ISO 2859 -1, Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes — Part 1: Sampling schemes indexed by 
acceptance quality limit (AQL) for lot -by-lot inspection  
ISO 3071, Textiles — Determination of pH of aqueous extract  
ISO 3801, Textiles — Woven fabrics — Determination of mass per unit length and mass per unit area  
ISO 8498, Woven fabrics — Description of defects — Vocabulary  
ISO 8499, Knitted fabrics — Description of defec ts — Vocabulary  
ISO 8559 -2, Size designation of clothes — Part 2: Primary and secondary dimension indicators  
ISO 9073 -1, Textiles — Test methods for nonwovens — Part 1: Determination of mass per unit area  DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 9227,  Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres  — Salt spray tests  
ISO 14184 -2, Textiles — Determination of formaldehyde — Part 2: Released formaldehyde (vapour 
absorption method)  
ISO 14362 -1, Textiles — Methods for determination of certain aromatic amines derived from azo colorants — 
Part 1: Detection  of the use of certain azo colorants accessible with and without extracting the fibres  
ISO 14362 -1, Textiles — Test methods for determination of certain aromatic amines derived from azo 
colorants Part 1: Detection of the use of certain azo colorants access ible with or without extracting the fibres  
ISO 14362 -3, Textiles — Methods for determination of certain aromatic amines derived from azo colorants — 
Part 3: Detection of the use of certain azo colorants, which may release 4 -aminoazobenzene  
ISO 14389, Texti les — Determination of the phthalate content — Tetrahydrofuran method  
ISO 16373 -1, Textiles — Dyestuffs — Part 1: General principles of testing coloured textiles for dyestuff 
identification  
ISO 16373 -2, Textiles — Dyestuffs — Part 2: General method for the  determination of extractable dyestuffs 
including allergenic and carcinogenic dyestuffs (method using pyridine -water)  
ISO 16373 -3, Textiles — Dyestuffs — Part 3: Method for determination of certain carcinogenic dyestuffs 
(method using triethylamine/methano l) 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 8498 and ISO 8499 and the 
following apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Onli ne browsing platform: available at  http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
garment  
item of clothing  
3.2  
coated fabric  
textile with an adherent layer or layers of rubber - and/or plastics -based material on one or both surfaces, 
resulting in a flexible product  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Fibre composition and proportion  
4.1.1  The fibre composition and proportion of the garments shall be as declared when tested in accordance 
with a relevant part of ISO 1833.  
4.1.2  Where the garment  is a blen d of two or more fibres, the fibre composition and proportion shall be as 
declared subject to a tolerance of ± 5 %.  
4.2 Restricted chemical substances  
Garments shall not contain:  DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 a) Restricted aromatic amines exceeding 30 mg/kg when tested in accordance with ISO 14362 -1 and 
ISO 14362 -3. 
b) Carcinogenic dyestuffs exceeding 20 mg/kg when tested in accordance with ISO 16373 -2 and ISO 
16373 -3 
c) phthalates exceeding 0.1% when tested in accordance with ISO 14389  
d) formaldehydes exceeding 100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg for garment s that have direct contact with the 
skin and those with no direct contact with the skin respectively, when tested in accordance with ISO 
14184 -1 and ISO 14184 -2 
4.3 Garment defects   
4.3.1 Garments shall be free from manufacturing and tailoring defects such  as: 
a) holes  
b) cuts 
c) tears  
d) spots  
e) stains  
f) skipped stitches  
g) loose ends  
h) frayed ends  
i) large mends (for sweaters and cardigans)  
j) uneven dyeing  
k) streakiness  
l) improper reinforcement  
m) metals such as broken needles (excluding metallic accessories)  
4.3.2 The garment shall also  be free from any other defect which may significantly mar the appearance 
or affect the performance  of the garment.  
4.4 Colour fastness requirements  
Garments shall comply with the colour fastness requirements given in Table 1, when tested in accordance 
with the test methods specified therein . DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Table 1 — Colour fastness  requirements of garments  
Parameter  Requirement  Test method  
Colour fastness to perspiration, ( for 
both acid and alkali) min.  
• Change in colour  
• Staining   
 
4 
3 ISO 105 -E04 
Colour fastness to washi ng, min.  
• Change in colour  
• Staining   
4 
3 ISO 105 -C10 
Colour fastness to rubbing, min.  
• Dry 
• Wet  
4 
3 ISO 105 -X12 
Colour fastness to light, min.  5 ISO 105 -B01 
ISO 105 -B02 
 
4.5 pH requirement  
When tested in accordance with ISO 3071, the pH of garments sha ll be between 6.0 – 8.5.  
4.6 Size designation  
The size designation of the garments shall be declared in accordance with ISO 8559 -2 
4.7 Workmanship  
4.7.1 Seam finishing  
4.7.1.1 The ends of all seams and stitching, and all breaks in the thread shall be sec urely stitched. Stitches 
shall present a regular even appearance without fabric puckering  
4.7.1.2 All raw edges shall be suitably finished.  
4.7.2  Hems  
The hems shall be securely finished in such a manner as to avoid fraying and opening . 
4.7.3  Buttons and b uttonholes  
Where buttons and buttonholes are used, they shall be securely stitched .  
4.8 Ancillaries  
4.8.1 Eyelets and hooks  
When used, m etallic eyelets and hooks shall be corrosion -resistant  when tested in accordance with ISO 9227  DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 4.8.2 Zippers  
Zippers sh all conform to the requirements of EAS 223.  
4.8.3 Drawstrings  
4.8.3.1 The h ood and neck area on children’s upper outerwear shall be free from drawstrings in ages 2 
years through 10 years. Alternative closures such as snaps, buttons, and Velcro shall be use d.  
4.8.3.2 Drawstrings at the waist or bottom of upper outerwear in ages 2 years to 10 years shall not 
exceed 75 mm in length outside drawstring channel.  
4.8.3.3 Drawstrings in children  outerwear of ages 2 years to 10 years that are one continuous string shall 
be bar tacked to prevent the drawstring from being pulled through its channel.   
5 Packaging  
Garments shall be packaged in suitable materials to avoid contamination during transportation and storage . 
6 Labelling  
6.1 Unit package  
Garments shall be legi bly and indelibly labelled with the following information : 
a) manufacturer’s name  and address ; 
b)  and/or registered trade mark  (if any) ; 
c) fibre composition;  
d) care instructions;  and 
e) country of manufacture /origin .  
6.2 Bulk package  
a) manufacturer’s name  and address ; 
b) registered trade mark  (if any) ; 
c) fibre composition ; 
d) batch/lot identification number;  
e) number of unit packages;  and 
f) country of manufacture  
7 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 2859 -1. DEAS 1141 -1: 2023  
6 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1] US 1970 -1: 2021, Textile garments — Specification — Part 1: General requirements  
[2] KS 1062 :2017, infant outer wear — Specification  
 DEAS 1141 -1: 2023    
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved