During the use phase of textile fabrics, fibers or fiber ends can  be „worked out“. If these loose fibers or fiber ends  are tangled together on the textile surface, this is referred to as pill formation.

There are many different factors that influence the tendency of a textile fabric to pill formation. This method was developed in order to be able to investigate precisely this inclination.

Circular samples are taken from a material to be examined and clamped in each sample holder. These samples are rubbed using the Martindale tester either against a standardized wool scouring fabric or against another sample from the material to be tested.

A defined force acts on the samples.

Each sample is graded according to a defined grading scale. Three different phenomena are assessed individually by means of grades.