There is no Martindale Shade Change test as such. If you have been referred to the Martindale rub test, the person referring you is asking about how durable your chosen fabric is to abrasion. The Martindale rub test result is particularly useful in indicating whether a fabric is suitable for its intended use.
Shade change is something different. Martindale tests are routinely undertaken on fabrics in the UK. In other countries different tests are used, such as the Wyzenbeek in the United States. As part of the Martindale test procedure it is becoming more common in the UK for a shade change assessment to also be undertaken.
When a fabric has been rubbed 3,000 times the Martindale test is paused and the fabric is examined to see how the shade has changed. It is then given a mark out of 5, with 5 being the best result indicating the least change.
A natural property of fabrics is that they show change with use. The shade change assessment determines how much of that change will be visible after a reasonable amount of use, with 3,000 rubs being the point at which this is assessed. It does not mean the fabric will wear out after 3,000 rubs. It has nothing to do with wearing out. If your fabric has a Martindale result of 50,000 rubs, the structure of the fabric starts to break down after 50,000 rubs. The shade change result at 3,000 rubs is a separate measure of visual change, not durability.
If your client is asking about fading caused by sunlight rather than shade change caused by wear, that is a different property measured by a different test. For a full explanation of how light fastness works and what grades to specify for different room orientations, see our guide to light fastness and the Blue Wool Scale.
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