Measurement of fluorescent white effects and whiteness

This report surveys the literature and describes various techniques of whiteness measurement and evaluation in current use. Measuring techniques are described for dealing separately with the effects obtained by bleaching, blueing and fluorescent whitening, and an example is given of the direct quantitative estimation of a fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) on a substrate by measuring reflectance in the ultraviolet region. Another chapter deals with the colorimetric estimation of the whiteness and the shade of a fluorescent white using modern apparatus in conjunction with a programmable minicomputer. A new simple and universally applicab,e formula was worked out: W=D-Y+P-x+Q-y+C which has been successfully used in routine tests and which for the first time gives different weight to whiteness values corresponding to all shade preferences existing in theory. Each user can match the formula to his own preference by appropriate adjustment of the D, P, Q andC values. Y,x and y are the customary colorimetric values as standardized by the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage). It was also found that with another formula the shades of fluorescent whitening effects (green to red tints) may be defined in a simple way.