Unifi Expands REPREVE®’s Global Availability

Greensboro, N.C.-based Unifi Inc. through its subsidiary China-based Unifi Textiles (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has extended REPREVE® manufacturing and distribution agreements to two companies. Turkey-based Korteks is now a licensed manufacturer of Repreve recycled fiber, and will produce and sell the fiber to the local market. Taiwan-based Sun Chemical now is the only distributor of Repreve in Taiwan.

“Globally expanding our Repreve manufacturing capabilities highlights our commitment to the Repreve brand and allows us to better serve our customers worldwide,” said Roger Berrier, president and CEO, Unifi.

November/December 2015

Avintiv Selects Oerlikon Neumag Airlaid System

Charlotte-based Avintiv recently completed an installation at its Benson, N.C., facility of an airlaid web forming system from Germany-based Oerlikon Neumag. The line will manufacture airlaid nonwovens for hygiene products.

The installation took just three months and was followed by a three-week commissioning phase. “It was thanks to the close and intensive collaboration between our customer and us,” said Hartmut Claussen, head of project engineering, Oerlikon Neumag. “Both parties acted as one team, and are really happy to have reached our common targets.”

November/December 2015

Covestro Welcomes Xiefu To INSQIN® Partner Manufacturer Program

Shanghai-based Covestro Textile Coatings recently signed polyurethane (PU) coated fabric producer Kunshan Xiefu New Material Co. Ltd. to its INSQIN® Partner Manufacturer Program that was launched in July. Xiefu is the second company to join the certified manufacturer network, which verifies through professional third-party audit the management system and production processes of PU-coated fabric manufacturers using INSQIN waterborne technology. The program also connects these manufacturers to brand owners and retailers who are interested in sourcing such materials, via a mechanism of validation and recognition.

“A growing number of brands and retailers are becoming interested in sourcing sustainable materials, and further, they need more assurances about the origins and integrity of those materials,” said Nick Smith, global head of Textile Coatings, Covestro. “The program was developed to link these brands with manufacturers capable of efficiently delivering innovative materials and sustainability best practices.”

“Xiefu is committed to customer-centric innovation and sustainability to serve the world’s most demanding brands,” said Sun Guohao, chairman, Xiefu. “As a mark of our quality and professionalism, our validation as an Insqin Partner Manufacturer will help bring new business opportunities by connecting us with brand owners and retailers that want to source sustainable PU-coated materials.”

November/December 2015

Innovation Award: Random Acts Of Innovation

A look inside The Quantum Group reveals a very different kind of textile company. 

By James M. Borneman, Editor In Chief

The Quantum Group and its five sister companies provide a full menu of textile solutions — end-to-end textile manufacturing from additive masterbatches, monofilament and multifilament yarn extrusion, texturing, twisting to knitting, weaving, machinery re-engineering and automation.

When asked about the creation of these individual companies rather than creating operating divisions of The Quantum Group, Company founder Jeff Bruner explained: “I own 100-percent of The Quantum Group. But these individual sister companies allow key employees and industry partners to participate with Quantum in ownership.” This is a concept Bruner says provides motivation and opportunity for all parties involved.

Another difference is the lack of a sales force. With the exception of one fiber sales person, the companies rely on long-term relationships and word-of-mouth for new business. “People just come to us with their problems,” Bruner explained. With no interest in competing on price or participating in price compression or product commoditization, the companies are focused on helping clients achieve market differentiation. Quantum often is requested to be the problem solver and improve or invent a solution. Also, when it creates a solution, because most of the processes require modified equipment, the company often becomes a contract manufacturer as well.

The Quantum Group and its sister companies offer a variety of textile solutions from additive masterbatches to monofilament and multifilament yarn extrusion, texturing, twisting, knitting, weaving, and machinery reengineering and automation.

Making R&D Successful

Most research and development (R&D) contracts begin with Quantum, or a sister company, requesting the client’s wish list that will differentiate it from the competition. Then, the process of engineering a solution begins.

Rather than a typical textile operation that invests in a capability — like a weave room for example — and then develops products using that capability and takes them to market, Quantum operates in reverse order.

“Usually we a trying to provide a textile solution for a client,” said Bruner. He gave an example of a  manufacturer who produces string trimmers and wants to improve the product. “So we asked the company what are the properties you are looking to improve?,” Bruner said. “Then we start thinking and scratching our heads to see what can we do. The company’s wish list included wants such as longer lasting, greater flexibility, lower heat generation as it whips around at high speed and to outperform the competition. We also had to figure out what the capability of their equipment is — as far as a masterbatch. Can they feed in 0.5 percent or 5 percent or 10 percent? Then we design an experiment to try different materials that will lower the coefficient of friction, have improved heat transfer. These might be the same materials used in footwear or in seating fabrics because there is a lot of crossover between what these additives do to meet certain requirements.”

Innovation All Day Long

This type of R&D is at the core of Quantum and its sister companies.  It is typical for them to come up with a theory or a hypothesis, invest in the equipment or formulation necessary to make the product — hopefully the equipment is used — then modify it and install it. Equipment often is installed and dedicated to one customer as needed.

Quantum even has refurbished and modified shuttle looms because this technology allows them to exploit the unique characteristics of this old weaving process. The shuttle loom’s woven selvage allows the company to weave tubular fabrics some of which are used as belts in various industries.

“We weave a tube to very precise dimensions, and our client makes it into a belt. The belts are used by the U.S. and Japanese postal services as the feed belt that feeds letters and parcels past the optical scanner that sorts by zip code,” Bruner said.

“We make various dimensions of tubes for a long-time customer that coats and slits the tubes into belts to supply a variety of end-uses including belts to drive the drum in copy machines, printers and even the beater brush on vacuum cleaners.”

Auxetic Yarns

It seems that each of the companies has an innovation story worth exploring. Burner explained that even with a process like twisting, there is innovation to pursue. In one case Quantum creates an auxetic yarn, which is a high-strength yarn wrapped around an elastomeric core. The yarn is supplied to a weaver that produces fabrics used as blast-absorbing curtains. As a blast releases energy, the yarns elongate and absorb the energy, while the high-strength component of the yarn maintains the fabric’s integrity.

In another instance, Quantum was approached by a medical company to perform some twisting with a very clean environment requirement. “So we bought a machine for them, and installed it in its own room with its own HVAC,” Bruner said. “And we only run their product on it. If they pay for it, we’ll run it as they need product whether it is 2 percent, 10 percent or 90 percent of the time. We have to give them what they want, when they want it.”

Uranium — Really?

Bruner recently completed an interesting project with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

“Oak Ridge was having some handwoven samples made at Philadelphia University and they needed to scale up and figure out if the fabric they developed could be successfully made on a machine, and it required a shuttle weaving machine,” Bruner said. “So we set up a dedicated shuttle-weaving machine to weave these very special yarns — made using treated high-surface-area filaments — designed to absorb free uranium in the ocean. The fabric produced looks like sea kelp but it is woven on a Draper weaving machine.”

The fabric is an olefin so it’s lighter than water and floats. Bruner said there is approximately 3.3 parts per billion of free uranium distributed throughout the world’s oceans, and most major countries are looking for ways to harvest that uranium.

“According to the Department of Energy, that uranium is enough to provide electrical power to every human for the next several hundred years,” Bruner said.

After the fabric is exposed to the seawater, it is harvested and chemically processed to extract the uranium.
“You don’t have to mine anything,” Bruner said. “You float these fabrics made from a special polymer spun into a unique cross-section. Imagine the fabrics floating like a kelp bed,” he added.

Modify And Automate
Quantum and its sister companies have extended their capabilities by adding in-house engineering for refurbishing, modifying and automating textile processes.

Bruner described one project where Quantum’s in-house engineering transformed a complicated window screen manufacturing process. “We were weaving a specialized window screen for a company,” Bruner said. “We then shipped the fabric to a company for a bonding treatment. From there it was shipped to another company to be heat set. Then, it was sent it to yet another company to be slit into the sizes needed for the windows.

“When the housing market slowed, the business just wasn’t big enough for our customer anymore. So we thought about it, and now Quantum weaves, bonds, heat sets and slits — all in one operation. And we are now the supplier for a major window and door manufacturer,” Bruner added.

The screen fabric also is very unique because it is made from fluoropolymer fibers. This fiber allows for greater light transmission and superior ultraviolet resistance compared to traditional screening, according to the company.


Quantum has strong engineering capabilities including refurbishing, modifying and automating textile machinery and processes including parts reconditioning as performed on this gear box shown before reconstruction and after.

It’s About People

When asked about the key to Quantum’s innovation and success, it was clear that curious and capable people are at the center of the operations. “I just want people to be happy with challenges — people who enjoy solving people’s and companies’ problems,” Bruner said.

Review of Quantum’s high points shows — whether partnering with GM, Herman Miller, Meadox Medical, and the list goes on — The Quantum Group and its sister companies have a bright future. According to Bruner: “As long as there are problems to solve, I’m confident Quantum can provide a solution.”


The Quantum Group
Sister Companies

Protextiles specializes in weaving tubular textiles using refurbished and customized Draper and C&K looms. Largely serving the belting industry, Protextiles weaves a variety of man-made and natural fibers to achieve the client’s specification. Protextiles also has twisting and warping capabilities, and weaves tire cord fabric.

Knitmasters produces 2-D and 3-D knitted functional technical fabrics.
Utilizing state of the art computerized processes and design, Knitmasters offers a broad range of knitting capabilities and flexible processes including
circular- and flat-knitting equipment.

FibeX extrudes and texturizes man-made turf thatch yarns. It has the capability to process polypropylene, nylon 6, polyethylene and polyester, as well as other resins, extruding round, oval, S-shaped and C-shaped cross sections and engineering performance using a variety of additives including ultraviolet (UV) stabilizers, static reducers and flame retardants.

Triad Polymers specializes in compounding masterbatches for a broad number of products in the plastic and fiber businesses. A masterbatch is a concentrated formulation of colorants or functional additives. Such additives are engineered to affect the performance of the final product when added to the polymer prior to extrusion or injection molding. Triad can engineer any number of properties, from enhancing UV performance to adding antimicrobial properties and magnetic additives.

A recent start-up, Trident Fibers was established to manufacture polyester yarns specifically for the production of medical implants.


November/December 2015

From The Editor: The Quantum Group: Innovation Honoree

By Jim Borneman, Editor In Chief

The Quantum Group and its sister companies are honorees of the 2015 Textile World Innovation Award. After spending time interviewing founder Jeff Bruner, it is not hard to see that these companies are not ordinary textile companies.

Bruner, who is 100-percent owner of The Quantum Group, established sister companies to allow key employees and industry partners to participate with Quantum in ownership.

Bruner’s background, even in his early career, is as a problem solver. And it’s as if this is his natural state, as well as the state of those who surround him.

Compared to many textile companies, Quantum works backwards. Bruner doesn’t have a sales staff except for one salesman in the monofilament area. When questioned about this business structure, he simply stated: “For 30 years people just keep bringing us their problems to solve.”

In a following article in this issue titled “Random Acts of Innovation,” TW editors were truly challenged by how to best present the company’s activities and products in an understandable way. The problems are random — Bruner has no knowledge of what will come through the door next — but he and his teams will do what they do best — establish the client’s wish list, examine the knowns, get creative and develop some tests, evaluate the answers, and build and modify their way to a solution.

Whether the solution is to refurbish and modify shuttle looms to weave a perfectly tubular fabric to be slit into perfectly dimensioned belts for a client served for many years; or to create a masterbatch of chemical additives to be added to the molten polymer prior to extrusion to modify the performance characteristics of the final fiber, products are all created through problem solving.

When Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf were challenged to design a new kind of office chair for Herman Miller they had to get creative. Office furniture at that time was focused on bulky foam upholstered in leather. Chadwick and Stumpf’s idea was a breakthrough design based on ergonomics whereby the seated person feels no pressure points and has his weight evenly distributed across the bottom and back.

This design required an air-permeable suspension fabric for air flow though the fabric to avoid the heat build-up associated with typical upholstered office chairs. Having tracked down Quantum through a call to Dupont, Chadwick challenged Bruner to develop the fabric he needed.

Quantum received funding for the research and development, and to hire employees and rent a building. About 30 months later the Pellicle® fabric solved Chadwick and Stumpf’s design problem. That was in 1994, and the Aeron® chair gained almost immediate iconic status — it is in the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art — and Bruner was now in the leno weaving business, which continues to be a core business to this day.

The Quantum Group will be honored at the award banquet during the Textile World Innovation Forum.

Look forward to seeing you there.

November/December 2015

It’s Not A Color, It’s An Aesthetic

New digital printing inks and technologies are changing the textile printing business.

By Mike Todaro

Switzerland-based Sensient Imaging Technologies S.A. is a supplier of ink-jet inks for digital textile, industrial digital and sublimation printing. The company is a business unit of Sensient Technologies Corp. — a Milwaukee, Wis.-based manufacturer and marketer of colors, flavors and fragrances. Sensient Imaging has a laboratory in Morges, Switzerland, dedicated to developing new digital inks.

Dr. Christophe Bulliard, marketing director, Sensient, said that 2.5-percent of fabric printing today is digital and half of that total is sublimation. Sensient reports it has worked with the early risk takers, the true pioneers of digital fabric printing. Bulliard observed that, “The only way it works is to either start with digital printing or create a separate department because traditional Textilians resist this technology.”

Textilians? Sounds like a mythical Swiss valley populated by Textilians, their suppliers the Yarnistas, the early warning attributes of the Trimitrons, the constant movement of Logistiserves, all feeding the Factorissimos with everyone responding to the only question the Garmentos ever asked, “What does it cost?” Does Bulliard mean textile mills are resisting this change? Why? One theory is because they know this is taking their power and transferring it to the apparel factory. More on that later.

Miroglio Group uses Sensient Imaging Technologies’ ink-jet technology to print 100-percent cotton fabric at a speed of 1 yard per second.

Ink Jet
Inks and dyes have been around for a long time. Ink-jet inks were developed for digital applications, most notably table-top printers. Next, much wider printers were developed to print long banners one at time. These same printers then were adapted to print sublimation inks on paper largely because of research and development investments by Sensient. While all the components involved in digital printing are complex and require skilled staffs, the development of inks literally requires the work of Ph.D.s.

One of them, the color chemist Dr. Olivier Morel, said: “Color is not an ink, it’s a chemical. I tell my engineers and chemists that they are really scientists and they are not creating liquids, they are creating an aesthetic.” Morel is leading a strategy to expand ink jet to all textiles and all fibers by investing in the development of reactive inks for cotton and cellulosic fibers, acid inks for nylon and animal fibers such as silk or wool, and pigments for any natural fiber blends.

Sublimation inks commonly were printed onto paper for subsequent heat transfer to man-made textiles. Initially, this was for very short, small runs used for team jerseys for bicycle teams for example, such as the bright skintight jerseys worn by Tour de France riders. But then three things happened in concert — paper got thinner and better, printers got wider and faster, and inks went thru Nobel Prize levels of invention and response.

Miroglio
Italy-based Miroglio Group has invested millions of euros in a partnership with Sensient for digital printing. This partnership involves both companies solving problems that the industry at large still doesn’t know exist. The partnership allows the developments of the technology of tomorrow. Miroglio’s CEO Andrea Ferraro said sustainability and innovation drove Miroglio’s large investment in digital printing.

Miroglio’s digital printing technology is certainly cutting-edge. A tour of its facility reveals sublimation ink-jet inks sprayed directly onto man-made fabric that was then routed through a heater so sublimation transfer of color could occur — without paper. Regular ink-jet inks are used in a process whereby ink is printed directly onto cotton fabric moving at 60 yards per minute while rolling 3 millimeters below 95,000 ink-jet nozzles firing dots at the speed of a bullet onto the fabric without using paper. Miroglio also performs sublimation ink-jet paper printing at 120 yards per minute, which is an amazingly fast 2 yards per second.

How does the cost figure into an order for 10,000 yards of a magnificently detailed work-of-art printed fabric, turned out of the mill three days after order? Greater speeds, amazing efficiency, lower water consumption, less ink waste, less chemical preparation, fewer samples, elimination of set up, elimination of storage of conventional ink drums and the ability to print at the speed of the consumer redefines cost.

Power Shift
Value can be defined as solving the perceived problems of a specific segment in an innovative way. So, the key is problem solving and the catalyst is innovation. Innovation caused a power shift in the apparel supply chain at El Salvador-based Textiles Opico S.A. de C.V. (TexOps).

Firstly, some time ago, TexOps committed to Lean Manufacturing, which changed how the company worked. It became more efficient, flexible, responsive and faster. This shift allowed TexOps to take power away from regional cut, make and trim (CMT) factories that only sold labor.

Secondly, was TexOps’ investment in 2-D and 3-D technologies in partnership with its customers. This investment changed the way design and product development was executed. It became faster, more self-sufficient, and allowed the company to developed expertise in its niche, specifically yoga pants. This expertise took power from the brands.

Finally, the company’s expansion of sublimation printing with its own printers and Sensient inks changed the way fabric was produced. The change allowed unlimited garment and textile creativity, shortened the supply chain, reduced cycle times and created independence, which took power from the fabric mill.

The factory took power from cheap CMT factories, then the brands and retailers, and finally the mills. And, because of its proximity to market, it was closer and therefore faster. And because it is a leader in sustainability and innovation, it also is safe. TexOps became the supply chain’s problem solver. What does this means to the brands?

Business Models
One day, a merchandising manager visited TexOps. On his tour he saw a pair of yoga pants with brightly printed panels. He ordered thousands of pairs of pants on the spot, received them in record time, put them on the sales floor and sold them without markdown. What kind of textile industry business model does this rapid sourcing most emulate?

Costco places one big order and does not replenish. What one retailer would designate as 20 stock-keeping units (SKUs) to Costco is just one — a palette with a tall stack of different colors and sizes of a garment with one SKU. Was this order just one big SKU?

Chico’s model is to purchase 5,000 units of a sample garment created by a factory. Chico’s put a price on it and sends it to stores with no plans to replenish it. This garment is the factory’s design through and through. Is this something the factory could do more of and expand?

Zara turns orders quickly and daily. Quality was not how the garment was made, it was the fun of shopping where there was constant product churn. A designer gets an idea for a garment and three weeks later it is hanging on the rack. Could these speeds be what U.S. retailers need?

HSN preaches that it’s not the brand, it’s the stand. The company tells stories. It describes the products on television with embellished value and discussion of the application. Is the infinite possibilities with fabric printing what the United States needs to feed the omnichannel?

American Speed
Digital is now. Everything in the cloud got there for one reason only — it was digitized. Everything we see including who is phoning us, descriptions of restaurants, maps of cities, photos of people, images of designs and full-length movies come to us for one reason — they are digital. The time has come when rain must fall back down from the cloud, the dots that head to the cloud from the textile industry now are raining down as dots onto paper and fabric, aimed at the pixel level, taking days, weeks, months out of the cycle.

If the highly regarded Dr. Morel is to be believed, in five years; ink jet will grow from 2 percent to at least 15 to 30 percent; and in 10 years, Sensient predicts that ink-jet printing will take over as the leading technology for printing fabric.

What Miroglio is doing with its own fashion brands sold throughout Europe is not fast fashion, it’s fashion streaming, the literal flow of ideas and design, patterns and production, styles and services through the tightly integrated processes. Being closer to the U.S. market already, knowing the U.S. supply chain gets better every day, and observing technology that make the industry much faster puts together two words that perhaps no one never dreamed would the U.S. industries competitive advantage — American Speed.


Editor’s Note: Mike Todaro is the managing director of the Atlanta-based Americas Apparel Producers’ Network (AAPN). AAPN is a private sector, non-profit, members-only apparel industry business network of more than 600 company owners and senior executives from 200 companies across the apparel supply chain.


November/December 2015

Direct Disperse Ink Development

New direct disperse ink technologies will simplify the polyester ink-jet printing process and help grow this printing segment.
 
By Rene Wolferink
 
Over the past few years there has been an increase in the use of polyester fabric for the fashion printing market. Polyester is making its mark as a “green” fiber, and fiber prices are down as well — although polyester prices have risen again since oil prices stabilized. Many companies in the more traditional printing arena — reactive and acid digital — have tried digital disperse printing. At the same time, flag and banner companies also have tried to enter the fashion market. Some companies have entered this rapidly growing market successfully, but many other companies have been unsuccessful. Printing with disperse dye inks may seem to be easier than printing with reactive dye inks, but the fact is, there are many challenges presented by the process.

Failure Areas
There are many failure areas to consider including the fabrics, inks, printing machinery, and auxiliary equipment for fixation and washing.

For a reactive dye ink-jet printing company to change to disperse dye ink-jet printing, the fabrics do not have to be that different. But a producer that operates in the flag and banner market is often less knowledgeable about flexible, stretchy and lightweight fashion fabrics. Depending on the company’s background, there may be a steep learning curve, especially in fabric handling.

Disperse sublimation (transfer) inks are a common choice, but there also are disperse direct inks available on the market. Each type of ink has its own specifications, and the choice of ink usually will also determine the machine type. This could be a low-, medium- or even high-speed machine. Current machine speeds range from a very low 10 linear meters per hour (m/hr) to 4,000 linear m/hr.

The manufacturer also has to select auxiliary equipment to permanently fix the inks to the fabric. In the dye sublimation sportswear market, dye sublimation calenders — transfer calenders — are commonly used. In the flag and banners market, it is very common to have fixation done using a beltless fixation system, usually featuring a heated roller that guides the fabric. In the traditional fashion fabric printing market, it is most common to steam fix using superheated steam, followed by a reductive washing cycle. Each method has its positive and negative side effects.

Decreasing polyester prices made the fiber competitive with cotton for fashion apparel.

Digital Dye Sublimation Printer For Sportswear
There are specific difficulties associated with converting to digital disperse printing for ladies fashion.In the case of a digital dye sublimation printer for sportswear, a typical set-up involves printing and cutting panels of paper or printing complete rolls of paper. The dye sublimation process usually takes place in some kind of table setting or in a roll-to-roll setting. In the press the design is then transferred from paper to fabric. No washing is needed, so it’s a fairly straightforward process, with only a few parameters to determine.The pros of this process include: ease; no washing required; fast; cost-efficient; and level printing results. Cons include no through-print — the back of the fabric remains white; limited fastness with migration and pleating possible; loss of fabric texture because of high pressures and temperatures used during processing; and fabric yellowing may occur.The main problems these cons create when trying to convert to the ladies fashion market include: through-print, at least to a certain extent, is in many cases required because the ladies’ fashion market uses fairly thin fabrics; delicate fabrics, sometimes with some structure may get flattened/hardened in a calender, which are not desirable qualities; and fastness requirements may not be achieved with standard dye sublimation inks.Digital Disperse Printer For Flags And Banners
In the case of a printer producing flags and banners, the most common setup would be a digital roll-to-roll printer using either dye sublimation inks or disperse direct inks. These direct inks have a colorless carrying medium, while traditional dye sublimation inks may have a light brownish carrying medium. Fixation is performed on calenders or a contact heat roller system. For certain end-uses, no washing process is required after fixation. For any product that is to be used outside, a washing procedure is performed to clear any unfixed colorants.A special capability in this scenario is the option of double sided printing. By printing directly onto a non-pretreated fabric in most cases, the inks will easily migrate to the backside of the fabric.This process is still a fairly easy process requiring little to no washing, and it offers two-sided printing possibilities. Drawbacks to this method include a chance of colors bleeding; fabrics require washing in order to be used outside; fabric stretching during fixation; and dull finished colors.Issues this type of producer can experience when trying to move to the fashion market include: needing pretreatment in order to prevent migration and/or bleeding and to maximize color depth; requiring reductive clearing to diminish all non-fixed dyestuff and those types of companies often have no washing equipment; and fabric finishing is needed to give the fabric the necessary properties.

The pretreatment, clearing and finishing steps all require large equipment — washing lines, padders and tenters — that typically only are available at large conventional printers.

Printed polyester fabrics have become a popular choice in the fashion world.

Digital Reactive Dye Printers
Manufacturers printing reactives using digital equipment operate digital-printing machinery that has a printing blanket, which stabilizes the fabric during printing. Such manufacturers commonly pretreat the fabrics themselves, and after printing they steam and wash the fabrics.Pros associated with this method of manufacturing include: high fastness; large color gamut; and the fabric is heated but it remains untouched, so normally fabric hand does not change too much. The biggest con associated with this method of manufacturing is that many parameters have to be monitored including pretreating, steaming and washing, which results in a difficult to manage process.When a reactive-dye printer wants to change to printing with direct disperse dyes, there are only a few things that change. Because of the changes in dye and fabric, there is a need for a different pretreatment process. Furthermore, the fixation process needs to be performed at roughly 175 °C instead of 102 °C.So what is holding manufacturers back from switching to using direct disperse dyes considering the market for digitally printed polyester fashion fabrics is increasing and therefore attractive? Manufacturers actually are not being held back, but unfortunately it’s not only the issue in play.As a supplier to the traditional reactive printing market, The Netherlands-based SPGPrints BV has seen many producers invest in digital dye sublimation equipment. Not because they wanted to, but because no real solution was available for direct printing onto polyester.As the market was demanding polyester, producers had to deliver but struggled because the inks for direct disperse digital printing were not reliable enough.So numerous textile printers added smaller-sized equipment to their production portfolio, and they started to print on paper and then perform the sublimation. Although this is easy and cheap, the quality isn’t what the market demands.On the supply side, things also have changed. In the early days of printing direct disperse on high-speed machines, it was obvious there were some problems including too much glycol in the inks; unstable dispersions; and open time at the nozzle.

The glycols create multiple issues during the printing process. They help elevate the viscosity of the inks, which is good for ink-jet print performance, but the elevated viscosity has a negative effect because less dyestuff can be dispersed in the inks causing less color yield.

Another negative effect of the glycols is during ink drying — the inks become different. The boiling point is higher than 130 °C, which causes a dryer that runs at a fairly standard 130 °C to not dry the fabric. This can cause staining or marking of the design on other parts of the fabric when it’s rolled.

The fact that not all inks are very stable dispersions can cause havoc. Most inks tend to dry slowly, but when they do dry, they dry almost like a pigment with binder. When this happens on the nozzle plate, the heads can easily become clogged. It is of utmost importance that dried ink in the printhead is avoided at all costs.

So making a reliable ink for direct printing polyester is therefore a challenging task. The initial ranges of disperse direct inks had a dramatic effect on lifetime of the Kyocera heads. This effect was improved, where the second generation of direct disperse inks had a much improved runnability and lifetime score, but all of them were lower on the available color gamut.

Current Status
After two years in development, SPGPrints has created the next generation of direct disperse inks that combine good runnability and lifetime scores with very bright and vivid colors, and that are also easy to dry. Fixation of the dyestuffs can be performed in traditional ways such as high-temperature steaming or hot-roller fixation. This therefore also opens up possibilities for companies that have been acting in the dye sublimation field.

Pretreatment of the fabric is necessary to maximize color gamut, but is limited to simply padding a recipe containing mainly thickeners onto the fabric. Washing also is necessary, as with all direct print methods to meet the requests of customers.

The latest Nebula Disperse Direct ink (for Kyocera) is available in eight colors — black, cyan, magenta, yellow, orange, red, blue and violet. The ink also is available as Flare type ink, for Epson DX4/DX5 heads. By having a large color gamut available in a direct print method, manufacturers can achieve the qualities that are needed by their customers.

Through-print is not an issue anymore on thinner fabrics. If needed, through-print is even possible on thicker fabrics by using SPGPrints patented penetration fluid. fastness of the direct method commonly outperforms fastness of dye sublimation.

Drying of the ink on the heads is prevented, due to the chemical build up of the inks.

All in all, there are no reasons anymore why the volume of digital printing of polyester fashion fabrics using true direct disperse inks cannot grow dramatically.


Editor’s note: Rene Wolferink is an application specialist on digital textiles with the Netherlands-based SPGPrints BV.


November/December 2015

Covestro And Isotex Announce Joint Program To Promote Waterborne PU Technology For Textiles

LEVERKUSEN, Germany/TRISSINO,Italy — November 10, 2015 — Isotex engineering, a Santex Group company, announced a joint program with Covestro to develop and market technologies for polyurethane (PU) synthetics, technical textiles, films and foams based on Insqin waterborne PU technology.
 
ISOTEX Engineering has announced a new agreement with Covestro, using INSQIN technology to develop total solutions for textile industry. The two companies will jointly promote environmentally-friendly solutions for PU coated fabrics, addressing the emerging requirements from the sportswear, fashion and automotive industries.
          
Isotex  Engineering machines will guarantee optimal production standards using Insqin technology. The new line of machines will be designed for using Insqin technology with process innovation from Isotex Engineering, to produce waterborne PU synthetic materials and other coated textiles.
 
Nicholas Smith, Global Head of Textile Coatings of Covestro, said: “Continuous innovation in textile machine technology is just as important for the industry as innovation in chemistry. For this reason we are delighted to collaborate with Isotex.”
 
Stefano Gallucci, CEO of Isotex Engineering and Santex Group, said: “We believe waterborne products are the future. Technology and chemistry are ready after years of R&D efforts. We are very honored of this partnership with Covestro and working worldwide with our Clients to help them with this new rich market opportunity.”
 
Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Covestro
 

Alvanon Announces Fit Movement Partnership With Parsons School Of Design

NEW YORK CITY — November11, 2015 — Alvanon, The Global Apparel Business Expert, has entered into a  Fit Movement partnership with the Parsons School of Design. The partnership provides students enrolled in selected programs with advanced industry fit tools used in product development for the purpose of creating a state of the art learning environment for emerging designers.

“Parson’s vision incorporates values such as collaborative methods, pioneering uses of technology and experimentation,” says Alvanon CEO Janice Wang. “These are concepts that thoroughly reflect Alvanon’s view of mentorship and education. We are natural partners, and Alvanon is delighted to support one of New York City’s elite educational institutions with world class technical tools.”

Parsons School of Design
Parsons’ Master of Fine Arts Fashion Design and Society program is led by director Shelley Fox. The graduate program, begun with the support of Parsons alumna Donna Karan, trains a select group of designers to view fashion from a global perspective, and to address issues such as global production and distribution, as well as the social and ecological effects of fashion.
 
Alvanon equipped Parsons’ MFA program with a full complement of AlvaForm fit mannequins. In addition, the company sponsors the BFA in Fashion Design program by organizing a discount program, supplying Half-Scale AlvaForm mannequins annually to over 300 Parsons faculty members, graduate students and undergraduates for use in their classes.  The Half-Scale AlvaForm is an invaluable educational tool that has been adopted as the standard for their curriculum.
 
 “Our students need to be working with high level equipment so that they are equipped to work with the best when they enter the industry,” Fox says. “The AlvaForms are a prime example. They will enable our students to create fashion that fits at the highest professional level.”
 
Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Alvanon
 

Suominen Launches Three New Fibrella® Products In Its Medical Product Portfolio

HELSINKI, Finland — November 16, 2015 — Suominen, a supplier of nonwovens, has launched three new products in its Medical business segment. Medical and Hygiene, which together form the Care Business Area at Suominen, are key focus areas for future growth and product innovation.

FIBRELLA® Zorb and Fibrella® Zorb+ are both new nonwoven products designed for use in the Operating Rooms (OR) in hospitals for critical surgical applications. Used as specially tailored additions to standard draping techniques to isolate the patient and OR staff, Fibrella® Zorb and Fibrella Zorb+ bring added value benefits to the critical care environment.

Fibrella Zorb is an absorbent light weight top layer with a new texture utilizing Suominen´s unique patterning.

Fibrella Zorb+ is a highly absorbent structure designed for use around the incision site for fenestrations in surgical drapes.

Fibrella Perf, a range of nonwovens for wound care and gentle cleansing has an apertured structure which makes it very soft and skin friendly. Fibrella Perf for Medical applications, initially introduced to the market in South America in March, is now manufactured at all Suominen’s manufacturing sites around the world opening up new geographies for its sale.

Speaking about these new product introductions at Medica, Lynda Kelly, SVP Care business area, said “Our strategic plans to develop and grow in the medical market is clearly reflected in these exciting new Fibrella products which bring high value added benefits to our customers and patients alike. High performance nonwovens offer improved standards of care to the healthcare professionals around the globe.”

“Suominen’s commitment to the medical market with new manufacturing and R&D resources means we will be able to continue to develop new and differentiated products for the specialist medical arena” added Marika Mäkilä, Global Medical Product Manager.

Posted November 17, 2015

Source: Suominen
 

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