Gerber Technology Introduces GERBERcutter® GTxL Wide

Gerber Technology — a Tolland, Conn.-based supplier of integrated software and hardware automation
systems to the apparel and flexible materials industry, and a business unit of South Windsor,
Conn.-based Gerber Scientific Inc. — now offers its GERBERcutter® GTxL automated cutting system in
a wide version. The system is designed to cut materials up to 2.2 meters wide, and is suitable for
manufacturers of fashion knitwear, specialty technical textiles and furniture.

The Gerbercutter GTxL Wide is a low-ply conveyorized system with the ability to cut up to
2.5 centimeters of compressed material using Gerber’s reciprocating knife technology. It features a
powerful vacuum system with variable regulation to create material stability during the cutting
process, thereby enabling production of accurately cut parts while reducing energy consumption. It
also features a cutting head that can be fitted with up to two optional drills. Options include a
knife chiller to keep the blade cool during cutting, and a lateral travel kit that moves the cutter
among multiple spreading tables.

October 16, 2012

Vita Nonwovens Management Team Completes Buyout

The management team of Vita Nonwovens LLC, High Point, N.C., has completed its buyout of the
business from its parent company, United Kingdom-based The Vita Group’s Vitafoam Inc. division. The
team partnered with private equity enterprises Capital South Partners and Crutchfield Capital, both
based in Charlotte, combined with Source Capital Mezzanine Fund and PNC bank.

Vita Nonwovens manufactures nonwoven materials for automotive, construction, filtration,
furniture, hygiene, and mattress applications. The company operates three facilities in the United
States: a 130,000 square-foot (ft
2) facility in High Point that houses senior management and three high-speed thermal
bond carded crosslapped lines; a 78,000-ft2 manufacturing facility equipped with one thermal bond
line in Schertz, Texas; and a 108,000-ft2 manufacturing facility equipped with one thermal bond
line and one high-speed dual-card with high-speed needling in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“We have built a solid foundation and forged strong partnerships over the years which are
critical for our future,” said Kevin Womble, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Vita
Nonwovens. “We want to enhance our customers’ experience and continue to find ways to bring value
in support of their initiatives. Our new structure will allow us to achieve these objectives with
an entrepreneurial flair.”

October 16, 2012

Quality Fabric Of The Month: Featherweight Filtration

Channeled fibers, with their increased capillarity, offer interesting possibilities for enhancing a textile’s performance. Morrisville, N.C.-based Allasso Industries Inc.’s Winged Fiber™, developed in collaboration with North Carolina State University’s (NCSU’s) Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center, is exhibiting remarkable filtration and cosmetic delivery performance; and has potential
applications in tissue scaffolds, hemostatic bandages, battery separators, insulation and apparel. The bicomponent fiber comprises a shaped core polymer and a sacrificial polymer that are coextruded
through a specially designed spinpack. The core features from eight to 32 deep channels between uniform, straight-edged wings. The sheath polymer fills the channels during fiber formation and is dissolved during finishing of the final product.

QFOMfiber

A typical 10- to 20-micron Winged Fiber is oblong. Its complex shape makes it much more flexible than a solid fiber, said Allasso Industries President Walter Chappas, Ph.D. The fiber can be tuned for a specific use by adjusting the width of the wings and the number of channels. It also can be made in a circular configuration, or even a Y configuration with each leg having its own wings.

The Winged Fiber is very lightweight and has the same total surface area as the equivalent volume of 300-nanometer nanofibers. “There has been a lot of interest in developing filtration materials using nanofibers, but there are problems,” Chappas said, noting high costs and fiber
compaction. “They filter beautifully, but the pressure drop goes way up, which prevents air or water, as well as particles, from going through.” The Winged Fiber, in contrast, holds its structure to allow air or liquid to flow through continuously. In filtration applications, dust or other particles first fill the channels, allowing air or water to pass through the spaces between the fibers for a longer time before the particles begin to fill those spaces. Therefore, pressure drop is minimized, and the filter functions effectively for an extended time.

Nano Filtration Technologies LLC (NFT), Pittsburgh, manufactures media for high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters using an electrostatically charged polypropylene Winged Fiber spunbond. The filters produced from this media, branded LEAF™ (Low Energy Air Filtration), are claimed to have 250-percent greater loading capacity than traditional HEPA filters; and offer more efficient air flow, lower energy consumption, a longer filter life and lower filter costs. The same material is going into facemasks for industrial and medical uses.

QFOMfiter

HEPA filters made from NFT’s electrostatically charged polyropylene Winged Fiber LEAF™ filter
media are claimed to have 250-percent greater loading capacity than traditional HEPA filters, among
other benefits.

Korea-based La Care’s facial mask made using a nylon Winged Fiber spunbond is loaded with moisturizing and rejuvenating essential oils and creams. The mask conforms to facial contours and holds in place.

QFOMmask

La Care’s cosmetic facial mask made using a nylon Winged Fiber™ spunbond is loaded with
essential moisturizing and rejuvenating oils and creams.

Researchers at the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, colocated at NCSU and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, are growing stem cells on a Winged Fiber substrate to create bone tissue, and report promising results.

Allasso has demonstrated that continuous filaments of the fiber may be suitable for knitted and woven apparel applications. Also in the works are staple fibers of various lengths to suit a range of nonwoven and yarn spinning processes.

For more information about the Winged Fiber™, contact Walter Chappas +919-890-3803; wchappas@allassoindustries.com; allassoindustries.com. Go online to TextileWorld.com for archived Quality Fabric articles.

September/October 2012

Tradegood Sourcing Tool Unveiled

Tradegood, a business-to-business sourcing community created to connect apparel and footwear buyers
with suppliers across more than 100 countries, debuted recently at Sourcing at MAGIC in Las Vegas.

The tool, which employs the “business done right” verification process, rates suppliers
based on more than 50 criteria — including operational history, employee count, regulatory
compliance and environmental sustainability — to help buyers make efficient partnership decisions.

“The global supply chain is an area of vulnerability for many businesses,” said William
Quilindo, president, Tradegood. “The only way to ensure that your suppliers align with your
corporate values as well as with social, environmental, security, safety and quality standards is
to know that you are dealing with real companies, real people, with real products and services.”

Tradegood also introduced Trade Café, a physical area where buyers and suppliers may
convene. Other Trade Café locations will open in New York City and various locations in China, and
will include video conference facilities.

September/October 2012

PrintLat To Represent Catalina In Latin America

Catalina Graphic Films Inc., Calabasas Hills, Calif., has signed an agreement with PrintLat LLC,
Miramar, Fla., under which PrintLat will distribute Catalina Graphic Films’ product line in the
Latin American market.

September/October 2012

ColorZen Offers Water-, Energy-, Chemical- And Time-Saving Cotton Dyeing Technology

ColorZen LLC, New York City, has launched technology that eliminates the use of environmentally
detrimental chemicals and significantly reduces the amount of water, energy and time needed to dye
cotton. ColorZen™ technology involves the pretreatment of cotton using a process that renders the
fiber more receptive to dye uptake, uses no salt or other chemicals to fix the dye, and enables the
desired color to be achieved using half the amount of dye, with a 97-percent exhaustion rate,
compared to traditional cotton dyeing technologies. The company reports the treated cotton can be
dyed using traditional dyeing machinery, but the dyeing process uses 90-percent less water than is
needed for conventional cotton because fewer rinses are required and the water is recycled. The
process also consumes 75-percent less energy because color is applied at lower temperatures and the
entire process is completed in one-third the time needed for conventional dyeing.

The ColorZen process alters the cotton fiber’s molecular structure to attract the dye
naturally and has some basis in cationic chemistry, which offers similar environmental benefits.
However, according to Tony Leonard, the company’s technical director, cationic chemistry has not
been successful outside of a laboratory setting for reasons related to cost effectiveness,
complexity of the treatment and difficulty achieving consistent results, among other factors. By
contrast, said Michael Harari, president, “ColorZen cotton can be produced on a mass scale at a
cost that is effective, and most of the cost can be offset by savings in water, energy, chemicals
and time.”

ColorZen’s manufacturing facility is located in China. “China is the most prolific textile
export country, and most of the negative environmental effects of textile production have occurred
there,” Harari said. In the future, the company plans to expand its operations to other locations.

Harari anticipates cotton products bearing the ColorZen hangtag will be available in stores
as early as next year. “We will now be able to offer brands, retailers, and manufacturers a
sustainable choice for cotton dyeing that will protect the fresh waterways and reduce energy
consumption,” he said.

September/October 2012

BASF Ups PolyTHF® Capacity

BASF SE, Germany, has invested more than 60 million euros to increase its global PolyTHF®
polytetramethylene ether glycol production capacity by 65,000 metric tons to a total of 250,000
metric tons.

BASF produces PolyTHF in Germany, South Korea, China, and Geismar, La. The chemical
intermediate is used mainly in spandex fiber production. It also is a basis for thermoplastic
polyurethanes, polyetheresters, polyetheramides and cast elastomers.

September/October 2012

Park Valley Dyers Installs Thies Equipment

Park Valley Dyers Ltd., United Kingdom, a joint venture between contract fabrics weaver Camira
Fabrics Ltd. and Holmfirth Dyers Ltd., has installed 10 dyeing machines and a horizontal pressure
dryer manufactured by Germany-based Thies GmbH & Co. KG. Thies also designed the layout and
auxiliary equipment specifications at the plant, a former dyeing facility that has been
recommissioned after serving for some years as a storage facility. The operation is the first
dedicated dyeing plant to be installed in the UK in more than 20 years and represents an investment
of 2 million British pounds, Camira reports.

The machinery at Park Valley Dyers dyes 25 tons of yarn weekly and is operated by six
employees. The plant features an energy-efficient hot water boiler with a recovery unit, and
recycles and reuses all water used. The drying machinery uses hot air instead of radio frequency.
In addition, the plant recycles all yarn delivery pallets and packaging.

Machinery installed includes an eco-bloc quattro lab sampling unit, and seven horizontal and
two vertical eco-bloc yarn-dyeing machines — including two 840-kilogram-capacity units that can be
linked and operated using one control unit. Park Valley also installed a pharmaceutical standard
recipe preparation booth that enables the company to achieve a 98-percent right-first-time rate,
according to Philip Brearley, managing director, Camira Fabrics.

September/October 2012

Quick-Med’s Stay Fresh® Nets Expanded EPA Approval

Quick-Med Technologies Inc., Gainesville, Fla., has received an amended U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) registration for its hydrogen peroxide-based Stay Fresh® Antimicrobial — a
nontoxic, durable, cost-effective technology that retains its efficacy on textiles and other
materials under a range of laundering conditions, according to the company.

The amendment expands approval for use of the technology to 30 new sites, enabling its use in
products such as adhesives, aprons, backpacks, incontinence pads, lumber, luggage, shoe liners and
inserts, shower curtains, superabsorbent polymers, and wound dressings. It also addresses treatment
application levels based on an article’s intended use and provides for “ultimate” durability,
“standard” application and warehouse “inventory protection” rates.

In addition to military uniform, apparel and other consumer textile applications, Stay Fresh
has potential applications for products such as medical devices. Quick-Med has filed a 510(k)
Premarket Notification with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Stay Fresh Skin Fold
Management Textile, a medical absorbent product designed to provide moisture management and
antimicrobial protection in order to prevent damage to skin from abrasion within skin folds.

September/October 2012

Verdezyne Granted Patent For Biobased Adipic Acid Process

Verdezyne Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., has been granted U.S. Patent No. 8,241,879 for its biobased
adipic acid production process, which uses yeast fermentation to convert non-food plant-based oils
into adipic acid, used in the production of renewably sourced nylon 6,6 (N 6,6), thermoplastic
resins and coatings.

In addition to environmental benefits, biobased adipic acid is expected to offer economic
advantages over traditional petroleum-based adipic acid.

E. William Radany, Ph.D., president and CEO, said Verdezyne has teamed with another company
to polymerize N 6,6 made with biobased adipic acid to produce carpet yarn, and also plans apparel
yarn trials. He said several N 6,6 producers are interested in incorporating biobased adipic acid
into a 50-percent renewable fiber, and noted that Verdezyne is developing a pathway to manufacture
hexamethylenediamine, which would enable production of 100-percent biobased N 6,6.

September/October 2012

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