The Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), Cary, N.C., has named five finalists for
the 2009 World of Wipes (WOW) Innovation Award. The award recognizes innovative technology within
the entire wipe value chain, including raw materials and ingredients, roll goods, machinery,
packaging and finished products.

Each finalist will give a short presentation to attendees at the WOW International Conference
to be held June 22-24, 2009, in Atlanta. Attendees will vote for the winner, and the award will be
presented during a session on the final morning of WOW.

 

Nonwovens Markets, a twice-monthly newsletter covering worldwide developments in the
nonwovens industry, will sponsor the WOW award this year.

The five finalists, selected from products the industry nominated earlier this year, are as
follows:

•    Clorox Green Works Natural Biodegradable Cleaning Wipes, developed by The
Clorox Co., Oakland, Calif.: eco-friendly wipes comprised of 100-percent cellulose fibers and
derived from renewable farm-grown trees;

•    Evolon Exfolia Beauty Cloths, developed by Germany-based Freudenberg
Nonwovens and Boise, Idaho-based Beauty Cloth International and presented by Port Washington,
Wis.-based Kleen Test Products Corp.: exfoliating facial wipes comprised of Freudenberg’s Evolon
fabric, which contains fibers that remove dead cells and impurities without using acids, chemicals,
crystals or machines;

•    PGI Spinlace Nonwoven Fabric, developed by Charlotte-based Polymer Group
Inc. (PGI) using its Spinlace process, which provides added strength, absorbency, texturing and
other performance characteristics that enhance the wipes’ cleaning;

•    Prime Label & Screen Rigid Lens II Resealable Flat Pack, featuring a
thick, resealable closure that allows a high stack count of wipes, uses less material and is less
bulky compared to molded fitments, has a new hinge design that stays open, is more rigid than Peel
‘n Reseal and is more efficiently applied to flow wrap; and

•    Racine, Wis.-based S.C. Johnson’s Windex Outdoor All-in-One Cleaner,
which features Windex’s Special Sheeting Action Formula wipes that prevent streaks and spotting,
enabling users to clean 20 windows with a single pad and reach up to 11 feet to safely clean
outside windows without using a ladder, according to the company.

“Each year the WOW Innovation Award recognizes the ‘best of the best’ of new products and
technologies in the wipes business and the recipient will be chosen by the people who know these
products best – attendees at WOW,” said Rory Holmes, president, INDA. “These are certainly five
deserving products from different aspects of the wipes business and they represent some of the
finest work being done in our industry in 2009.”

June 2, 2009

Effective immediately, Austria-based Lenzing Group will raise prices for its entire range of fibers
by at least 7 percent, with rates varying depending on fiber type. The company cited rising raw
material costs in announcing the price increase.

June 2, 2009

High Point, N.C.-based Culp Inc. – a manufacturer of mattress and upholstery fabrics – has been
granted US copyright registrations for its Palomino, Stampede and Wrangler upholstery fabric
designs. The registrations were issued in April 2009, with June 15, 2006, as the effective
registration date.

Culp has sold more than 15 million yards of fabric featuring the three designs, which have
leather-like appearances and qualities. The company estimates industry competitors and
manufacturers have sold a significant amount of knock-offs of these fabrics. Now that Culp has been
issued certificates of registration, it plans to aggressively pursue enforcement of its rights
against infringers, seeking all available relief including damages and a disgorgement of profits,
as well as injunctions against future sales of knock-off fabrics. The company also is recording its
copyright registrations with US Customs and Border Protection so US Customs can locate and
confiscate imports of infringing fabric.

“We take great pride in our valued fabric designs, including the revolutionary designs
embodied in our Palomino, Stampede and Wrangler fabrics,” said Frank Saxon, CEO, Culp. “Culp has
numerous customers who have consistently bought our authentic fabrics, and the purchase and sale of
unauthorized copies affects not only Culp’s business, but also our loyal customers and the fabric
industry as a whole. We intend to protect ourselves and our valued customers.”

June 2, 2009

France-based Rieter Nonwovens Systems – a manufacturer of machinery for nonwovens production –
reports it recently sold a complete spunlace line to China-based Zhejiang Shaoxing County Zhuangjie
Nonwovens Co. Ltd. – a producer of spunlace fabrics for the hygiene market. It is expected the
manufacturing line will come on-line during the third quarter 2009. The line, sold in collaboration
with France-based NSC nonwoven, features NSC cards for web forming and Rieter’s JETlace Advantage
for hydroentangling the web. The line can produce fabrics ranging from 30 to 100 grams per square
meter, and has a capacity of up to 5,000 tons per year.

June 2, 2009

A delegation of Chinese textile standards officials – including Fang Xijiang, director of the
Standardization Institute of the China Textile Academy, and his colleagues studying US and Western
standards used in textile and apparel manufacturing – recently visited the Rock Hill, S.C.-based
North American headquarters and technology center of SDL Atlas – a provider of textile testing
equipment, supplies, consumables and services.

“During the SDL Atlas visit, the emphasis was on reviewing our broad line of standard
consumable fabrics used in textile testing and our wide range of special services we routinely
provide to our textile clients,” said Robert Lattie, SDL Atlas director, product management, and
chair of the ANSI accredited TAG to TC38 for Textiles. According to Lattie, China is becoming an
important market for SDL Atlas, but current textile manufacturing standards differ greatly between
China and the United States.

Other facilities included on the tour included Cary, N.C.-based Cotton Incorporated;
Sanford, N.C.-based Frontier Spinning Mills Inc.; North Carolina State University’s College of
Textiles, Raleigh, N.C.; the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based American Association of Textile
Chemists and Colorists Research Committee sessions on standards; ASTM International’s headquarters
in West Conshohocken, Pa.; and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in Bethesda, Md.

June 2, 2009

Spartanburg-based Milliken & Company has signed a letter of intent to sell its Automotive Body
Cloth division to a management group led by Dirk Pieper and Brian McSharry, with support from
Greenville-based investment firm Azalea Capital LLC. The new company, to be called Autotex, will be
based in South Carolina. An Azalea principal, Jim Micali, who formerly was president and chairman
of Greenville-based Michelin North America Inc., will serve as chairman. The sale is expected to be
complete July 10, 2009.

Milliken stated the sale is in line with its strategy to focus on other existing and emerging
growth markets. Approximately 1,200 associates in the division’s worldwide operation are impacted
by the sale. Of those, more than 1,000 will transfer to Autotex.

Included in the sale are Gayley Plant, Marietta, S.C.; Abbeville Plant, Abbeville, S.C.;
Cotton Blossom Plant, Spartanburg; Avalon Plant, Toccoa, Ga.; Autotex Plant, Brazil; and support
operations in the United Kingdom, Japan and China. Sharon Plant near Abbeville will close,
impacting 140 associates.

In other news, Milliken will terminate 80 management associates worldwide in other company
businesses as a result of recent consolidations unrelated to the Automotive Body Cloth division
sale.

May 26, 2009

Miami-based CMI Enterprises, a supplier of coated fabrics for healthcare, institutional, contract
furniture and transportation applications, has supplied vinyl fabrics containing its
nanotechnology-based Nanocide® Antimicrobial to upholster three fitness centers at Scranton,
Pa.-based Lackawanna College: one for students, one for athletes and one for alumni.

CMI uses nanotechnology to permanently embed performance benefits into its vinyl fabrics. The
Nanocide Antimicrobial finish – which is patented for use with leather, vinyl, thermoplastic
polyolefins and other such materials – contains pure silver particles measuring 4 to 6 nanometers,
which have been shown to kill 99.9 percent of resistant staphylococcus viruses, including
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, on contact within minutes, according to CMI. Mike
Jobe, the company’s vice president, sales/marketing, said the nanoscale size of the particles not
only provides faster killing of pathogens than do other silver-based antimicrobial technologies,
but also doesn’t affect the color of the fabric.

Nanocide Antimicrobial is featured in CMI’s line of Dimensions™ coated upholstery and bedding
fabrics. It can also be used in conjunction with the company’s Nano-Block Technology™ in its NBT™
Marine vinyl upholstery – which offers easy removal of stains from ballpoint pens, permanent
markers and various foods; a barrier with an active self-renewing agent to kill mildew and fungus;
and an ultraviolet (UV) inhibitor that more than doubles the colorfastness and durability to UV
exposure compared with conventional finishes. Jobe added that Nanocide also can be applied to
uncoated fabrics.

May 26, 2009

Switzerland-based specialty chemicals provider Clariant has acquired XL Performance Chemicals – a
manufacturer and supplier of defoamers, antifoams, silicone fluids and emulsions, esters and
surfactants – from Dalton, Ga.-based Fibro Chem LLC and its affiliates. The acquisition follows
Clariant’s recent commencement of an exclusive strategic alliance to serve the $2-billion-plus
global foam-control market.

Foam-control products, defoamers and anti-foam agents remove or manage trapped air, bubbles
and foam that can cause manufacturing, process and performance problems in end-products. XL
Performance Chemicals has developed more than 100 foam-control products in markets served globally
by Clariant, including textiles, metal-working, paints and coatings, mining, oil services, crop
protection, construction and paper.

“At some point in virtually every manufacturing process – our own included – foam is
created,” said Hugh Fowler, North American head of Functional Chemicals, Clariant. “Eliminating
this foam or bubbles from such products as paints or cements is essential for these products to
perform optimally as designed. With the addition of the XL D-Foam-RTM products to our own extensive
range, we can offer our customers an even better comprehensive end-to-end service-oriented solution
to their foam-control challenges.”

Clariant will manufacture the defoaming products at a Greenville-based plant that operates
under a toll agreement. As the business grows, the company may transfer production to its own
plants located worldwide.

May 29, 2009

Switzerland-based Huntsman Textile Effects — a manufacturer of chemicals and dyes for finished
textiles and materials, and a division of Huntsman International LLC – has developed a more
economical fixing agent called Erional® FRN. According to the company, Erional FRN is highly stable
under acidic conditions; improves the wetfastness properties of polyamides, wool and their blends;
is suitable for dyeing bright shades; and offers improved reproducibility and trouble-free
production.

Huntsman also reports the product exhibits excellent post-setting stability and leveling
effects on blends, as well as enhanced wetfastness without affecting lightfastness.

May 26, 2009