Chemical recycling may offer a solution to textile waste

October 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

As the detrimental environmental impact of the textile and apparel industries becomes better known and understood, great effort is being expended to become greener, with the recycling of textiles receiving considerable attention.
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Outdoor fabrics: School spirit via banners, tarps and more

August 31, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

When high schools and colleges resume classes every fall, outdoor sports are underway too. Fabrics play a key role in training and in the way stadiums and other sports facilities look.
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The role of fabric, shade in reducing embodied carbon

August 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

By now it is standard baseline that all architects have an existential and fundamental need to begin all projects they design with the knowledge that the built environment contributes around 40% of embodied carbon to the environment. The future of the profession and indeed of the Earth must be kept …
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Interest in reupholstering rises following the pandemic

July 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

Growing demand, using environmentally friendly materials and finding ways to address the labor shortage are some of the market trends and challenges upholsterers are seeing in their industry.
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Awnings encourage natural light and offer shade protection

June 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

Natural light can help reduce energy usage in our buildings. This is a lesson known for centuries but seemingly forgotten after the 1940s with postwar technological advances in air conditioning (coupled with the Modernist design movement that declared “ornament is a crime”). These stripped-down …
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Fabrics finishers need new processes, products

April 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

These days in the fabric finishing world, many of the biggest tasks don’t even involve the latest and greatest advancements in fabric protection. There’s just as much effort, if not more, being made to improve the methods by which that finishing is accomplished.
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Hemp offers new growth opportunities

February 1, 2023  |  Markets, Product Trends

Hemp fiber is gaining traction for its medicinal and industrial applications. How far this industry has progressed is a curiosity for stakeholders such as the public, agriculture and textile sectors. The need for sustainable raw materials to combat global warming and protect the environment has kind…
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Fabric shades create comfort, protection

November 1, 2022  |  Markets, Product Trends

Cool, comfortable shade is easy to underestimate and hard to ignore when it’s not available. Bill Moore saw an opportunity in the fabric shade business when he moved from New England to California in the early 2000s. “I was struck by how much good space was going unused, due to the sun.”
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