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Materials testing for Artemis spacesuit fabrics
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
As NASA prepared to return to the moon for the Artemis II fly-by and Artemis III’s landing on the South Pole by 2028, researchers and engineers explored the best textile options for spacesuits and boots for use in long-term missions Artemis IV and V. Fabrics must be able to withstand sharp lunar d…
Next-gen lunar boots R&D
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
A boot that’s part of a NASA lunar surface spacesuit prototype is readied for testing inside a thermal vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The thick aluminum plate at right represents the frigid surface of the lunar South Pole, where Artemis III astronauts will conf…
TCU students develop protective seams for spacesuits
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
Four Texas Christian University (TCU) undergraduate students won the 2025 Best Innovation Award at the Technology Collaboration Center Wearables Workshop and University Challenge for their project, “Optimized Suit Environmental Protection Garment Seams.”
Automated garment deconstruction for recycling used clothing
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
A major pain point in recycling used clothing is the disassembly of items, such as removing zippers, fasteners and screen-printed areas, which is largely a manual process. A research team at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology is developing an automated system to identify and disassemble ga…
Biodegradable fiber electronics for smart textiles
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
As wearable electronics proliferate, so potentially will e-waste associated with them. A research team at Seoul National University has developed a fully biodegradable conductive fiber for wearable electronics, especially medical applications.
Photopolymerization: A room-temperature PFAS-free process
March 1, 2026 | Swatches
One of the green R&D focuses of the EcoTextile Research Chair at CTT Group in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., Canada, is energy reduction. At Advanced Textiles Expo last November, researcher/chemist Ahmad Ibrahim, the holder of that position, spoke about work on photopolymerization and how it could be an…
Liberty Awnings and Shades’ Amy Huette shares business tips
March 1, 2026 | Features, Perspective
In the Valley of the Sun, there’s no shortage of companies selling awnings. That’s why Amy Huette wasn’t quite sure how to respond when about 25 years ago in Colorado, her father proposed a new business venture in Phoenix, Ariz.
Sitting pretty: Upholstery trends in vehicles
March 1, 2026 | Features
Manufacturer advancements in upholstery textile technology are enabling fabricators to meet a broad range of end-user needs and to stay on top of the trends popping up in various transportation sectors. While different modes of transportation have their own needs, upholstery trends follow similar pa…