TEXTILES.ORG
Sustainable sourcing
April 1st, 2019
Following her recent podcast Sustainable Textile Sourcing for Performance Textiles in Munich, I caught up with Anne-Marie van Hoof, owner and creative director at 4-Options Studio in The Netherlands, to get her take on what she sees as driving sustainability within the industry now and into the future. Fiber credentials The 4-Options Studio offers a […]
Fabric banners, signage and displays help guide visitors—and are getting smarter all the time.
February 1st, 2019
Advances in digital and interactive technologies are heralding a new era in museum graphics, banners and signage, creating opportunities for the printed banner industry from conventional signage printing markets to crossover areas such as interactive displays. A combination of factors is contributing to this: We are seeing incremental improvements as well as new developments in […]
Advances in smart medical textiles
February 1st, 2019
A series of novel developments in medical textiles see smart textiles coupled with smart design to deliver benefits to both patients and medical professionals. With the medical textile market predicted to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 4.23 percent during the period 2018–2022, the industry is positioning itself to meet this demand. […]
Incorporating new materials into composites
October 1st, 2018
In material science, strength alone is often found to have its limitations; a combination of hard and soft, rigid and flexible is an area of increasing interest for a wide range of applications from construction, to sports equipment, to protective apparel. Composites bring together two or more materials to provide one that has novel features, […]
Weighing sustainability
February 1st, 2018
Trends reflect a global interest in natural fibers and ethical practices. The smart and advanced textile industries, while broadly in agreement on the need to be more sustainable, are in less accord when deciding how to address the issue. Cultural and local differences can on one level exacerbate the difficulty in reaching a consensus, but […]
Training and education for the high-tech textile industry
December 1st, 2017
According to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitive Index (GMCI) report, the United States looks set to overtake China as the world’s most competitive manufacturing nation within five years. The textile industry is a significant part of that repositioning in its moves to bring manufacturing back to North America. It is not enough, however, to bring […]
Industry 4.0: the new manufacturing
November 1st, 2017
Automation in the textile industry has brought with it an increasing need for better communication within the manufacturing plant, as well as between manufacturers at different stages of the supply chain. Dialogue between people is one thing, but getting machines to speak to one another is a whole new challenge—a digital Tower of Babel that […]
Eco-friendly antimicrobials and sustainable solutions
October 1st, 2017
Antimicrobial properties are fast becoming a required treatment in textiles for applications that range from hospital drapes and linen to contract and domestic textiles as well as clothing. While offering protection from germs is a positive factor, there has been some disquiet concerning the environmental impact of antimicrobial treatments. In response, fiber and fabric manufacturers […]
Smart building systems with textiles
September 1st, 2017
The Canadian Printable, Flexible, Wearable Electronics Symposium (CPES2017) was held on the outskirts of Toronto in May this year. Buildings, and smart buildings in particular, were a hot topic both in presentations and in the poster exhibition that accompanied the three-day event. Ronald Zimmer, president and CEO of the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) set […]
Nonwoven advances in performance and sustainability
August 1st, 2017
The global market for nonwovens is expected to grow from a 2015 level of $2.9 billion to $8 billion by 2022, according to Stratistics Market Research Consulting, specialists in global cross-sector market research. Existing market sectors such as health, hygiene and automotive applications are expanding, and others are being added, with much of the growth […]