|
|
| Issue date:23/08/2010 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Aug 2010 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
|
| Adrian Wilson provides an overview of today’s finishing innovations for woven fabrics and examines the weaving market of Asia |
 |
| Coldblack technology has been adopted on premium sports wear |
|
|
|
One of the leading developers of new innovations for woven fabrics is Switzerland’s Schoeller Technologies, which has just been nominated for the prestigious German Design Prize.
The company has already received the Swiss Textile Design Award 2009 for Coldblack, the finishing technology it jointly developed with Clariant.
Coldblack was described by the Swiss judges as “a practically invisible but enormously useful design achievement”, and has a double benefit on fabrics.
Firstly, it reduces the absorption of solar rays so that dark textiles, in particular, heat up significantly less when exposed to sunlight. Secondly, the technology provides reliable protection from UV rays. Irrespective of their colour, all textiles with a Coldblack finish have a UV protection factor of at least 30.
As a result of this double shield function, the technology is now being employed in a wide range of applications, including fashion, functional wear and textiles for the outdoor sector such as sun blinds, awnings and garden furniture.
New fabrics reflects the body’s far infrared rays
FIRs are said to have a number of positive effects on energetic processes, experienced as a pleasant, slight warmth and better circulation |
At the July Outdoor show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, sister company Schoeller Textil introduced its new Energear fabric.
A special integrated mineral matrix in its construction is said to reflect the body’s Far Infrared Rays (FIRs) reflect back to the wearer.
Far Infrared Rays and their therapeutic properties have been studied and exploited in China and Japan for many years.
The human body also radiates FIRs, and they are said to have a number of positive effects on energetic processes, experienced as a pleasant, slight warmth and better circulation.
The reflection of the FIRs promotes blood circulation and increases oxygen levels in the blood, the company claims, and this additional energy has many positive effects on the body, such as performance enhancement and prevention of premature fatigue, as well as improved regeneration.
Fabric testers such as mountain runner Alan Miller have testified to the positive effects of Energear fabric apparel, including that their pulse rates remain lower during strenuous activity and their performance is tangibly improved.
Energear technology can be combined with various other Schoeller fabric qualities with such functions as elasticity, weatherproofing or moisture management.
Laundry savings
Meanwhile, hotels could massively benefit from linen treated with NanoSphere.
Textiles with a NanoSphere finish need less frequent laundering, and can be washed at lower temperatures, the companies point out.
If an item is laundered 30 times instead of 100, and at 40°C instead of 60°C, the expenditure on water and electricity is reduced in a sample calculation from 27.8% to 6.8%, i.e. the costs per wash (excluding detergent) fall to a quarter.
And the possible savings go even further. The most modern washing machines achieve a good cleaning result even at 20°C. While a 60°C wash, depending on machine type, requires approximately 1.02 kWh, a 20°C programme needs just 0.16 kWh, around 0.86 kWh less.
If 40 million households did just one wash at 20°C instead of 60°C, the cost saving would be 6.1 million euros, and once a week for a year would save 317 million euros, or two billion litres of water, roughly the equivalent of the water consumption of New York for 50 days.
Because of its self-cleaning effect, upholstery, table linen and even bedclothes and mattresses treated with NanoSphere stay clean and attractive for longer. Liquids or other soiling can be quickly and simply wiped off a fabric surface.
NanoSphere has also been tested in accordance with the AATCC test method 79 for abrasion.
After 30,000 abrasion cycles, the water and oil repelling function of NanoSphere is still at the top level while a comparable, conventional textile finish drops practically to zero level after exposure to 5,000 cycles.
Easy care
Woven suits made of MerinoFresh requiring no dry cleaning, saving energy and chemicals, can be an example of low-carbon lifestyle |
MerinoFresh, based on the world-first rinse and clean ‘shower suit’ technology, allows woven products made from Merino wool to be refreshed or cleaned after wear simply using a domestic shower, according to Australian Wool Innovation.
Garments need only be placed on a suitable hanger, then spray rinsed in the shower for three to four minutes using clean, warm water at about 40°C. The garments can then be drip-dried, which depending on the fabric weight, normally takes approximately three to four hours at room temperature. If the garments are hung correctly and carefully on the hanger, no ironing is required after cleaning.
This simple process removes smog, dirt, smoke, smells and common water-based stains if they are not deeply ingrained. A MerinoFresh garment not only looks smart all day, it also saves on trips to the dry cleaner, reducing costs and impact on the environment.
The manufacturing process used for MerinoFresh requires the stabilisation of the base fabric to avoid shrinkage. Specialist sewing and making up techniques are then applied, followed by garment seams and etc. The technology is applicable for making suits, trousers, jackets, skirts and other woven Merino products designed for travel. Australian Wool Innovation has transferred the MerinoFresh technology to companies in China, India and Korea.
Playing catch-up with China
Indian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian and Vietnamese spinning mills should now be looking to move into weaving.
China installed 28,600 modern weaving machines in 2008 and a further 25,600 in 2009.
This is in a period when the total global sales of weaving machines fell by 34% in 2008 and by a further 3% last year, to their lowest level since 2000. Overall, 43,400 weaving machines were sold in 2009 and 44,800 in 2008. In 2007, before the recession began to take hold, 68,200 weaving machines were sold worldwide.
China accounted for 59% of the total weaving machines sold in 2009, and 65% in 2008, according to figures from the International Textile Machinery Federation (ITMF).
This begs the question – why are the other major Asian yarn manufacturing and garment making-up countries such as India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam failing to capitalise on turning their own yarns into woven fabrics to supply their native garment manufacturing sectors?
The answer is in part down to the globalisation of the garment industry, but also in a lack of both available finance and forward thinking by both companies and governments.
Vietnam opportunity
In 2009, for instance, Bangladesh purchased 8,400 weaving machines (19% of the total), India just 3,450 or 8%, Indonesia 1,750 or 4%, and Vietnam 750 machines (2%).
All of these countries can currently sell yarn to the Chinese weavers and make a tidy profit, but for how long?
Vietnam is perhaps the most interesting country in this respect.
Fifteen years ago, all of Vietnam’s textile manufacturing was government controlled under the huge Vinatex organisation, but a progressive move towards a free market has resulted in literally hundreds of privately-owned yarn manufacturers springing up, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh city.
It’s a young country, with a young industry, and right now, there is no demand for forward integration.
“From the end of 2009 up until now, we have had our biggest chance ever, and never before have we been able to make so much profit,” says Do Van Minh, General Director of leading spinner, Hanoi May 19 Textiles Company, which has just decided to install its third spinning plant in Vietnam. The new plant is due to start producing at the latest by March 2012, and with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons.
“This is because the Chinese yarn mills have run down their stocks and many of the workers lured to them have gone back to the fields. They were put out of jobs during the difficult period and they won’t return again. There’s been a big crisis for China’s yarn mills and many have already gone into bankruptcy.
“There is a new regulation within Asia and now no tax is paid between China and Vietnam. This improves our situation even further. China currently has an energy problem, as well as one with workers. And now it’s cheaper for Chinese weaving plants to import yarn than to make it themselves for the first time.”
But there is a lesson to be learned from elsewhere in the world in respect of what adds value within the textile and garment manufacturing chain.
Sooner or later, there is little added value to be had in yarn manufacturing, while garment making-up always moves around the world to the places with the cheapest labour, for the profit of the same old international brands.
The keys to progress, then, have to be in first moving up to fabric manufacturing, and then to fabric finishing.
And while they have integrated plants, the number of weavers and dyeing and finishing plants in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam is disproportionate to the spinning mills and garment making-up sectors in these countries. The missing link in the textile and apparel supply chain can be noteworthy by both textile players and governments of these countries.
Adrian Wilson |
|
| We are collecting readers' comment for improving our website. If you are willing to help, please CLICK HERE to complete a survey. Your comments matter. |
|
|
|
|
| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
|
| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
|
|
|
Close
|
|
|
Write a mail to the editor : 
