Hewlett Packard has identified an emerging trend: traditional manufacturers of home fashion and textiles are using HP Latex digital printing technology for prototyping and proofing, printing directly onto production media before going to production. For many years, proofing has been done using water-based or eco-solvent printers. Proofing with HP Latex is faster and easier for [...]

Advancements in printing methods and equipment are giving end users a wider choice of options designed to meet their specific needs and requirements. By Barb Ernster The rapid growth in printers and the variety of substrates available today have captivated the fabric graphics industry. New models of smaller, faster and more affordable printers have improved [...]

The foam used in upholstered furniture can be another environmental concern if it’s treated with flame retardants. Until recently, the only way to meet the flammability requirements of the California Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin 117 was to use flame-retardant treated foam. “The problem with that is that flame retardants are not molecularly bonded [...]

Certified green “There are 107 textile environmental labels in our markets,” says Paul Taylor of Camira Fabrics Ltd. “You have to balance trying to drive the improvement of the product or process with how much it takes in resources to get the label.” These four certifications are among the most widely recognized: NSF/ANSI 336 NSF/ANSI [...]

Performance upholstery fabrics need not come with a steep environmental cost. New fabrics, blends and treatments are making sustainability an affordable option. By Sigrid Tornquist On an even playing field, when faced with a choice between an environmentally friendly upholstery fabric versus a toxic one, would anyone ever choose the toxic one? And when faced [...]

A bill for women-owned small businesses; SBA award winners; new AAFA president. Legislation to encourage women’s business ownership and give women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) more opportunities to win federal contracts was introduced in late June by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D–NH), Maria Cantwell (D–WA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D–NY). The Women’s Small Business Procurement Parity Act [...]

Pre-solve problems by anticipating conflicts before they arise. By Melynda Norman-Lee So you have a client you don’t like to work with. Have you taken the time to figure out why? What is it about working with this client that bothers you? Is it the client’s lack of communication? Or too much communication from the [...]

To celebrate international play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, TÜV Rheinland, a global testing and certification program, purchased and tested 90 fan T-shirts for all participating teams, to find the T-shirts that best complied with the European Union’s standards on toxic substances in textiles. The company’s “textile oracle” pitted team T-shirts against one another [...]

Highland Industries Inc., a high-performance textile manufacturer in Kernersville, N.C., has invested $8.25 million to establish a 62,000-square-foot composites operation in Statesville, N.C. The new facility will manufacture composite preforms using braiding, standard textile processes and resin transfer molding or fusion. The Composites Division will make parts and assemblies for aerospace, automotive, industrial and sporting [...]

Archroma, a specialty chemical company based in Reinach, Switzerland, acquired 49 percent of the shares of M. Dohmen SA, San Vittore, Switzerland, an international producer of textile dyes and chemicals for the automotive, carpet and apparel sectors. Archroma specializes in applications in textiles, paper and emulsions; the partnership expands the reach of both companies and [...]