In 2023, Smartex published the first-ever Modern Textile Factory (MTF) Report, pulling together insights from a group of experienced industry stakeholders ranging from factory owners & operators, material & process innovators, former brand executives, & policy experts.

The report covered how the four key industry trends of price, speed, quality & compliance were driving a necessary seachange in factory operations – making the modernization of operations crucial to maintaining competitiveness. Highlighting five pivotal pillars for factory enhancement, the report underscored the critical importance of resource efficiency, real-time data utilization, data-driven decision-making, stakeholder integration, & fostering high-quality jobs in safe work environments.

For 2024, Smartex is doubling down on its focus on factory operations by deep diving into the crucial & much needed creation of a robust data highway that connects all tiers of the supply chain. Recognizing that data is the cornerstone of informed decision-making, this year’s focus aims to understand existing data needs & communication processes, & discuss how this can be radically & pragmatically improved across the textile supply chain.

Smartex is proud to introduce our 2024 MTF Committee to discuss this topic:

Factory Perspectives

• Mikael Weinholtz – Executive Director Business Strategy, Seduno Group
• Kapil Kumar – CEO & Founder, Sagar Textile Mills
• Manoj Dimri – CEO, GoodEarth Apparels
• Kevin Xia – General Manager & Owner, Shilead
• Deniz Ata – Director of Business Development, Pameks Giyim
• Arfan Zaman – Assistant General Manager, Mascom Composite Limited

Brand Perspectives

• Louise Claughton – Former Vice President, PVH Corp
• Mark Green – Advisory Board Member, PDS

Innovator & Legislation Perspectives

• Patricia Ahufinger – CEO, Nodes Studio
• Lutz Walter – Managing Director, Textile ETP
• Gilberto Loureiro – CEO & Co-Founder, Smartex.ai

Full bios on each member can be found below.

The 2024 MTF Committee will meet four times this year to discuss this key topic moderated by Smartex’s Innovation Director, Max Easton. In December, Smartex will release the second edition MTF Report pulling together the key insights from the Committee’s discussions.

As concluded in 2023, if factories want to thrive in a market that demands the same competitive prices as well as increased speed, quality & compliance, they need to accelerate their modernization now. Many challenges exist – but an inevitable change is afoot. By the end of this year, the MTF Committee hopes to be able to shed some light on its direction so we can keep building the Modern Textile Factories we all need.

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Soft robotics is a subfield of robotics that is concerned with the design, control and fabrication of robots made of compliant materials rather than rigid links. Textiles have applications in soft robotics either as an auxiliary material to reinforce the conventional soft material or as an active soft material.

The future trends and current strategies that can be employed in textile-based actuator manufacturing process have been explored to address the critical challenges in soft robotics.

Chemical Structure of Soft Robotics in Textile Sector

There are many different types of materials and fabrication methods that can be used to create textile –based soft robots.

Some common elements are:

Textile fabrics: Soft robots can be used as the main skin or body because they are flexible, lightweight and durable materials. Textile fabrics can have different structures such as: woven, non-woven or composite fabrics. However, textile fabrics can be made of natural or synthetic fibers.

Polymer coatings: Polymer coatings can be made of elastomeric polymers, such as polyurethane, silicone or rubber, which can deform and recover under external stimuli such as pressure, temperature. A polymer coating is a substance that can be applied to textile fabrics to improve their mechanical, electrical or thermal properties. will be able to improve or act as their actuators or sensors.

Fibers: Such thin and flexible strands can be used to create 3D structures or to reinforce textilefabrics. These fiberscan bemade from the same materials as the textile fabric or can be made differently. Coating the fibers with polymerscreates smart fibers that can activate. Soft robots can have various applications in the textile sector, such as handling, manipulating, stitching, forming complex shapes and creating 3D printed fabrics.

How Soft Robotics Helps the Textile Sector

Manufacturing: Soft robotics can perform tasks such as sewing, cutting, folding, and packing textiles with high precision and speed, while reducing labor costs and improving safety.

For example, sewbots are robotic sewing machines that can produce garments autonomously using computer vision and machine learning.

Wearable devices: soft robots can be integrated into Textilesto createsmart fabrics that can sense and acurate, providing function such asmuscle support, temperature regulation, health monitoring andhapatic feedback.

For example: Robo –Glove is a glove that can assist the wearers hand movement by using sensors and actuators embedded in the fabric

Properties of Soft Robotics in Textile Sector

Thermal actuation: Textile-based soft robotscan be actuatedby electrically controlling liquid-vapor phase changes within them, eliminating the need for pneumatic tethersand compressors. This allows them to change their size and speed in response to temperature changes.

Sensing and feedback: Textile based soft robots can also incorporate sensors that can measure their own state and the environment they interact with such as pressure, strain, temperature.

Rehabilitation and therapy: Textile –based soft robots can be used as wearable devices that assist physically challenged individuals such as stroke patients, spinal cord injury patients by providing mechanical support, stimulation or guidance to their limbs or body parts.

What Role Can Soft Robotics Play in the Textile Sector after 20 Years?

Textile are one of the most common and versatile materials for soft robotics, as they can provide comfort ,breathability,  durability, and functionality. Soft robotics can helpphysically challenged people with mobility, therapy and daily activities. Smart thermally actuating textiles can electrically control liquid-vapor phase changes, eliminating the need forpneumatic tethers and enabling wearable soft robots.

Smart e-textiles can integrate actuators and sensors into the fabric to monitor the wearer’s posture, motion, vital signs and other health-related parameter. Soft Robotics could enable textiles that can adapt to the users body shape ,size and preferences, as well as to the external conditions such as temperature, humidity and light. Soft robotics is a promising and exciting field that could revolutionize the textile sector in future.

Reference and Image Sources:

1.www.softrobotices.com

2.article. murata.com

3.gmwgroup.harvard.edu

4.researchgate.net

5.en.wikipedia.org

6.www.nature. com

7.https://news.mit.edu/soft robotics

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Phase Change Materials (PCM) is a very important requirement in the textile industry to protect us from extreme environmental conditions like extreme heat, open fire, high voltage, toxic chemicals etc. Clothing made from such materials can make textile products more comfortable which are commonly used in defense wear, sportswear, bulletproof jackets, firefighting wear, and other professional wear. Currently, this intelligent material absorbs, stores or discharges heat according to different changes in temperature to meet the requirements and is often applied to make smart textiles.

What is Phase Change Materials?

A phase change material (PCM) is a special kind of substance that releases or absorbs sufficient energy at the phase transition to provide useful heat or cooling. In this process, the materials go from one stage to another [For example: from solid to liquid]. Any material which experiences this process of phase change is Called Phase Change Material or PCM. Phase change material is a substance that releases/absorbs sufficient energy in phase transition to provide useful heat/cooling. Generally, the human body temperature is 37⁰C which increases up to 38⁰C, 39⁰C, or 40⁰C during exercise. The most comfortable skin temperature is 33.4⁰C and when it changes more than 4.5⁰C below or above the comfort temperature, the human body feels uncomfortable. PCMs are attractive for storing energy in all the available heat energy storage techniques due to their high density, compact storage system and high latent heat. A large number of inorganic and organic PCMs are available in the temperature range of -5⁰C to 190⁰C. The organic phase change materials ranging from 18-65⁰C are used in textiles and buildings to enhance the thermal comfort effect. Among all the PCMs, n-octadecane is usually used for the textile application having a melting point of 28⁰C.

How PCM work?

Phase change materials are materials that change their phase upon absorbing or releasing latent heat.  Among the different types of PCM, paraffins such as Eicosane, Octadecane, polyethylene glycol (PEG), Nonadecane, etc. are used for textile products which usually store and release heat using chemical bonds.  Absorbs large amounts of latent heat from the body and melts away. Later the phase changes from solid to liquid creating a temporary cooling effect. Phase-change materials in textile products can significantly increase thermal conductivity.  An increase in temperature breaks the chemical bonds in the molecules of the PCM material and melts the material, thereby saving heat energy.  The preferred melting temperature of PCM used in clothing is about 15 to 35⁰C, close to the human body temperature.  The thermal performance of PCM depends on several factors such as the amount of PCM that is encapsulated, the phase change temperature of the PCM material, how much energy it absorbs or releases during the phase change, etc.  Phase change materials store energy as latent heat and when the previously stored latent heat is released the garment creates a temporary warming effect.  Thus in the reverse cooling process, the stored energy is released to the surroundings. The organic phase change material is paraffin.  It absorbs about 200 J/g of latent heat during the phase change and releases this high amount of heat to the surroundings during the reverse cooling process called crystallization.

Classification of PCM

1. Organic PCM

Organic PCMs with good properties are more expensive than inorganic PCMs which are classified into two groups:

A. Paraffinic compounds:

Due to its large temperature range, this compound is used for textile thermo-controlled fabric purposes.  Some of the outstanding properties of paraffin are-

• Non-corrosive
• Recyclable
• large temperature range
• Easy to use
• This compound is chemically inert and stable below 500⁰C.
• They show little volume change on melting and the vapor pressure of the compound in molten form is low.
• Paraffin has some significant disadvantages such as incompatibility with plastic containers, low thermal conductivity and moderate flammability.  These disadvantages can be overcome by changing the wax, storage unit.

B. Non-paraffinic compounds

These compounds form the largest group of phase change materials.  Some notable features    of the compound are:   

• Flammability
• low flash point
• High temperature stability
• Low thermal conductivity.
• Higher heat of fusion than paraffinic. Fatty acids cost 2-2.5 times more than technical grade paraffin.

 2. Inorganic PCM

Metallic inorganic, hydrated inorganic salts form the group of PCM.  Their latent heat absorption and release temperature ranges from 20 to 40⁰C and melting temperature ranges from 8.1 to 130⁰C. Calcium chloride hexahydrate, Glauber’s salt are some notable examples of inorganic PCM. Some of its properties are

• high thermal conductivity
• limited life cycle
• Wide range of melting temperature etc.

Classification of inorganic pcm:

 A. Salt hydrates

Salt hydrates represented as AB.n.H2O are crystalline solid mixtures of inorganic salts and   water.  The poor nucleating properties of most salt hydrates result in a supercooling of the liquid before crystallization begins, which can be overcome by adding nucleating agents.  Some notable features of the compound are-

• almost twice as high thermal conductivity as paraffin
•  high fusion per unit volume
• They have little change in volume after melting.

B. Metallic

Eutectics and low melting metals belong to this group.  Due to the weight penalty of compounds, PCM technology is not considered seriously.  Some of their characteristics are:

• high heat per unit volume
• high thermal conductivity
• Low vapor pressure.

 3. Eutectics

The group consists of a minimum-melting combination of two or more elements where each element freezes and melts together. They are of three types i.e. 1) Inorganic-Inorganic, 2) Organic-Organic, 3) Inorganic-Organic. They melt and freeze without any separation. Some examples of eutectics are triethylethane+water+urea, naphthalene+benzoic acid etc.

PCM in smart textile

Automotive Industry

During the summer when any vehicle is parked outside, the temperature inside the passenger compartment of an automobile can increase.  Many cars are equipped with air conditioning to control the interior temperature while driving. Automobiles, like cars, can be equipped with air conditioning.  But adequate cooling capacity requires a lot of energy so application of PCMs technology in automotive interior can save energy as well as comfort the car interior.

Aerospace Textiles

Phase change materials currently used in smart textiles are primarily developed for applications in space suits and gloves.  PCM is applied to space suits to keep warm and applied to gloves to protect astronauts from high-temperature fluctuations when performing extravehicular operations in space. The utility of insulation primarily stems from microencapsulated phase change materials developed for warming the gloved hands of astronauts.  The materials were adopted as glove liners to support during the extreme temperatures of the space environment.

Apparel active wears

This clothing is intended to provide a thermal balance between the heat produced by the body and the heat released to the environment during sports.  The heat produced by the body during strenuous activities is often not released to the environment in sufficient quantities resulting in conditions of thermal stress.  Therefore, typical active wear clothing cannot always meet this demand.  On the other hand, hypothermia can occur due to less heat generation in the human body during resting periods considering the same heat release. For this reason, phase change materials are also used in consumer products.  Thermal shock is controlled by the application of phase change materials in the clothing and helps the wearer to increase work efficiency under high stress.

Medical Textiles

Phase change materials textiles may soon be useful in the medical sector to enhance the thermo-physical comfort of various surgical garments such as caps, gowns, gloves.  In addition, phase change materials used in patient bedding products such as mattresses, covers, blankets, etc. interact with the micro-climate around the human body and help in efforts to keep the patient warm enough during surgery by providing insulation that matches the body temperature.

Lifestyle Apparel

PCM materials present in clothing coated with PCM react to changes in body temperature by absorbing large amounts of latent heat from the body. Thermo-controlled smart textiles and heat-storage can absorb, release, store and redistribute heat to prevent drastic changes in the human body.  As a result, PCM applications are contributing to the smart textile industry such as elegant fleece vests, dresses, underwear, men’s and women’s hats, rainwear, gloves, socks, etc. in everyday life.

Sportswear

PCMs used in space suits and gloves as well as smart consumer products can provide a thermal balance between heat generated by the body and heat emitted to the environment in sportswear by applying phase change materials.  If the heat generated by the body during sports is not released, thermal stress is likely to increase.  When the excess body heat of the wearer increases, the encapsulated PCM absorbs and releases the temperature as needed.  Activewear, ice climbing underwear, motorcycling, snowboard gloves and running sportswear are some of the notable applications of PCM in sportswear.

References:

1. https://www.textileblog.com/application-of-phase-change-materials-in-smart-textile/
2. https://www.textiletoday.com.bd/a-review-of-thermo-regulated-fabric-using-phase-change-material
3. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/81/pcm-in-textiles?amp=true

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The primary goal is to encourage continuous sports practice for the betterment of health, social inclusion, and education among the young Albanian population. ANOC’s visionary “School Sports Teams” project aims to engage 10,000 young individuals in volleyball and basketball sports teams across 61 cities in Albania. Under this initiative, approximately 700 basketball and volleyball teams have been established for both boys and girls in pre-university and university education.

Mr. Fidel Ylli, President of ANOC, stated, “Albanian sport reflects our nation’s transition towards a modernized future. In this regard, ANOC intends to develop innovative methodologies that create positive impacts on the relationship between sports, health, and the overall well-being of Albanian citizens, particularly the younger generations.”

AccYouRate Sports Sector Solutions will be instrumental in ANOC’s pursuit of personalized performance and health analysis for young Albanian athletes. This initiative aims to ensure their safety during sports activities and enhance their overall quality of life and athletic abilities. AccYouRate is partnering with Engineering Group, a leading Italian digital solutions provider, and the Faculty of Life Science at the University of Bologna to implement a new analysis and profiling model.

This model will evaluate individual athletes using innovative algorithms, enhancing real-time measurement of bio-vital parameters within a statistical-descriptive framework. The objective is to support coaches, athletic trainers, doctors, and families in making informed decisions that maximize individual well-being while maintaining a balance between health and sports.

This partnership will not only advance the athletic and competitive skills of young Albanian athletes but also facilitate the development of predictive and personalized health-related models. These models will enable more effective healthcare strategies and optimize public spending by Albanian healthcare authorities and organizations.

With AccYouRate’s cutting-edge smart T-shirt wearable technology, individual and team performances will be remotely monitored, ushering in a new era of dynamic sports analytics tailored for young athletes. Another crucial aspect of the project is the use of combined analysis methods to identify young talents early on, ensuring the recruitment of competitive athletes while adhering to ethical and public health standards.

AccYouRate’s breakthrough smart T-shirt offers continuous real-time monitoring of vital body signals. This 100% textile shirt integrates e-textile technology and conductive polymeric sensors, supported by AI, big data, and a 5G-based central unit. It effortlessly monitors and transmits bio-signals to a cloud platform housing a comprehensive biomedical database. The smart T-shirt provides real-time online monitoring of seven vital signals, including ECG, heart rate, breathing pattern and depth, body temperature, motion, GPS, and body position for fall alerts. AccYouRate’s technology has received medical certification and validation from renowned universities in Italy and Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Dr. Amir Toren, a board member and executive director at AccYouRate, commented, “The new monitoring protocol we’re developing with the University of Bologna and ANOC goes beyond enhancing athletic performance. We aim to foster a healthier, more health-conscious generation that understands the value of physical and mental well-being through active participation.”

The new collaboration is inspired by the successful technology framework previously adopted in Italy, championed by the Italian Red Cross Association. The Red Cross has prioritized health prevention and promotion, particularly among young and vulnerable segments of the population. Their initiatives have shifted the focus from centralized healthcare to empowering individuals to make informed choices that promote well-being.

The partnership with Engineering Group will provide ANOC with a comprehensive data infrastructure covering competitive, selective, training, and medical-sports decisions across user, team, discipline, territory, and generational range. The ultimate aim is to create a “digital twins” architecture for predictive health assessments, a tool that could prove invaluable for future health policies.

AccYouRate Group S.p.A was established in 2019 and headed by Mr. Arnaldo Usai. In February 2023, Sweden-based Crown Energy entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 85% of the shares in SmarTee, the parent holding company of AccYouRate Group S.p.A. The company today employs 20 people and operates from headquarters and production facilities in L’Aquila and Bologna.

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To detect and monitor things like pressure, temperature, moisture, and biometric information from the wearer, they can include actuators, sensors, and embedded electronics. As a result, applications like temperature-regulating materials, self-cleaning clothing, and even clothing that monitors the individual’s vital signs have been made possible. Novel textiles also frequently have increased functionality, like better comfort, breathability, and durability. They can be created to repel water, resist flames, or have antibacterial qualities. Additionally, certain fabrics may provide particular performance advantages, such as draining away perspiration for sportswear or protection for industrial uses. Innovative manufacturing processes and cutting-edge materials are combined to create unique fabrics. An important part is played by nanotechnology, which makes it possible to create nanofibers and nanocoating that improve the characteristics of textiles.

Additionally, complex and personalized textile constructions are being produced via 3D printing. Besides, the development of ecologically responsible textile solutions is made possible by the growing popularity of environmentally friendly and sustainable materials. Novel fabrics have a plethora of different uses. The possibility of incorporating lighting, color-changing materials, including shape-shifting technologies into their designs is being investigated by fashion designers. Smart textiles may be utilized in the healthcare industry to monitor patients, dispense medications, or offer therapeutic advantages. Wearable materials that improve efficiency and help in injury prevention can be advantageous for sports enthusiasts. Advanced textiles are used in industrial sectors for reinforcement materials, filtration systems, and protective garments.

Smart Textile: Smart textiles or materials are defined as materials or structures that have senses or can sense conditions in the environment or triggers, whereas intelligent textiles are defined as textile components that not only have feelings but also can adapt and react to exterior conditions or stimuli. Both the stimuli and the reaction could come from different sources and could be thermal, mechanical, chemical, electrical, or magnetic. In the medical, fitness and sports, military, clothing, aerospace, automotive, built environment, and power industries, Smart textiles’ sensing/ responding/ adapting, versatility, low energy, small weight and dimension, ease of forming, and low-cost features have a wide range of applications. These precious novel materials result from interdisciplinary research and development that advances engineering and material science, improves the quality of life, and protects the environment. The concentrated special issue “Novel Smart Textiles” presents the most recent findings in this area and promotes communication, networking, and the purpose of discussion and debate.

By 2025, the market for smart textiles will be worth more than USD 5.55 billion, with the medical and well-being industries serving as significant growth drivers. This market size indicates the significance of intelligent textiles. In the following five years, the wearable sensor-based telemedicine component is anticipated to increase at a pace greater than 50% Compound annual growth rate. The development of “E-textiles”—intelligent, flexible connected systems able to perform sensing, actuation, and wireless communication in the form of intelligent, technologically advanced fabrics and wearable garments—offers opportunities provided by manipulating textile components down to the nanoscale to develop new “smart” adaptive/active functionality, and research into these opportunities is growing for particular applications. Creating these systems involves a sophisticated combination of interdisciplinary issues in manufacturing, control methods, hierarchical integration, and material design.

Functional Textiles: Functional clothing, which crosses traditional limits and combines with computing, physics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, among others, represents the market’s evolutionary segment for technical textiles. It does this to satisfy the user’s complex and varied needs. By definition, functional clothing is created with the user’s performance needs in mind and is engineered to meet those needs in challenging environments. Even though little information is accessible on the principles used in their production, a range of functional fashion items are offered on the market for safety clothing, medicinal clothing, or sports apparel.

Unlike technical textiles, functional clothing has never been defined or organized systematically. A functionality-based taxonomy with six classes has been invented, spanning all of the logical categories of available clothing which are already in use or being developed. Even though the finished goods may find help in various fields, every individual class would have similar design principles governing it. For instance, protective functional clothing is likely to be used as protective military armor, protective sports armor, or protective surgical clothes for doctors. Each class has distinctive characteristics that set it apart from the others. As more advanced technologies are created, fresh, cutting-edge goods—possibly even new types—will continue to come out in this market to satisfy consumer demands.

Technical Textiles: One of the textile industries with the fastest growth has been technical textiles. The quick industrialization and expansion of every single sector have greatly aided the development of this industry. A textile material has some distinctive qualities, such as solid strength and flexibility, that make it valuable in other industries. As a result, the use of textile materials in numerous industries has dramatically increased over time. The transdisciplinary field of technical textiles focuses on creating textile products primarily for technical end uses rather than more common aesthetic ones. It is clear from the term that technical rather than aesthetic considerations are given more weight when discussing textile materials and applications.

Consider polyester fiber as an example to understand technical textiles better. Polyester is frequently combined with cotton, wool, and other fibers to make clothing less expensive. Now that the polyester has wicking, UV resistance, and electrostatic charge capabilities as well as the ability to be made into nonwoven fabrics (spun-bonded, melt-blown, and SMS fabrics) with filtering properties, polyester fiber may be employed for technical uses as well. The above example explains the fragile line separating technical textiles from smart textiles. Specific

intrinsic characteristics of polyester fiber make it suitable for technical services. Polyester, however, has a unique functioning that responds to environmental cues. Similar to how fibers such as cotton, silk, viscose, linen, and wool are frequently used for clothing, they are also used for specific technical purposes because of their intrinsic qualities. Agrotech, Mobitech, Sporttech, Clothtech, Buildtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Meditech, Packtech, Protech, and Oekotech are the 12 categories of technological textiles. The specifications of these 12 sectors are explicitly used in the design of the textile materials.

Fundamental Differences among Technical Textiles, Functional Apparel, and Smart Textiles: Within the broader spectrum of cutting-edge and innovative textile solutions, technical textiles, functional clothing items, and smart textiles are separate categories. Each category has several unique traits and applications, despite certain similarities. Here are their main distinctions from one another:

Technical Textiles: Rather than being created for aesthetics, technical materials are designed with precise technical performance in mind. They are frequently employed in commercial and industrial environments where their functional characteristics are crucial. The main goals of technical textiles are to improve utility, performance, and durability. Examples comprise:

• Geotextiles: Used in civil engineering and construction for drainage, soil stabilization, and erosion prevention.
• Protective textiles: These materials shield users from dangers like chemicals, heat, and ballistic impact.
• Industrial textiles: It is used in automobiles for insulation, upholstery, seat belts, and airbags.
• Agrotextiles: Agricultural textiles are materials applied to agriculture for purposes like protecting crops, shade nets, and erosion prevention.

Functional Apparel: Clothing with unique valuable features to improve the wearer’s comfort and performance is referred to as available apparel. These clothes frequently use cutting-edge materials and construction methods and are made to fit particular needs or activities. Although it can also refer to specific workwear and medical garments, functional clothing is typically connected with athletics and outdoor activities. Examples comprise:

• Moisture-wicking sportswear: Sportswear made of moisture-wicking materials wicks sweat out of the skin while the wearer exercises, keeping them dry and comfortable.
• Compression clothing: Designed to provide pressure to the muscles and provide support for better performance, less tiredness, and quicker recovery.
• Waterproof and Breathable Outerwear: Clothing that allows moisture vapor to escape while keeping water from penetrating is known as a breathable and waterproof outfit.

Smart Textiles: Smart textiles, sometimes called e-textiles or technical textiles, incorporate electrical components and technology to offer extra functionality above and beyond standard fabrics. These fabrics can sense, act with, and react to environmental stimuli. Embedded electronics, conductive materials, and sensors are frequently used in them. Several sectors, including clothing, healthcare, and sports, can benefit from using innovative fabrics. Some instances are:

• Wearable health monitors: Wearable health monitors are textiles with sensors to track vital signs, including blood pressure, body temperature, and breathing.
• Luminescent textiles: Textiles that may emit light or modify color because they have incorporated lighting components are known as luminescent textiles.
• Heating textiles: Textiles designed to produce heat, either internally or externally, such as those made of conductive materials for use in cold climates.

Conclusion: To sum up, novel textiles are a significant development in the textile industry that combines technology, functionality, and invention to produce materials with distinctive qualities and abilities. Beyond their conventional use, these fabrics promise to revolutionize several sectors, including clothing, healthcare, sports, and more. Technical textiles, practical clothing, and smart textiles are only a few examples of the subcategories that make up novel textiles. In general, innovative textiles have a wide range of uses. Designers in the fashion industry are looking into the potential for incorporating lighting, color-changing materials, and shape-shifting substances into their pieces. Innovative textiles can be utilized in the healthcare industry to monitor patients, dispense medications, or offer therapeutic advantages. Wearable textiles for sports fans can improve performance and help prevent injuries, and commercial sectors are utilizing sophisticated textiles for reinforcement materials, filtration systems, and protective equipment. Novel textiles offer the potential to change how we relate to fabrics and the capabilities we anticipate from them as development and research in this area continue to advance. They present tremendous opportunities for innovation, serving a variety of demands across industries and offering a future with more technology integration.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7079636/
2. https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/novel-smart-textiles-73792.html
3. https://textilelearner.net/recent-developments-of-smart-and-intelligent-textiles/
4. https://www.onlineclothingstudy.com/2020/12/difference-between-technical-textile.html
5. https://www.textilesphere.com/2020/09/e-textiles-overview.html
6. https://www.textilesphere.com/2020/07/application-of-thermochromic-substances-in-textile-and-apparel-field.html

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What is Seamless Garment?

Seamless garment is special apparels made using a circular loom with a special knitting technology or computerized flat-bed Whole Garment m/c without any sewing/stitching, which is completely integrated with the body, which is like a second skin and comfortable. The seamless process is an innovative technology of creating knitted garment for manufacturing. With the help of seamless garment technology, very elegant outer wear, sports-wear, medical textiles, automobiles and intimate apparels can be made. Seamless garment technology is an advancement in the textile industry, where there is no regular fabric sewing process. Lately this new technology is becoming very popular in western countries, because of the convenience of wearing seamless clothes.

How Does Seamless Garments Technology Work?

The technique of making Seamless Garments is relatively simple but costly, actually initial cost is higher. Generally, garment production requires various processes after knitting including cutting and sewing. But seamless technology eliminates those processes. Seamless garments can be made through various ways, some are mentioned below-

• By using a computerized Flat-bed knitting machine: Different garment parts are made by inputting the pattern size & design into the machine, which is created by computer. After then the parts of the garment are joined with the help of a linking machine.

• By using a computerized Flat-bed Whole the Garment machine: This technology is very new to us, invented by SHIMA SEIKI. In this technology, after finalizing the size, color and design of the garment with the help of a computer, the data is inputted into the machine and with a digital stitch-controlling system the whole garment comes out without a linking process. This technology helps to minimize labor costs, production time and fabric wastage.

• By adhesive or welding method: In this method, garment parts are partially seamed and mostly joined by welding or by using adhesive. So, it is not only eliminating most of the sewing construction from around the neck, waist and hip lines but replacing it with special adhesive glue (Hot melt Adhesive TPU Film) or welding method to create leaner and more dynamic sports-wear, underwear or active wear of comfort. In this way up to 35% of production time can be saved.

• By Santoni Seamless Knitting machine: Some cutting-edge circular knitting machines are used to make seamless garments, most of which are made in Italy. These machines make complete garments based on pre-programmed computer commands with which garments can be made with different stitch patterns. A complete garment is made by widening or narrowing a section of fabric through loop transfer to increase or decrease the number of wales. It saves production cost up to 40 percent compared to conventional knitting technology.

Advantages of Seamless Garments Technology:

Any new technology has unique advantages, both commercially and economically, and this seamless knitting technology is no exception. The following benefits of seamless garments technology compared to the conventional garments production system are discussed below:

1. Ease of Body Movement: Usually the elasticity in the seam area of any kind of garments is not the same as the elasticity of the body fabric, so this difference in elasticity will affect body movement. Since there are no stitches in the structure of seamless garments, people are saved from this problem.

2. Wide Range of Fit for Different Body Shapes: One of the advantages of seamless clothing is that seamless clothing of a specific measurement fits different body shapes due to its high elasticity property. This facility is not available in conventional clothes.

3. Inherent Softness: There are no heavy and annoying stitches at underarm points, shoulder and neck joints, which can cause discomfort or irritation to the wearer, since seamless garments do not have any stitches, it only provides comfort and soft feeling.

4. Reducing the Labor Cost: Since there is no hassle of fabric spreading, cutting or sewing in seamless garment technology, additional workers are not required for these processes, as a result the labor cost has been reduced to a great extent.

5. Low Yarn Consumption: We know that most of the fabric is wasted in the cutting process while making clothes, since there is no need to cut the fabric to make these seamless clothes, there is no fabric wastage, so less yarn is required to make that particular clothing. Additionally, yarn consumption during knitting can be reduced by effectively analyzing the yarn feed through a computerized system in the knitting machine.

6. Required Smaller Working Space: Seamless garment production systems require less space as there is no fabric spreading, cutting or sewing presses.

7. Reducing Yarn & Fabric Inventory: Cutting and sewing processes require heavy inventory of fabric and yarn and also these need to be maintained, but seamless garment production does not require maintenance of this huge inventory.

8. Quick Sample Preparation: Sampling is a costly and time-consuming process as small parts of fabric as well as necessary accessories have to be prepared. Since the seamless garment-producing technique does not have these problems, samples can be prepared quickly.

9. Less Product Failure: Garments usually fail due to seam failure, since there is no seam in seamless garment technology, garment failure is very less.

10. Special Items: Seamless garments conform smoothly to the body shape, using antimicrobial and hydrophilic yarns, the softness of seamless knitwear creates the best properties for active wear.

11. Lower Production Cost: It saves up to 40 percent production cost compared to the traditional garment production (cut & sew process) system. Hence this technology supports cost-effective production.

12. Design Possibilities: With seamless garment technology there are endless design possibilities, a variety of stitches can be achieved within a single garment, for example: a jersey knit can be placed side by side with a mesh knit, a rib knit, a jacquard knit etc.

13. Reducing Production Time: With the help of seamless technology, the garments are made in short time as there is no hassle of fabric spreading, cutting and sewing.

14. Durability: Seamless garments are more durable while providing better fitting and comfort to the customers as there is no dyeing, finishing and tailoring processes, a complete garment can be made directly from the yarn. So, its durability is quite good compared to normal clothes.

Disadvantages of Seamless Garments Technology:

Although seamless garment technology offers various advantages to the knitting industry, it also has several technical problems, which are discussed below:

1. Technical Problems: There are some technical limitations in making garments of different shapes with seamless garment technology, i.e., fabric takedown is the main problem in keeping the tension of each loop/stitch equal. Another problem arises during alternative needle selection, which makes the fabric more open and less elastic than conventional fashion garments, this problem is mainly seen in the welt or cuff area.

2. High Initial Cost: Machines used for making seamless garments are very expensive and there is a lack of skilled operators to operate these machines.

3. Defects: A defect (especially a hole or barre) during knitting of seamless garments damages the entire garment. And that garment becomes unfit for sale and to wear.

4. High Price: The price of seamless garments is higher than the garments produced by cutting and sewing. Also, labor cost is higher for hiring skilled operator.

5. Difficult Pattern Design: Garment pattern designing in Jacquard is a very difficult task along with fabric design. And the knitting machine setting needs to be changed frequently.

Applications of Seamless Garments:

Seamless garments are preferred by wearers for their comfort, snug-fitting, durability and aesthetic features. Apart from general apparel, seamless technology has wide applications in various fields such as swimwear, underwear, sleepwear, leisure wear, upholstery, automotive and industrial textiles, sports textiles, medical textiles and intimate apparel. Some of the major applications of seamless technology are discussed in the following sections:
1. Apparels:

Various types of seamless products like hand gloves, socks, caps, t-shirts, trousers, skirts and sweaters are manufactured by using seamless technology, which is in high demand nowadays. The design/shape of these wearable products varies based on the machine type and gauge. Besides, seamless trouser and skirt-making machines are available in pilot form.

2. Sports Wear:

Seamless knitting technology is being used to make not only clothing but also many types of sportswear, which are committed to comfort as well as enhancing player performance. Creating seamless clothing by this supports the muscles and focus on the areas where it’s needed most. Sportswear is created with an engineered fit, micro-massaging properties and performance innovation, using a blend of different technical fibers and yarns to achieve the functional requirements. The development of advanced second-skin textiles has led to renewed interest in the production of seamless garments for sports applications. A wide range of products such as hand gloves, hats, socks, sports underwear, leisure wear and t-shirts are the most obvious applications.

3. Intimate Apparel:

Modern seamless garment knitting technology has enabled everything from hosiery production to smooth body-wear, lingerie items and performance based active wear. This allows for the creation of wearable 3D tubular garments directly from yarn without any cutting/stitching process. Currently this technology is applied to underwear, body-wear, outerwear, swimwear, yoga leggings, lingerie and sanitary wear which are converted directly from yarn into a complete garment. Intimates produced by seamless technology are seam-free, comfortable and easy to fit and feel like a second skin. Seamless lingerie is designed to provide maximum comfort and support, without any visible lines or seams. It’s perfect for wearing under tight fitting clothes, as it won’t create any bulges or bumps.

4. Automotive and Industrial Textiles:

In 1985, Courtaulds and General Motors Corporation developed new 3D knitting technology for their seat covers, and Marjorie Sorge proposed an idea for a seamless knitting technique for a similar application. Researches have shown that automotive seat covers made through knitting have huge market potential and also reduce warranty costs. In industrial applications, fibers such as Kevlar provide seamless filament knit gloves and clothing that are lightweight, flexible and comfortable for workers in electronics, food-handling, paint, plastics and other high-precision industrial sectors.

5. Medical Textiles:

3D knitted fabric is also used for medical purposes. Some examples include tubular knitted structures such as bandages, orthopedic supports and medical compression stockings. Wearable electronics made from knitted structures are used for online health monitoring as well as military applications. Textronics Inc. has developed a textro-monitoring system that is used to monitor human biophysical parameters such as respiration and heart rate. The circular knitting machine manufactured by the Information Resource Management Association of Canada (IRMAC) is used to manufacture caps, head bands and scarves.

6. Upholstery:

The latest computerized knitting machines for making seamless garments have the potential to create technically as well as aesthetically advanced designs. Three-dimensional seamless seat of office chairs can be easily manufactured using state-of-the-art computerized systems. Engineered design helps to increase the performance of knitting structures in the manufacture of various knitwear. This recent development of upholstery using seamless knitting technology is one of the innovations.

Global Seamless Wear Market Size

The global seamless underwear market size was $41.64 billion in 2021. According to Business Research Insights, the seamless underwear market is expected to reach $65.99 billion in 2027. It will exhibit a CAGR of 7.98% during the forecast period assuming 2021 as the base year. This sudden increase in CAGR is observed due to the increase in the demand of this market after the corona pandemic. One of the reasons for the increasing market demand of seamless underwear is that they are usually made of synthetic fabrics like lycra, spandex and starchy materials, which help to wick moisture away from the skin. There are different styles of seamless underwear available including briefs, thongs and bikinis. Lately, the seamless garment market is expanding rapidly with the growing trend of fashionable garments. Seamless bras and panties are the largest segment among seamless garments.

Seamless Garments in Bangladesh

Seamless garments technology that will reduce production time, fabric wastage and labor costs in terms of labor wages in manufacturing. In future, producing seamless garments using the above technologies will also add value to the garments, which will help increase Bangladesh’s export to the European market. There is a huge demand for this seamless garment in the western countries, especially the demand for seamless sportswear, leisure wear, active wear and intimate wear is increased day by day. Currently the export income of Bangladesh is increasing in the European market, so the garment manufacturers of Bangladesh can take this huge opportunity to make a good position through the export of seamless clothing. There are many seamless garments producers and suppliers in Bangladesh, some of them are-

1. Fakhruddin Textile Mills Ltd.
2. Ecta Dhaka Ltd.
3. Ever Fashion
4. Marinetrans India Pvt. Ltd.
5. Urmi Group
6. New Line Clothings Ltd.
7. Lm Trading co. Ltd.
8. JM Fabrics Ltd.
9. Islam Garments Ltd.
10. Shanghai All Link Logistics Ltd.

Conclusion

By this study we can conclude of some of the important points as seamless knitting technology can directly produce complete products. Seamless garment made of tubular material are well known and these products are market pioneers due to their features of smooth fit, comfort, invisibility and easy care. Global trends indicate that seamless clothing, especially seamless lingerie items, sport bra, swim wear, active wear, sweater and leggings are becoming more popular among the youth of the current generation. Lot of innovations are being carried out in seamless technology and this will change the transformation in apparel business. Bangladesh has huge potential in the seamless garment market if it provides proper educational and training facilities and innovates versatile design features.

Reference:

1. Garment Manufacturing Technology Edited by Rajkishore Nayak and Rajiv Padhye
2. Fundamentals and Advances in Knitting Technology by Sadhan C. Ray
3. Advances in Women’s Intimate Apparel Technology Edited by Winnie Yu
4. Textiles for Sportswear Edited by Roshan Shishoo
5. Seamless textiles with inherent shape -Thesis submitted by Kim Anderson
6. Mass customization of knitted garments- JTA- Sanjay Gupta
7. Three Dimensional Seamless Garment knitting on V bed flat bed machine by Wonseok and Nancy
8. https://textilelearner.net/seamless-garment-technology-how-it-works/
9. https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/7047/seamless-garment-technology

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Introduction

An increasingly interdisciplinary technology that is often seen as a new industrial revolution is nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is gradually attracting worldwide attention because of its huge potential in a wide range of end uses. Due to their huge economical potential, nano-materials have attracted businesses. For the textile industry nanotechnology also has real commercial potential. Nano-particles have a large surface area-to-volume ratio and high surface energy, thus presenting better affinity for fabrics and leading to an increase in durability of the function. Also, a coating of nano-particles on fabrics will not affect their breathability or hand feel. Increasing customer demand for durable and functional apparel manufactured in a sustainable manner has created an opportunity for nano-materials to be integrated into textile substrates. This technology can induce stain repellence, wrinkle-freeness, static elimination and electrical conductivity to fibers without compromising their comfort and flexibility.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is a new section of manipulating, understanding, controlling, and determining the biophysical or chemical aspects and factors of material conducted at the nanoscale having at least one dimension less than 100 nm. The ideas and concepts behind this amazing technology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his speech, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules. More than a decade later, Professor Norio Taniguchi specified the term nanotechnology in his explorations of ultraprecision machining. It has actually started at 1981, with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope that could “see” individual atoms where modern nanotechnology began.

It’s truly hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology can be. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter. There can be 25,400,000 nanometers in an inch. The thickness of a newspaper sheet is about 100,000 nanometers. On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometer, then one meter would be the size of the Earth. Everything in this world that exist physically is made up of atoms—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies even the air we inhale. Atoms can’t be seen through naked eyes. Two basic processes are used in the production of nanoparticles: Top-down and Bottom-up/Chemo-physical production processes. ‘Top-down’ refers to the mechanical crushing of source material using a milling process.

It is a mechanical-physical particle production process based on the principles of microsystem technology. Purely mechanical milling can be accompanied by reactive milling: here, a chemical or chemo-physical reaction accompanies the milling process. In the ‘bottom-up’ strategy, structures are built up by chemical processes.

The selection of the respective process depends on the chemical composition and the desired features specified for the nanoparticles. Also, there are Sol-gel syntheses (the production of a gel from powder-shaped materials) which are wet-chemical processes for producing porous nanomaterials). Nano Textiles can be produced by a variety of methods. The key difference among them is whether synthetic nanoparticles are integrated into the fibres or the textile, or are applied as a coating on the surface whether nanoparticles are added to the nanoscale fibres or coating.

Nanotechnology in Textile and Apparel

Nanotechnology is a new doorway into the textile and apparel industry. Its application has been offering a wide range of opportunities and attracting groups of businessmen, investors, and others because of the potential and growth it offers economically. It has brought a technological revolution in the textile industry. Our world is in a constant state of revolution or change. The consumers of the textile industry demand new technology and innovations for a better experience. Nanotech combined with fibers has made nanofibers. These smart fabrics are advanced and multi-functional in fashion, sports, protection, transportation, etc. They are durable, comfortable and cost-effective and have multiple uses.

Various kind of nano textiles is present in the market. Some of these are,

• Nano-finished textiles: Coats, gloves, blouse-on, and bedding covers are made from such textile materials
• Nanocomposite textiles: Nanofibers and carbon nanotubes.
• Nanofibrous textiles: Nanofibrous textiles may have great potential in the medical field because of their unique characteristics that meet the criteria for medical applications.
• Nano-enabled or, nonwovens: Used covering medicine.
• Clay nanoparticles: Used in electronics, food, clothing, tire, medicine, sunscreen, cosmetics, sports etc.
• Carbon nanotubes: These tubes have electrical conductivity, strength, elasticity, thermal conductivity also expansion.

Some popular nano-textiles are,

• Swimsuits designed with nanotechnology: These new advanced swimsuits have a layer of plasma, directed and enhanced by nanotechnology. This plasma layer helps in repelling the water molecules, resulting in better diving and swimming.
• Self-cleaning bed sheets: These bed sheets do not let dirt or water stay on their surface for a longer time. Such fabrics are also referred to as nano-care fabrics. These fabrics work by dismissing all contact points of external elements, such as dust, dirt, etc.
• Ultraviolet ray-protective jackets: Nanotechnology enhances the ability of fabrics to protect the person by adding delustrant, ultraviolet ray absorber, and dye pigmentation. These technologies deflect the sun’s harmful rays and make the fabric comparatively better than others since it provides better protection.

Also there are stain-repellent and wrinkle-resistant threads, body warmers that use Phase Change Materials (PCMs) responding to changing body temperatures, nano socks treated with silver nanoparticles etc available in the current market. Nanopatterned surfaces can exploit the Lotus effect, causing them to be hydrophobic enough for water droplets to ball up and roll off the fabric surface, removing dirt particles in their path.

There are some useful properties of Nanofibers:

• Water-repellent properties
• Antibacterial properties
• Wrinkle-Resistant properties
• Ultraviolet Ray-protective properties
• Fireproof properties
• Anti-pollen properties

The Global Nano-textiles Market

The global market for nanotextiles should grow from $5.1 billion in 2019 to $14.8 billion by 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.6% for the period of 2019-2024. The global market for technical textiles is estimated to increase from $197.8 billion in 2022 to $255.4 billion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from 2022 through 2027. The global market for nonwoven filter media should grow from $5.7 billion in 2021 to $7.2 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9% for the period of 2021-2026. The global market for nanofiber should grow from $2.2 billion in 2021 to $6.7 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.1% for the period of 2021-2026(bccresearch). To continue this favourable trend of emerging nano textiles, the textile industry should contribute more to research in nanotechnology and intensify its collaboration with other disciplines. There are countless nano-based textiles and fabrics applications, such as medicine, military, fashion/entertainment, sportswear, and many more. These applications and developments show that nanotechnology will emerge to dominate the textile field in future.

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Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (“EFI” or the “Company”), a global leader in digital industrial imaging and portfolio company of Siris Capital Group LLC (together with its affiliates, “Siris”), today announced the appointment of Frank Pennisi, a veteran of the industrial and technology sectors, as Chief Executive Officer. In tandem, EFI’s Fiery business unit has been separated as an independent company that will remain wholly owned by Siris.

As separate companies, EFI and Fiery® will have distinct areas of strategic focus that will enable them to serve their customers better and grow over the long term, with EFI as an industrial inkjet leader and Fiery as the leading digital front-end (DFE) provider. Jeff Jacobson, a 35-year veteran of the digital imaging sector who led EFI as CEO following its 2019 take-private by Siris, will remain Executive Chairman of each business.

“This realignment positions both EFI, now solely focused on digital inkjet for industrial applications, and Fiery, the leading global DFE provider, to win in their independent markets while maintaining the close partnership that has contributed to the success of each business. Digital imaging would not be where it is today without Fiery. Operating as a standalone company will only further strengthen Fiery’s market-leading position in providing innovative DFE solutions. Similarly, no company in the industry can match the depth and breadth of EFI’s industrial inkjet portfolio. I am looking forward to this next chapter of growth under Frank’s leadership,” said Mr Jacobson.

EFI to Operate as an Industrial Inkjet Pure-Play

Headquartered in Londonderry, N.H., EFI will be solely focused on driving the analogue-to-digital transition across the packaging and corrugated, display graphics, textile, and building materials/décor end-markets for industrial inkjet.

Mr Pennisi comes to EFI from Orora Packaging Solutions, a leading provider of custom packaging solutions with an emphasis on corrugated. While managing Orora Packaging Solutions as its President and CEO, Mr Pennisi was an EFI customer, using EFI’s industry-leading Nozomi single-pass inkjet, super-high-speed digital printer. His experience with EFI solutions extends to the close collaboration and consulting he has done with Orora Packaging’s sister company, Orora Visual – a leading display graphics provider that is among the most significant North American users of EFI VUTEk® display graphics and EFI Reggiani industrial textile digital printers. Previously, Mr Pennisi spent two decades in leadership positions at FLIR Systems (now Teledyne FLIR), Honeywell, and GE. 

“As a former customer, I know that EFI’s digital industrial inkjet portfolio is unmatched in the industry,” said Mr Pennisi. “The Company’s suite of equipment, inks, and intelligent service positions it to address its customers’ most critical needs. I am thrilled to be joining EFI at this pivotal moment as the industry transitions toward digital inkjet.”

“I am excited that Frank shares our enthusiasm about the possibilities for EFI as an industrial inkjet leader and will bring his leadership and unique customer perspective to the Company,” said Tyler Sipprelle, Partner at Siris. “Jeff’s leadership has been pivotal since Siris’ acquisition of EFI, through the first chapter of transformation and the challenges of the COVID pandemic, and he will continue to play a critical role moving forward as EFI’s Executive Chairman. With Frank, Jeff, and all the passionate and committed EFI team members, I am confident we have the best possible organization to continue to transform the industrial imaging industry.”

Mr Pennisi earned a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Fiery to Operate as Independent Company Driving Digital Print Innovation

As an independent company, the market-leading Fiery business will continue to provide industry-leading DFE technology for digital production and industrial printing. Toby Weiss, long-time Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Fiery, will continue to lead the business as CEO of Fiery.

“Fiery will remain focused on working closely with our OEM partners, including the EFI Inkjet business, to continue developing cutting-edge technology that drives the next generation of automation, accuracy, and profit potential in digital printing,” said Mr Weiss. “We look forward to accelerating our investment as a standalone company while driving our expanding product portfolio, incorporating world-class color algorithms, and developing advanced cloud technology.”

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Microban International is pleased to unveil its new, game-changing technology – DuraTech by Microban^® – an antimicrobial additive with superior wash durability designed explicitly for cotton applications. This ground-breaking non-heavy metal technology helps to prevent the growth of odor-causing bacteria up to 99.99 percent after 75 home launderings which far exceeds industry standards. DuraTech also works to keep cotton fabrics fresher for longer by reducing odors up to 99 percent even after 75 home launderings.

This innovation from the global leader in antimicrobial and odor control solutions is part of Microban’s continued commitment to being a sustainability-solutions focused company.  DuraTech will push the boundaries of antimicrobial cotton technology, addressing the needs of brands and manufacturers for a more durable and sustainable solution through the elimination of heavy metals from the formulation. As well as being a non-heavy metal antimicrobial, DuraTech is also binder-free, non-ionic, and fully water soluble. These features allow DuraTech to easily integrate into cotton fabrics during normal padding manufacturing processes, with no impact on the appearance or feel of the final cotton product. DuraTech works continuously to protect cotton products from the growth of harmful bacteria, which can lead to unpleasant odors, stains, and early product deterioration.

DuraTech will be available to cotton fabric manufacturers and brands in the U.S. and Asia, and will include Microban’s invaluable turnkey support services for branded partners. This novel technology is perfect for creating antimicrobial cotton products, such as sheets and towels for home textiles, hospitality, apparel, and more.

Michael Ruby, President of Microban International, commented: “As the global leader in the areas of antimicrobial, odor control, and surface modification solutions, Microban strives to deliver the most innovative solutions to our partners all around the world. We are pleased to announce the launch of DuraTech by Microban for textiles producers and leading brands in the United States, India, and Asia. This technological breakthrough is specifically targeted at cotton substrates which delivers unparalleled antimicrobial product protection and wash durability without relying on the use of heavy metals. This technology will help leading brands deliver a better end consumer experience in the home, hospitality, and apparel sectors with a sustainability-focused solution from Microban.”

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It is an endeavor to facilitate Deepen Engagement & Integrate the Textile Value Chain between India & Bangladesh through Panel Interactions with top delegates, Networking & Business Growth Sessions, Product development displays & Trend Forecasting.

The Event will be showcasing 35 Top Textile Companies in Fabric, Trims & Yarn Categories from India with their product development capabilities along with their USP’s based on Trends & Innovation to Fashion buyers & Manufacturers looking for Sourcing Quality, Sustainable & Innovative materials for international markets.

This one-of-its-kind event is scheduled for 17th & 18th September 2022 at the prestigious Hotel Radisson Blu, Water Garden Dhaka and will be exclusively open to Senior dignitaries, foreign diplomats, Fashion Buyers, Business Owners (members of BGMEA, BKGEA, BGEA, BGBA, BTMA, FBCCI & BKMEA) Senior designers & Sourcing heads.

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