TEXTILES.ORG
Powered, not wired
January 11th, 2014
The expectations for e-textiles and wearable technology are broad and significant. The research is yielding more promising—and practical—innovations at a fairly regular clip. We are not talking wires here. (My hunting socks with wires across the toes that run to a C-cell battery pack come to mind. Sitting in a deer stand was fine. Walking […]
Interactive fabric brings bedtime stories to life
January 11th, 2014
“Read it again, Daddy!” might become an easier task with the development of a new “interactive” textile. TexTales, the brainstorm of Dutch Ph.D. candidate Kristi Kuusk, weaves images into bed linens that interact through a kind of QR code with handheld tablets and smart phones to bring imagery to virtual life. Moving either the fabric […]
OEKO-TEX® releases webinar on STeP
January 11th, 2014
The International OEKO-TEX® Association has produced a prerecorded webinar providing information on the new OEKO-TEX® STeP certification system for sustainable textile production operations. The webinar entitled “STeP by OEKO-TEX®: Sustainable Textile Production” is presented in English and is available for viewing at any time on the OEKO-TEX® website The OEKO-TEX® STeP certification, introduced earlier this […]
Yarn, fabric production sew up gains
January 11th, 2014
With reported increases in global yarn and fabric production in the second quarter of 2013, and expectations for continued growth, there’s little expectation the market will be unraveling anytime soon. According to the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), second-quarter global yarn production increased compared to the previous quarter as a result of higher output in […]
E-textiles for military markets
January 11th, 2014
Creating textiles that harvest energy lighten the warfighter’s load. U.S. Army studies show that a fully equipped soldier carries between 50 and 120 pounds of equipment, depending on the mission. Efforts to reduce the amount of weight soldiers need to carry in the field are in full swing—and scientists and researchers are turning to advanced […]
Turlington to lead Ironclad Performance Wear
January 11th, 2014
Sportswear veteran Lee Turlington—with stints at The North Face, Fila, Nike and Patagonia—has been named interim president of Ironclad Performance Wear. Based in El Segundo, Calif., Ironclad makes high-performance “task-specific” gloves for a variety of markets, including oil and gas extraction; automotive; military; and police, fire and first-responder. Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts degree […]
Desert sanctuary reflects local flora
January 11th, 2014
Many head to the desert for reflection and mediation. Mexican architect Iván Juárez has created a one- or two-person structure that “interacts” with its surrounding habitat to facilitate just such introspection. Reflecting the geometry of the surrounding desert plants, Juárez’ enclosure “Cactaceae” is situated among the cacti of Mexico’s Tropic of Cancer desert region. The […]
Trützschler and Voith awarded quality certificate
January 11th, 2014
Voith Paper and Trützschler Nonwovens recently reached an important milestone: a nonwovens fabric from the jointly developed production process successfully passed the official INDA and EDANA test, and became certified as "flushable.” For the producers, this has been a small but economically interesting market segment up to now, with high demands on the product. On […]
SigNature® T traces original fibers in textiles and apparel
January 11th, 2014
Applied DNA Sciences, a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology and product authentication solutions, has announced the rollout of SigNature T, a new security platform specifically for textiles and apparel that provides a means to identify authentic fibers and assure the quality and performance of the original fiber. According to the company, the DNA-based platform has […]
Analyzing movement—by the clothes we wear
January 11th, 2014
What if a person’s heart rate, respiration and body mechanics could be monitored during various activities without being observed in person or via video feeds? What if that data could be collected and evaluated remotely? Dr. Tom Martin, co-director of the Electronic Textiles Lab at Virginia Tech, is building new smart textile applications based on […]