TEXTILES.ORG
New York City-based interior surfacing designer Wolf-Gordon has enhanced its product offerings to meet the growing demand for materials that hold up to cleaning and disinfecting with a bleach solution. The company’s new bleach-cleanable options are an addition to its other products that can help prevent illness and reduce the risk of cross-contamination of infections in commercial facilities.
“Products that are bleach cleanable are increasingly in demand,” Marybeth Shaw, chief creative officer, marketing & design, said. “Their usage will go beyond healthcare environments, and into hospitality, institutional and corporate interiors in the coming months and years.”
New upholstery textiles Nakata and Stroma feature recycled content and excellent durability, with 61k and 51k double rubs on the Wyzenbeek scale respectively. In order for a fabric to be considered bleach cleanable, it cannot weaken or fade when exposed to diluted bleach. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that a solution of one part household bleach (sodium hypochlorite) to 10 parts water (1:10) be used for disinfecting. Since bleach will degrade most dyes and weaken many of the yarns used for woven upholstery, textiles that use solution-dyed fibers work best because the color pigments are integrated throughout the fiber, not just on the surface.