What water bears and textiles could have in common one day

March 9, 2020  |  My Take

by Janet Preus I’ve noticed an interesting trend in fiber materials. While there have been amazing new fibers, yarns and fabrics created and manufactured, there has also been renewed interest in natural materials that have been around for a very long time. Not sure anybody knows exactly when cotto…
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Trade: Bring in the experts

February 24, 2020  |  My Take

by Janet Preus I would not qualify as an expert in textile technology, but for topics discussed in our features, I can generally come up with a correlation that makes sense and provides some illumination from a journalist’s perspective. Then there’s international trade. I’m going to have to go…
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The things people come up with!

January 13, 2020  |  My Take

by Janet Preus That sustainability is a powerful driver for new innovations in textiles is not altogether surprising for those of us who have been observing the industry for several years. What always surprises me, though, is the innovations themselves. The ways researchers and business innovators a…
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Really good gets even better

December 16, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus First of all, if you’re not just a little bit amazed that a textile (a textile!) can protect from fire, hazardous chemicals, high heat and other dangers, you are either so immersed in the protective products industry that it’s routine for you, or you’ve never had the opportunity…
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Upping the ante

November 11, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus The trend toward multi-functional capabilities in textiles is pretty well established now. Not all fabrics have to do all things, but the more advanced a textile is, the more likely it is to require more than one functionality. Just to be clear about the terminology. I’m using “fu…
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My 11th Expo

October 7, 2019  |  My Take

IFAI Expo 2019 just closed in Orlando last Friday. It was a busy week! Dozens of educational opportunities in advanced textiles markets were dispersed over three days, in additional to a full afternoon as part of the pre-show events. More than 300 exhibitors – many of them with products I would co…
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Nothing ventured, nothing gained

September 9, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus The medical textiles market is expected to reach $23.3 billion by 2025, according to a release May 29, 2019 from reportlinker.com. Non-implantable goods, the report says, takes the largest share, which is not at all surprising for obvious reasons. What’s a bit surprising is the grow…
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Imagining a new normal in energy

August 12, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus Every so often I put the “energy” topic on the calendar. I’m fascinated with the idea that textiles of various kinds will be a critical part of new developments, especially for wearables and other small-scale applications, as well as transportable products. Solar energy seemed t…
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No shortcuts

July 15, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus “If you’re going to do it, do it right.” We’ve all heard that saying, and we probably all agree with it, too. But if you’re going to create something that’s never existed before, how do you know that you’re doing it right?  I’m not talking about a new technology, …
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The real magic in innovation

June 10, 2019  |  My Take

by Janet Preus Plenty of intriguing ideas may never be researched and developed, much less commercialized, due to a lack of funding or other necessary support. Some of those we should mourn, but others maybe weren’t all that great after all and are better left abandoned. If an innovation can’t b…
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