CHICAGO — They say that change is the only constant in the universe, and that’s certainly true when it comes to textiles. Textile manufacturers consistently work to find newer and better materials that make their products more effective for the end-user.
And that means changes in how the textiles are laundered.
Mark Mann, vice president of the USA Business Unit for MIP Inc., which manufactures reusable healthcare textiles, uses the simple cotton undershirt as an example.
“There was a day when we all wore cotton undershirts, and they took long to wash and even longer to dry,” says Mann. “And then, one day, Under Armour came out with this new high-tech material that was more comfortable. It was cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. It wicked sweat away. It provided all these things, but it weighed about 10% of what your old cotton shirt weighed.”
He also points out that the new product is processed differently than the old cotton shirt. No bleach is used, and the drying time is shorter, and the shirt offers a better performance and useful life.
Changes are taking place across all sectors of the textile industry: hospitality, industrial, food and beverage, and healthcare. Launderers need to stay on top of these changes—and how those innovations will change the laundering process.
HOSPITALITY
What Steve Kallenbach, director of Market Solutions for ADI American Dawn, a manufacturer and supplier of a range of textiles and linens, sees happening in hospitality is an image upgrade.
He says that years ago, standard bed linen was T-130 (the number reflects its thread count) and then T-180. The standard now is T-200 and leaning more toward the T-250 tone-on-tone product, and even T-300 in some cases. And there’s a lot more in ring-spun special dobbys in the toweling.
“The reason for that is that Americans are not vacationing overseas like they used to. There’s a lot more of America vacationing in the U.S.,” he says. “Where it used to be it was just incidental travel or business travel, now you have vacation travel in the U.S., and when somebody goes from Iowa and stays in a Hampton Inn, they want to feel like they’ve gone on vacation.”
The cost of the T-250 tonal and the high-end dobbys may be a little more for launderers in terms of processing because the heavier the towels, the less you can put in the wash wheel. However, these products are garnering more money, notes Kallenbach. How? More and more hotels are using the higher-end products.
The big change for launderers is greater separation of products. Kallenbach says the way for laundries to make these textiles profitable is to have enough to separate them in the wash.
INDUSTRIAL
Regarding the industrial textile market, Brenda Burris-Drake, vice president of Marketing Communications in the Specialty Fabrics Division of Milliken & Co., sees a move to deliver performance benefits to consumers in the uniform markets. These benefits require unique fibers, dyes and chemicals that are all part of textile engineering. She adds that Milliken builds its fabric constructions with the laundry market in mind.
“With more cellulosic-containing fibers used in our uniform markets, we are adding in performance features that improve textile’s ability to stay clean, release stains, resist abrasion, and other types of advanced engineered designs that will work with future washing technologies,” says Burris-Drake.
The way ADI American Dawn is seeing industrial textiles change, according to Kallenbach, is growth in the Hazard Analysis and Critical Points (HACCP) management system textile market for food manufacturing with spun-poly cover garments.
In particular, he says, spun-poly items like lab coats are being made with special cuffs that have grippers instead of buttons. Also, there are many specialty products being made for differentiation of departments within large HACCP manufacturing companies.
“For instance, you go into a Frito-Lay manufacturing plant, and they want five different colors for the five main departments,” Kallenbach says. “Maybe they want a white coat with a blue cuff and a blue collar. That type of market is becoming bigger and bigger to the point that, in our case, we’re actually stocking a HACCP line for the first time.”
In terms of processing, Kallenbach doesn’t see any difference in the methods used for the HACCP and spun-poly cover garments—just that they last longer.
“An example of that is a 65/35 lab coat or an 80/20 lab coat lasts about 50 washings,” he says. “A spun-poly version of the same thing lasts about 80-100 washings.”
Check back Thursday for the conclusion.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].