Looks and feels like something it's not….
There are so many products that are made to mimic something that is made from something else. Acrylic-woven fabrics are made to feel and look like wool and fool most of us as they really do look and feel like a natural product.
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Sometimes it's only when you look at the labels of garments or look into what yarn has been used to make the products that you become aware of the composition of that particular fabric. We’ve come across some circular knit fabrics of late that have taken us by surprise.
As we move toward being more sustainable, coming up with innovative technologies for better practices used in manufacturing is the way forward toward going green.
Not only looking for options of more reuse, reduce and recycle. Better practice, innovation and considerations in manufacturing responsibility for the future are not to be overlooked.
Coming up with long term solutions for a greener landscape by producing products and processes in manufacturing that are along these lines is the way of the future.
So getting fabric knits to look and feel so real in itself is a feat of genius. Often the way they do this is by looking at how a natural fibre such as wool, linen and silk appears and behaves on a cellular level.
Analysing it under a microscope mimicking the properties of that particular fibre such as stretch, strength and stability the results are astounding. By mimicking the original look and feel of so many natural fibres has led us to a textile industry of high performance fibres. Let's face it, what doesn’t start as inspiration from nature.
Some of the fabrics that have been knitted from manufactured yarns to mimic natural fibres include wool, alpaca, linen and cashmere..
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Knits have been manufactured for a long time but now there is a knit that looks and feels like leather. Perfect for upholstery in cars, lounges, luggage and any other application where you might usually see leather represented. It has the same leather look and feel and a really pliable drape; the possibilities are endless.
It is extremely pliable and breathable unlike leather, which can be less forgiving to use in the commercial manufacturing arena. This newly engineered circular knit, ”leather-like upholstery fabric'' is proving to be an exciting new soft supple option for leather, furniture and retailers worldwide are enjoying the pliability and workability that this option provides makers.
This could be the beginning of a vegan option that has lots of pluses going for it. The amount of chemicals used to treat hides to produce leather has progressed over the years, but it’s not necessarily as pliable as a lookalike knit leather.
There are also bio-vinyls which are made without using any fossil-sourced petroleum based ingredients and can be recycled by using bio-PVC. This material is durable, long lasting and can be recycled many times over - a solid step towards a sustainable future.
By introducing a new generation of bio-attributed PVC, the move toward a greener resins which have identical properties, same quality and fully recyclable. This move toward a more sustainable manufacturing practice, which will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%, is definitely what consumers are looking for.
This is great news for the environment, sustainability and the textile industry as it moves in the right direction of considering all things green. Starting from the top with end-use in mind. Manufacturers are developing processes to give the end-users green options to consider when making purchases. This is what consumers are looking for now and it's great to see it coming through in textile manufacturing. Options to recycle fabrics at the end of their lifespan is an innovation that we have all been waiting for. With the environment front of mind, it’s exciting to contemplate how much further these concepts and technologies will be taken as we move positively towards a more sustainable textile manufacturing future.
Image Credit: Hadiyazdiaznaveh via Unsplash