The RollingShield™ Shade in a Box includes all awning components in one economical package, and includes high-performance WeatherMax 80 fabric from Safety Components, chosen for performance, durability and affordability. The package uses 40mm square aluminum carrier bar, available in three widths and three projections, and five WeatherMax solid colors. The fabric uses tightly woven, solution-dyed [...]

Malibu Canvas GF, the newest addition to the Northern Lights Printable Textiles™ collection, is a soft, bright white canvas with an acrylic gesso coating for solvent inkjet and UV cure print technologies. Made of 100 percent spun polyester yarn, the fabric can be stretched and framed without cracking. Standard width is 120 inches but it [...]

The Everlasting collection is made from post-consumer and post-industrial yarns, is available in six different patterns for contract, hospitality and home décor use, and has received Silver MBDC Cradle to Cradle certification. Fabrics pass UFAC Class 1 and California Bulletin 117-Section E fire retardancy, and are durable enough to pass contract-rated abrasion. SOURCE J. Ennis [...]

Custom covering for a hotel pool renovation quietly appears overnight. By Chelan David When the highly glamorized world of haute couture beckons, typical pool renovation techniques do not apply. Such was the case last April when EventStar Structures, Medley, Fla., was assigned the task of covering the pool at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami’s South [...]

Compiled by Juli Case What is PVDF? PVDF stands for polyvinylidene fluoride, and with a name like that, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that it is part of the fluoropolymer family. PVDF is used as a topcoat, usually on vinyl fabric, particularly for the awning and fabric structure industries. The slick surface of [...]

Compiled by Juli Case My company has developed a medical product that we’d like to introduce into the U.S. market. What do we have to do to get it certified? Products intended for medical use that are made out of textiles are usually classified as medical devices. The governing body for these types of products [...]

By Janet Preus It appears that not enough of us are taking skin cancer statistics seriously. Dr. Sarah Schram, dermatology resident at the University of Minnesota, says that skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and in the United States alone there will be more than one million new cases this year. The [...]

Compiled by Juli Case I’m doing some outdoor tablecloths for a client and he wants to know if the fabric is a 5 on the fading scale. Do you know what he’s talking about? It appears that your client is worried about colorfastness when the fabric is exposed to sunlight. Although colorfastness is certainly a [...]

Compiled by Juli Case We’re looking for a specific hook and loop fastener, the SJ 3518. Where can we get it? With the product number, we were able to trace this hook and loop fastener to the 3M Company. They described it as an adhesive-backed, flame-retardant hook and loop fastener that is part of their [...]

You’ve got the skills, the equipment, the employees, the opportunity. Go for it. By Carol Brzozowski In good economies, a rising tide lifts all boats, points out business speaker George Hedley. “Even people who weren’t following good business fundamentals were making money,” says Hedley, CSP, who heads up Hardhat Presentations and recently authored Get Your [...]