A fashion show at a hotel in Makati City, Philippines, demonstrated that fabrics made of fruit and vegetable fibers can be beautiful. The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) showcased 40 designs, all made from tropical fibers including banana, pineapple, saluyot, maguey and water hyacinth. The fibers have been incorporated into uniforms for government employees. The [...]

Areal density is used throughout the body armor industry to make pound-for-pound performance comparisons of armor systems, and is frequently listed among required attributes of procurement contracts—despite the lack of a standardized test method. H.P. White Laboratory Inc., near Baltimore, Md., is an independent ballistics testing lab and has developed a new Standard Method for [...]

India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented a proposed budget for 2012‐13 that invests $1 billion in technical textile growth in the form of a venture capital scheme, India Opportunities Venture Fund. It is part of a five-year plan, the National Mission on Technical Textiles, and features a boost in investment for geotextile production; reduction in [...]

Disposable garments used in cleanrooms and laboratories prevent contamination of products and people, but not necessarily contamination of air, water and land. A pilot program by Kimberly-Clark Professional, Dallas, Texas, and partner TerraCycle Inc., Trenton, N.J., collected more than 7,000 pounds of garment and nonwoven waste, including coveralls, hoods, boot covers, hair nets and masks. [...]

India is a rapidly growing new market for Lectra, a French company providing technology to automate, streamline and accelerate manufacture of soft materials (textiles, leather, industrial fabrics and composites). To reflect that importance, Lectra has established two new offices in Delhi and Tirupur, India, doubled its Indian sales and distribution team and started an international [...]

TenFab Design LLC, a Lincolnwood, Ill., tensioned fabric design and construction firm, will quadruple the space in its production facility, adding 43,000 square feet, of which 6,000 will be climate-controlled to allow its printing partner to move under the same roof. Having the sub-dye printer in-house will speed print production and increase communication between the [...]

Camel Mfg. Co., Pioneer, Tenn., announces it will collaborate with BondCote Corp., Pulaski, Va., as the exclusive distributor of Extreme 250 fabrics in the U.S. and internationally. Extreme 250 insulating fabrics, manufactured by Camel Mfg. are constructed with 3M™ Thinsulate™ Platinum insulation, lightweight, flame and mildew resistant, compressible and excellent for soft-wall military shelters. The [...]

Graniteville Specialty Fabrics, a recognized leader in the production of specialty coatings and coated fabrics, recently announced the purchase of two coating machines from Mascoe Systems Corp., the largest manufacturer of coating machines in the U.S. As many as six different coating methods are built into the coating machines, which are built with high-tolerance machining [...]

Since 1923, Miami Corp., based in Cincinnati, Ohio, has distributed automotive and marine interior and exterior trim products for both original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and after-market clients. The company offers more than 25,000 products throughout the continental U.S. from its distribution centers in Cincinnati, Albany, Jacksonville, and now in Arlington, Texas. Miami Corporation will now [...]

Royal TenCate, Almelo, The Netherlands, is a leader in development and production of thermoplastic composites for applications in the aerospace industry, but demand for thermoplastic high-performance composite materials in other industries is increasing. In April, TenCate acquired Performance Materials Corp. (PMC) Baycomp, Camarillo, Calif., a specialist in composite materials moulding and thermoplastic uni-directional tape materials, [...]