The FabricLink Network Announces Top 10 Textile Innovation Awards for 2017-18

Tarzana, CA – March 27, 2018 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The FabricLink Network Announces Top 10 Textile Innovation Awards for 2017-18

Remarkable advances in technology, sciences, and the environment

The FabricLink Network (FLN) announces their anticipated Top 10 Innovation Awards for 2017-18, presented to the exceptional textile-based materials and technologies that have launched during the past year and are commercially available. The Top 10 Textile Innovations for 2017-18 range from a super lightweight fabric that NASA will use for the next Mars landing; apparel that provides cutting-edge pathogen protection to doctors; to regenerative polyester and nylon fabrics upcycled from discarded fishing nets and bottles from the ocean.

The Top 10 Awards are presented to recognize technical achievements and originality that advances and/or improves finished product applications and the performance of products within the specialty fabric markets.

Top 10 Innovations 2017-2018

1. Ahlstrom-Munksjö PureArmor™ is a breathable impervious fabric that provides superior protection with great comfort for blood borne pathogen and cleanroom apparel. The new PureArmor™ fabric is a next generation tri-laminate nonwoven that has extremely low lint, making it suitable for applications that are sensitive to particle contamination. The structure of the film allows moisture vapor to pass through, giving the wearer a comfortable garment while providing the highest level of protection.

2. CORDURA® Brand, DuPont Tate & Lyles’s Susterra®, and DuPont™ Sorona® combine to create a new three-layer eco-efficient fabric interconnecting durability, sustainability, and wearability. The outer layer features long-lasting, abrasion and tear resistant CORDURA® Naturalle™ fabric; The middle layer is a waterproof, breathable, plant-based membrane using Susterra® propanediol, DuPont Tate & Lyle’s revolutionary building block. The lightweight, exceptionally soft inner layer consists of a DuPont™ Sorona® fiber-based fleece which is designed for next-to-skin comfort.

3. Eastman Naia™ Cellulosic yarn combines certified sustainability and performance with a natural touch. Its lightness, silkiness and soft hand combined with its hypoallergenic nature make it ideally suited for intimate apparel and other next-to-skin applications. Made from wood pulp that is derived exclusively from sustainably managed and certified forests, Naia™ has been awarded Oeko-Tex product Class I certification.

4. FilSpec Inc.’s FireFil™ is a new engineered yarn containing a glass multi-filament core yarn that is flame resistant, cut resistant and tear resistant, offering triple protection to firefighters and industrial workers. Utilizing an innovative spinning technology, the highly flame-resistant glass multi-filament is inserted in the center of the yarn. The outer layer of this yarn is a high-performance textile fiber, which renders the composite yarn more effective.

5. Heathcoat Fabric’s DecelAir Superlight™ is a new range of top-quality super, light-weight parachute fabrics. Weighing only 20gsm or less, the Superlight range has superior strength to weight ratio and is currently one of the lightest available on the market. Heathcoat Fabrics has announced that its DecelAir Superlight™ has been selected by NASA as the fabric to be used in the next Mars rover landing in 2020.

6. Lubrizol’s innovative new fiber technology, X4zol™-J, takes apparel comfort and fit to the next dimension by combining 360-degree stretch and support with breathability, fast drying and cooling properties. X4zol™-J is an elastomeric thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) monofilament fiber that is produced by solvent-free reactive extrusion. This is a cleaner, lower temperature process that produces a finer, stronger and higher molecular weight fiber than multi-filament spandex.

7. PALTEX, a Taiwan textile company, has established an ongoing commitment to sustainability since it was established in 2003. “From Waste to Yarn” is the company’s regeneration system that collects discarded fishing nets and plastic bottles from the ocean, which are then recycled to produce regenerative polyester and nylon fabrics. Fabrics made from the recycled discarded fishing nets are sustainable and have the same qualities as virgin polyester and nylon from fossil raw material.

8. Safety Components’ Filament Twill Technology™ is a new innovative fabric construction used to produce textiles for firefighter turnout gear. Lighter, stronger, more flexible FR fabrics coupled with ergonomic garment designs have revolutionized the way firefighters perform while wearing turnout gear. The new flexible fabrics, woven with filament and spun yarns in a twill design, are making traditional fabrics, made from 90 – 100% spun yarns in a rip-stop weave, a thing of the past.

9. Spectra® Centurion™ composite fabric is a high-performance material designed to make law enforcement apparel and equipment lighter in weight. Honeywell’s new offering eliminates stitching, extra fabric and webbing on plate carriers for body armor, reducing the carrier weight by up to 40 percent. The tear-resistant, water-resistant and abrasion-resistant fabric is created with Spectra® fiber, a polyethylene that is pound-for-pound 15 times stronger than steel, yet light enough to float.

10. Teijin Aramid’s Twaron® ComForte™ SB3 is one of the lightest ballistic protection fabrics for body armor available. Twaron® ComForte™ SB3 is very effective against high-energy semi jacketed projectiles like .357 MAG JSP and .44 MAG SJHP, meeting demanding protection in accordance with NIJ (National Institute of Justice) standard 0101.06. Based on state-of-the-art Twaron® ultra micro yarn, Twaron® ComForte™ SB3 enables lighter body armor with ultimate flexibility and long-term performance.

Check out more details on FabricLink’s “2017-2018 Top 10 Textile Innovations” To be eligible for an award, the textile product technology or production process improvement must have been developed in the previous year, and be commercially available during the current year. Contact Kathlyn Swantko at kgswantko@fabriclink.com for consideration in future years.

About the FabricLink Network

FabricLink.com and TheTechnicalCenter.com are online textile resources, which make up the FabricLink Network. FabricLink.com (trade-to-consumer) and TheTechnicalCenter.com (trade-to-trade) provide information about new products and marketing opportunities for specialty textiles, textile-based products and services. The two sites offer valuable educational content and technical information, new releases on innovations, fabric descriptions, usage and care, supplier history, and key contacts. The 14 Searchable indexes make the FabricLink Network websites the go-to resource for textile developers, fashion designers, and researchers”Like” FabricLink on Facebook or visit Fabriclink.com to learn more about all types of fabrics.

Kathy Swantko (818) 345-7501, kgswantko@fabriclink.com

Communications Contact: Beth Cochran, 406.579.7909 bethcochran@whatsuppr.com

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Beth Law Cochran