Swiss Weaver Develops FR Fabric Using Renewable Materials
December 10, 2001
Biologically Recyclable Product Meets Aesthetic and Environmental Standards
Heerbrugg, St Gallen (Switzerland) - A small Swiss weaving company has developed an environmentally friendly flame-retardant (FR) upholstery fabric. Rohner Textil has launched Climatex LifeguardFR to meet international standards for flame retardancy. And after it has been used in public places or in planes, trains or cars, the fabric can be recycled without risk to humans.
Based on the concept of sustainable product design without waste, Climatex LifeguardFR is made from a 50/50 blend of wool and the beechwood-derived cellulosic fiber Redesigned ViscoseFR. The fabric is said to offer comfortable and climate-controlled seating supported by good moisture absorption and optimal moisture transport as well as high abrasion values.
Climatex LifeguardFR is an extension of Rohner''s Climatex Lifecycle product for office seating and furniture. The latest development is the result of four years of cooperation with the Hamburg, Germany based environmental institute EPEA, which was founded by Greenpeace.
Based in an historical building constructed in 1911, Rohner Textil eliminated the use of cotton in the mid-1980s, as cotton dyes would have required the company to install special wastewater treatment equipment.
In 1988, Rohner Textil launched Climatex fabrics, claimed to possess climate-control seating capabilities, even under high indoor or outdoor temperatures. Climatex uses a blend of 50% polyester, 40% wool and 10% ramie. Wool is used for its excellent heat conservation and high moisture absorption, polyester provides fast humidity transport while ramie offers a cooling effect and high moisture transport, acting as a "middleman" between the wool and polyester.
The New Zealand wool is tested for pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals to EPEA standards. The ramie, originally from the Philippines but now sourced from China, is similarly analyzed for pesticides, herbicides and absorbable organic halogens (AOX). Collaboration with the New York-based DesignTex, U.S. architect William McDonough and German chemical engineer Michael Braungart, a former Greenpeace activist and head of EPEA, culminated in the 1995 launch of Climatex Lifecycle. This compostable, environmentally sound product made from 75% wool and 25% ramie has received more than a dozen international design awards.
Current production for all Climatex lines represents around one-third of Rohner Textil''s annual output of 400,000-450,000 meters, a level that has doubled since 1993. The remainder is mainly high-end upholstery fabric in Trevira CS.
Speaking at September''s Man-Made Fibers Congress, held in Dornbirn, Austria, managing director Albin Kälin said fire regulations involving hotels, restaurants, theaters, sports stadiums, offices and residential areas were becoming more complex in the contract furniture business.
"These regulations often vary from country to country, especially in transportation applications, such as airplanes, trains and buses," he said. "Most products are currently optimized to comply with fire safety standards."
However, FR products usually contain products that are in many ways the least compatible with the concept of environmental soundness. With regulations increasingly dictating the necessity to buy materials according to ecological criteria, the design team at Rohner Textil set out in 1996 to search for ways of meeting all fire standards without restrictions on safety of the product lines for biological cycles.
Acquired in 1999 by Lantal Textiles of Langenthal, Switzerland, Rohner Textil, with just 30 employees, has worked closely with a number of major organizations including fiber producer Lenzing, dye supplier Ciba Specialty Chemicals, and Clariant, manufacturer of the FR chemicals.
As part of the development project, Rohner and EPEA asked these companies to disclose their chemical data, allowing the institute to assess the environmental and health and safety aspects of all substances that enter the fabric production process. Although Clariant initially had reservations about opening its books to the EPEA chemical assessment, it finally agreed to extensive laboratory trials on its FR chemicals. Ciba, which had enthusiastically cooperated in the development of Climatex Lifecycle, submitted information on around 1,600 dyes, from which 16 were selected by EPEA. Using these chemicals, the choices for designs and shades are almost unlimited, with the exception of brilliant colors and black.
The Swiss firm''s standards apply to all stages of production, from raw material extraction to spinning, twisting and dyeing of yarns, through the weaving and finishing processes, and to customer disposal.
The manufacturing processes of the FR product remain the same as for Climatex Lifecycle. Spinning and twisting procedures and auxiliaries, and yarn dyeing procedures, are EPEA-approved and warp sizing has been eliminated: spinning and twisting alternatives are used to strengthen the yarns for the weaving process. And no chemicals are used during the finishing process.
In Climatex LifeguardFR fabric, Redesigned ViscoseFR from Lenzing replaces the ramie fiber used in Climatex Lifecycle products. The climate-control seating features remain unchanged with the altered blend, Kälin pointed out.
The price of the new FR fabric is comparable to high-end wool products. Secondary products have already been considered, such as interliner felts for panels or walls, FR isolation materials and woven FR blankets for private use or in public transportation. Solid waste from the production process is made into felt for upholstery interliners or mulch mats for gardening.
The first collection of Climatex LifeguardFR fabrics for office seating was presented last year. Rohner Textil has since signed license agreements with Lantal Textiles for the ground transportation market and exclusive rights for aircraft upholstery fabrics, and with Victor-Innovatex of Beauce, Quèbec, Canada, for piece-dyed upholstery and panel fabrics for the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) office furniture market in North America.
A license for the use of the original Climatex fabric for office seating in South America has also been granted to Lady of São Paulo, Brazil. Licensed products using Climatex LifeguardFR were launched in June 2001 at the Paris Air Show and at Chicago''s NeoCon. Developments at Rohner Textil have not stopped with flame retardancy. The company noted that the amount of stretch or elasticity of upholstery fabrics is becoming increasingly important because of the convex and concave shapes of furniture design. Until now, fabrics could meet the requirements of these features only through the integration of synthetic elastomeric yarns, such as Lycra, which is incompatible with composting. F&FI
Heerbrugg, St Gallen (Switzerland) - A small Swiss weaving company has developed an environmentally friendly flame-retardant (FR) upholstery fabric. Rohner Textil has launched Climatex LifeguardFR to meet international standards for flame retardancy. And after it has been used in public places or in planes, trains or cars, the fabric can be recycled without risk to humans.
Based on the concept of sustainable product design without waste, Climatex LifeguardFR is made from a 50/50 blend of wool and the beechwood-derived cellulosic fiber Redesigned ViscoseFR. The fabric is said to offer comfortable and climate-controlled seating supported by good moisture absorption and optimal moisture transport as well as high abrasion values.
Climatex LifeguardFR is an extension of Rohner''s Climatex Lifecycle product for office seating and furniture. The latest development is the result of four years of cooperation with the Hamburg, Germany based environmental institute EPEA, which was founded by Greenpeace.
Based in an historical building constructed in 1911, Rohner Textil eliminated the use of cotton in the mid-1980s, as cotton dyes would have required the company to install special wastewater treatment equipment.
In 1988, Rohner Textil launched Climatex fabrics, claimed to possess climate-control seating capabilities, even under high indoor or outdoor temperatures. Climatex uses a blend of 50% polyester, 40% wool and 10% ramie. Wool is used for its excellent heat conservation and high moisture absorption, polyester provides fast humidity transport while ramie offers a cooling effect and high moisture transport, acting as a "middleman" between the wool and polyester.
The New Zealand wool is tested for pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals to EPEA standards. The ramie, originally from the Philippines but now sourced from China, is similarly analyzed for pesticides, herbicides and absorbable organic halogens (AOX). Collaboration with the New York-based DesignTex, U.S. architect William McDonough and German chemical engineer Michael Braungart, a former Greenpeace activist and head of EPEA, culminated in the 1995 launch of Climatex Lifecycle. This compostable, environmentally sound product made from 75% wool and 25% ramie has received more than a dozen international design awards.
Current production for all Climatex lines represents around one-third of Rohner Textil''s annual output of 400,000-450,000 meters, a level that has doubled since 1993. The remainder is mainly high-end upholstery fabric in Trevira CS.
Speaking at September''s Man-Made Fibers Congress, held in Dornbirn, Austria, managing director Albin Kälin said fire regulations involving hotels, restaurants, theaters, sports stadiums, offices and residential areas were becoming more complex in the contract furniture business.
"These regulations often vary from country to country, especially in transportation applications, such as airplanes, trains and buses," he said. "Most products are currently optimized to comply with fire safety standards."
However, FR products usually contain products that are in many ways the least compatible with the concept of environmental soundness. With regulations increasingly dictating the necessity to buy materials according to ecological criteria, the design team at Rohner Textil set out in 1996 to search for ways of meeting all fire standards without restrictions on safety of the product lines for biological cycles.
Acquired in 1999 by Lantal Textiles of Langenthal, Switzerland, Rohner Textil, with just 30 employees, has worked closely with a number of major organizations including fiber producer Lenzing, dye supplier Ciba Specialty Chemicals, and Clariant, manufacturer of the FR chemicals.
As part of the development project, Rohner and EPEA asked these companies to disclose their chemical data, allowing the institute to assess the environmental and health and safety aspects of all substances that enter the fabric production process. Although Clariant initially had reservations about opening its books to the EPEA chemical assessment, it finally agreed to extensive laboratory trials on its FR chemicals. Ciba, which had enthusiastically cooperated in the development of Climatex Lifecycle, submitted information on around 1,600 dyes, from which 16 were selected by EPEA. Using these chemicals, the choices for designs and shades are almost unlimited, with the exception of brilliant colors and black.
The Swiss firm''s standards apply to all stages of production, from raw material extraction to spinning, twisting and dyeing of yarns, through the weaving and finishing processes, and to customer disposal.
The manufacturing processes of the FR product remain the same as for Climatex Lifecycle. Spinning and twisting procedures and auxiliaries, and yarn dyeing procedures, are EPEA-approved and warp sizing has been eliminated: spinning and twisting alternatives are used to strengthen the yarns for the weaving process. And no chemicals are used during the finishing process.
In Climatex LifeguardFR fabric, Redesigned ViscoseFR from Lenzing replaces the ramie fiber used in Climatex Lifecycle products. The climate-control seating features remain unchanged with the altered blend, Kälin pointed out.
The price of the new FR fabric is comparable to high-end wool products. Secondary products have already been considered, such as interliner felts for panels or walls, FR isolation materials and woven FR blankets for private use or in public transportation. Solid waste from the production process is made into felt for upholstery interliners or mulch mats for gardening.
The first collection of Climatex LifeguardFR fabrics for office seating was presented last year. Rohner Textil has since signed license agreements with Lantal Textiles for the ground transportation market and exclusive rights for aircraft upholstery fabrics, and with Victor-Innovatex of Beauce, Quèbec, Canada, for piece-dyed upholstery and panel fabrics for the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) office furniture market in North America.
A license for the use of the original Climatex fabric for office seating in South America has also been granted to Lady of São Paulo, Brazil. Licensed products using Climatex LifeguardFR were launched in June 2001 at the Paris Air Show and at Chicago''s NeoCon. Developments at Rohner Textil have not stopped with flame retardancy. The company noted that the amount of stretch or elasticity of upholstery fabrics is becoming increasingly important because of the convex and concave shapes of furniture design. Until now, fabrics could meet the requirements of these features only through the integration of synthetic elastomeric yarns, such as Lycra, which is incompatible with composting. F&FI
