Sweet Smell of Success: Adding Value to Textiles
People are very conscious of body odor in modern life. Most of us will not wear clothes that smell and we are far more likely to launder clothes for freshness than to get rid of any external dirt or grime.
This strong preference for fresh-smelling apparel sits alongside other market trends sweeping Europe: increased demand for casualwear; a renewed focus on wellness; greater participation in sports; and people returning to the office post-pandemic.
“As brands increasingly look to add odor-control to their collections, mills that can deliver this capability alongside other finishing effects will be best-placed to capture a greater share of higher-value markets,” said Kerim Oner, Global Marketing Manager for Finishing at Huntsman Textile Effects.
“Huntsman has one of the industry’s most complete end-to-end systems for high-performance finishing effects. We bring decades of expertise and experience to mills to enable them to combine effects technologies and upgrade their products. This allows them to create safe and sustainable products that meet consumer need and help their brand customers stand out in crowded marketplaces,” he continued.
New anti-odor technology
One of the latest additions to the Huntsman Textile Effects solutions portfolio is NOBO™. A revolutionary anti-odor technology, it has been specifically developed by Huntsman’s partner Sciessent to adsorb compounds responsible for body odor without the use of an antimicrobial.
Highly effective on both natural and synthetic fabrics, NOBO™ harnesses the power of highly porous and benign non-biocidal minerals. The complex structure creates a large active surface area that bonds with odor compounds and holds them in place. Once adsorbed in this way, the odors are washed away during laundering and the technology regenerates – ready to adsorb new odors.
Solutions for casualwear
As many nations shift their pandemic policies to an endemic approach, people are gradually returning to social activities and shopping in person. Many casualwear brands are now seeing an uptick in sales, with consumers seeking casual style and comfort and choosing cotton and cotton-polyester (CO-PES) blends. For textiles that meet their needs, Huntsman suggests combining its ULTRATEX® STS-U silicone softener with NOBO™ odor control and using AVITERA® SE dyes for CO dyeing and the new AVITERA® SE Fast dyeing process for CO-PES.
The revolutionary AVITERA® SE dyes deliver high wash-fastness, with high chlorine resistance and high light-fastness. They are also well-known for offering unrivalled environmental savings. With high-speed, low-temperature wash off, water and energy savings of up to 50% are possible, along with higher productivity due to faster processing.
Combining these reactive dyes with alkali-clearable TERASIL® W/WW disperse dyes in its AVITERA® SE Fast process, Huntsman delivers the lowest environmental impact for dyeing CO-PES blends. The combination cuts processing time from around nine hours to just six, helping mills achieve substantial water and energy savings and increasing output by up to 25% or more. Textiles produced by the AVITERA® SE Fast process also deliver outstanding wetfastness to ensure that garments will not bleed or stain during home laundering, or while in storage or transit.
Solutions for athleisure wear
Thanks to renewed public interest in wellness and to celebrities that champion the blurring of sportswear and daywear, athleisure is the fastest growing category in fashion. To differentiate their products in this competitive segment, brands are highlighting sustainability, with a focus on garments that require less frequent laundering. One study found that almost 70% of consumers are likely to search for odor-resistant technology when purchasing activewear.
Polyamide/elastane (PA/EL) blends are popular for athleisure wear, but may present build-up and fastness challenges when conventional dyes are used. For PA/EL fabrics that perform well and make a bold statement, Huntsman suggests combining its ERIOFAST® dyes, applied with the ERIOFAST®-micro exhaust dyeing process, with ULTRAPHIL® PA moisture management technology and NOBO™ odor control.
The ERIOFAST® dye range was specially developed for dyeing intense brilliant shades with highest wetfastness properties on PA/EL fiber blends. Huntsman’s patented ERIOFAST®-micro process allows deep shades to be achieved, including on full-dull micro-denier PA, with outstanding washfastness. This lets designers use vibrant blocks of color and high-contrast black and white without the risk of bleeding, even at the highest temperatures encountered in home and industrial laundering.
Solutions for sportswear
Despite COVID-19 disruption, the global sportswear sector is set to grow 3.3% a year to USD 117 billion by 2027. The return of major sports events in 2021, from the UEFA Euro Championship to the Tour de France to the Summer Olympics, kicked off a resurgence in interest in sports viewing and participation. Government support for the sector, which accounts for more than 2.1% of GDP in the EU and 2.7% of employment, should provide a further boost.
Sustainability is a continuing trend in sportswear, with greater use of recycled polyester by brands and heightened consumer interest in garments that last for longer and require less frequent laundering. Huntsman recommends combining its ULTRAPHIL® TG moisture management technology with NOBO™ odor control, TERASIL® W/WW disperse dyes and ERIOPON® E3-SAVE.
EROPON® E3-SAVE is a new all-in-one textile auxiliary for PES processing. It allows pre-souring, dyeing and reduction clearing to be combined in a single bath and eliminates the need for anti-foaming products, which shortens processing time and saves water and energy for improved sustainability.
Solutions for business wear
Business wear is making a comeback as office workers begin to transition back to the workplace after pandemic shutdowns, replacing their work-from-home wardrobe with more professional apparel. Easy-care 100% cotton clothing that looks fresh, crisp and smart for longer is becoming popular again. To meet this demand, Huntsman recommends combining a KNITTEX® non-iron or easy-care finish with NOBO™ odor control and UVITEX® BHA LIQ optical brightener.
High and lasting white can be difficult to achieve. Acidic conditions can interfere with the optical brightening agent, causing the fibers to take on a dull green tinge. This can occur during processing, if the fluorescent whitening agent is added alongside other finishing effects applied in the acid phase of the wet-processing cycle. It can also be a factor after processing since textile products like business shirts need to have an acidic pH to protect them against phenolic yellowing during storage.
UVITEX® BHA LIQ is a high-affinity stilbene fluorescent whitening agent with unequalled acid stability and acid fastness. It helps mills achieve very high, brilliant full-white effects on cellulosic fibers, with reduced risk of greening and superior protection against phenolic yellowing during storage and shipment.
“Whatever your end-market, Huntsman Textile Effects can help you understand and respond to consumer trends,” Marius Maier, Brand and Retail Marketing, Europe at Huntsman Textile Effects, said. “We bring all of our technical expertise and global experience to help your skilled dyeing and finishing operators to combine multiple finishing effects and deliver high-value textiles that meet the needs of the most demanding brand customers.”
Huntsman’s protection effects include pre-treatments that reduce processing time; resource-saving dyes and inks; durable water repellents for rain and stain protection; color-retention solutions for sustained performance; moisture-management for enhanced comfort; UV-absorbing technologies for lasting sun protection; antimicrobial and odor-control solutions for garments that stay fresher for longer; and flame retardants for high-performance functional textiles.
For more information, reach out to our teams to find out how we can support your needs: https://www.huntsman.com/contact/textile-effects.
Kerim Oner, Global Marketing Manager – Finishing, Huntsman Textile Effects
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