TEXTILES.ORG
It’s what you don’t see
October 27, 2025 | My Take
When I first decided on a topic for a “Featured” article this month, I was thinking of textiles that are part of the industry but aren’t necessarily thought of as textiles. Or textiles that are literally hidden inside other materials, as it is with some composites. Or biomedical textiles that …
The magical realism of biomaterials
September 8, 2025 | My Take
In writing, “magical realism” is a genre of fiction that combines realism with magical elements, but (if you’re good at this sort of writing) the magical elements seem plausible—fitting in, but blurring the lines, between what we know and what we can imagine. This, to me, is where some of to…
The 3Rs live on
August 11, 2025 | My Take
The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” came into popular use in the early 1970s and gave us a simple framework to move towards more responsible use of resources. I could write pages (I’ll bet many of you could, too) describing the many ways we can practice the “3 R’s” as individuals, in our…
It’s still silver. For now.
June 23, 2025 | My Take
That would be the short version of where we’re at with antimicrobials, but it needs, of course, a more detailed response to what is actually a complex question: What’s happening with antimicrobial treatments and textiles? Today’s market includes more than what we think of as an “antimicrobia…
Getting to know AI
May 8, 2025 | My Take
I needed to write this blog post about AI in the textile industry, since it’s the subject of our features this month, but I’m a complete neophyte, plain and simple. I know some basics about this topic, but little else, so I did the logical thing and asked Chat GPT a few questions about the texti…
Finding fibers and fabrics in unlikely places
April 24, 2025 | My Take
Ever since I first got involved with the textile industry, I’ve puzzled over composites. As a Specialty Fabrics Review editor, we typically covered flexible composites, but not rigid composites. It was our perception that few of our members and readers were involved in this market area. It was als…