AITEX certifies Royo dye process as sustainable

Spanish textile research institute AITEX has certified Tejidos Royo’s Dry Black process as a sustainable technology. The textiles manufacturer, working with machinery company Gaston and consultancy Indigo Mill Designs, has built on research out of Texas Tech University for a way to dye yarns black using almost no water.Dry Black reduces water usage by 99.1 percent. (It cannot claim 100 percent due to the water that is used to rinse the dye through the machine at the end.) It also reduces chemicals by 75 percent and energy by 65 percent.

The Spanish company in February 2019 launched Dry Indigo, an innovative blue denim fabric that uses foam to disperse dye on the yarns. The technology took 10 years to develop. As well as reducing water, chemicals and energy, the process results in no wastewater, and has been included lines from brands such as Wrangler and Lee.

Tejidos Royo is based in Valencia, Spain, and produces sportswear and denim fabrics. AITEX is a private research association that performs trials and certification of textiles and articles for a range of sectors including workwear, sports and leisure and aerospace.