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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 repair hernias or hearts. Or textiles that may be “under our noses,” but not literally visible, such as with filters in everything from cars to air conditioners.
I was not thinking of macro interpretations at all. But now that the industry is faced with a host of new business-altering decisions on dealing with tariffs, for example, or as of this writing, the government shutdown, “being seen” is becoming increasingly critical. That means something different, but I think they’re connected.
We know that filtration media are critical in all kinds of powered machines and devices. We know that highly specialized textile products are used in operating rooms worldwide every day. We know that acoustic materials are part of the plan in architecture and construction. And we know composites are engineered to do hundreds—perhaps it’s thousands—of tasks requiring specialized functionalities—such as building spacecraft for astronauts, or airplanes for the rest of us.
To say we need to be seen is an understatement. The textiles industry (and more to the point, the advanced functional textiles industry) provides goods that we literally cannot live without in applications that touch almost every aspect of our lives.
Still, there’s yet another approach to this topic that I missed, but Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, who wrote our feature, “Functionality under the radar,” picked up on it and it’s worth shedding more light on it. Even when we are aware of the many textile products and applications around us every day, we may not consider the multiple functionalities hidden in those materials, much less how the attributes were made a part of the end product.
New technologies for both engineering new fibers and fabrics, and adding textile treatments have made possible more cost effective, sustainable and ultimately higher functioning characteristics in textiles. Antimicrobial treatments are in medical environments and public transportation, water repellency goes well beyond raincoats, and UV protection keeps the color in our boat covers and sunshades.
New technologies for giving certain textiles attributes they couldn’t otherwise have are in development or are being improved. For example, plasma coating processes “have made it possible to do one type of coating on one side of the fabric to have repellency, while the other side of the fabric could have another treatment,” Ramkumar tells us.
Unless you are well informed about textile coating technologies and processes, would you be likely to know this? But these are the sorts of functionalities – the ones that you don’t “see” – that make advanced textiles so valuable. It’s important that consumers and decision-makers alike see it and understand it.
Janet Preus is senior editor of Textile Technology Source. She can be reached at janet.preus@textiles.org.