TEXTILES.ORG
Fashion and function
February 7th, 2014
When Mercedes-Benz runs a commercial featuring a special suit that lights up to reflect the emotions of the driver, in real time, during his driving experience, we may think “silly” or “spectacular.” But the fact is, the technology that powers the suit is not substantially different from the technology that could power a warfighter’s gear […]
Powered, not wired
January 11th, 2014
The expectations for e-textiles and wearable technology are broad and significant. The research is yielding more promising—and practical—innovations at a fairly regular clip. We are not talking wires here. (My hunting socks with wires across the toes that run to a C-cell battery pack come to mind. Sitting in a deer stand was fine. Walking […]
Button up your overcoat. And leave it buttoned.
December 10th, 2013
When I was a kid and we’d go to our Northern Minnesota cabin in the winter, my mom would bundle us up in woolen snow pants and jackets that she pulled out of mothballed storage trunks. We smelled mighty powerful for a bit, but a few snow angels or tumbles off the toboggan took care […]
The new paradigm
November 12th, 2013
The discussion of good for business versus good for the environment is shifting slowly—but surely. Perhaps a better question today is, if it’s not sustainable, can it be commercialized? Does anyone spend time and money on researching new technologies that are counter to today’s environmental guidelines or mandates? Does anyone launch a new product into […]
What’s the holdup?
October 8th, 2013
Try Googling “photovoltaic fabrics” sometime. The first page will yield articles from 2010. Solar collector technology (the kind you might see on the roof of a house) I’ve been told has not changed substantially since I bought a house with an active solar heating system in 1979. (1979!) I don’t live in that house anymore, […]
Copper coins and moldy bread
September 10th, 2013
The use of what we now call antimicrobials has been around for centuries, although our understanding and ability to make use of the technology is dramatically more sophisticated than the ancient Greek’s (and other cultures’) method of applying moldy bread to a wound. The gods, rather than disease-killing chemicals, were likely credited with this treatment’s […]
September 2013
September 10th, 2013
KYMIRA Sportswear Not every observer buys into the claims of this sportswear company. It uses a new, but quite credible technology. What do you think? New nanomaterial increases yield of solar cells Researchers have optimized the nanostructures so that a solar cell provides more electricity and loses less energy in the form of heat. Paper-thin […]
Auxetics advances
August 13th, 2013
An engineering and design company, Advanced Fabric Technologies focuses on developing material solutions for military and commercial applications that incorporate auxetic architecture. The unique characteristics of auxetic geometry, a negative Poisson ratio, allow a fabric to become thicker under stress rather than thinner as experienced in most fabrics. The ability to move or expand under […]
Same technologies, new markets
August 13th, 2013
It sounds easy, doesn’t it? You already have this fantastic technology that’s been tested, prototyped and the first product launched. There’s quite a lot you can do with that one product, if that’s what it is: once it’s on the market somewhere, there’s the potential to find new markets elsewhere. But at some point, you […]
High fashion and highly functional
August 5th, 2013
The desire to realize a textile solar energy harvesting surface that offers maximum design freedom while still being highly efficient was the driving force behind The Solar Handbag, initiated by Swiss embroidery company Forster Rohner AG and conducted in a joint research project with Swiss partners, Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil and the NTB Buchs. It […]