issue 05/2021

Fibres, Textiles
Environmentally friendly
textile treatments
Tidal Vision (Bellingham, Washington, USA) recently
announced a new partnership with Leigh Fibers and the opening
of a new production facility in Wellford, South Carolina, USA.
These developments transform the textile industry’s access to
sustainable biobased textile treatments that are now displacing
millions of pounds of synthetic, often toxic chemical treatments
used in the textile industry.
Many consumers are not aware that textile fibers used to
produce their apparel, carpet, mattress, furniture and many
other products are often treated with toxic antimicrobials and
fire retardants. These nonbiodegradable chemicals, such as
heavy metals like silver or copper, often end up washing out
and polluting waterways. Historically, sustainable biobased
alternatives required textiles manufacturers to compromise on
price or performance.
Tidal-Tex is Tidal Vision’s product line of water-based
textile treatment solutions that are formulated with a non-toxic,
abundant, and biodegradable biopolymer called chitosan. To
make switching convenient, Tidal-Tex is customized to be a
drop-in product that is usable in textile manufacturers’ existing
infrastructure. Tidal Vision sources, extracts, and processes
chitosan from crab and shrimp shells, byproducts of the seafood
industry that would otherwise be discarded.
Tidal-Tex can be applied to textiles through a simple dip,
spray or coating application where curing is as easy as drying, or
removing the water, and leaving behind the desired performance
benefits. Tidal Vision formulates different variations of Tidal-Tex
to provide biostatic, fire retardant, or anti-odor properties to
textiles. Tidal-Tex product line offers formulas with Tidal Vision’s
patented crosslinking technology for unprecedented washing
durability performance. These high-performance biobased
treatments are applied to fibers, yarn, woven or nonwoven
textiles – which make up products ranging from furniture,
mattress to apparel and more.
Tidal Vision and Leigh Fibers are looking forward to the
positive impact their partnership will have on the textile industry
and the environment. Tidal Vision’s CEO Craig Kasberg, said,
“Our mission is to create positive and systemic environmental
impact. In the textile industry, to have the biggest impact it
made sense to start with fibers treated at the top of the supply
chain. Leigh Fibers was our ideal partner since their mission,
values and business model are so synergetic with ours. Both
of our companies produce sustainable solutions by upcycling
byproducts that would otherwise end up in landfills, and through
vertical integration we provide high performance products out
of what was previously considered waste.”
“Partnering with Tidal Vision is a win-win for our company,
our customers, and the environment,” said Eric Westgate, SVP
of Leigh Fibers. “Their Tidal-Tex product line delivers the key
benefits that our customers look for in textiles at a lower price
and is made from sustainable materials in the USA. At Leigh
Fibers, we’re committed to advancing sustainable innovation
and repurposing textiles for a cleaner, healthier planet.”
The opening of Tidal Vision’s new 2,230 m² (24,000 sq. ft) facility
within Leigh Fiber’s 93,000 m² (1,000,000 sq. ft) headquarters
provides for economies of scale in the heart of the U.S. textile
industry. The facility delivers Tidal-Tex chitosan solutions at a
lower cost than the traditionally used synthetic chemical textile
treatments. This transformational shift in cost and availability of
environmentally friendly biobased textile treatments empowers
textile companies to displace toxic chemical treatments without
compromise, which ultimately leads to less toxic chemicals
washing out or leaching into waterways. Tidal Vision’s strategy
is to provide these biobased solutions at a lower price to advance
their mission to create systemic environmental impact.
“Our proprietary lower-cost chitosan technology, combined
with lower freight costs from our new facility, allows us to
deliver our Tidal-Tex product line to textile manufacturers at a
price point less than half of many heavy metal antimicrobials,
such as silver and copper. This is the first time that fiber, yarn,
and textile manufacturers have had an environmentally friendly
option at a lower cost with equivalent or better performance. I
believe the entire industry will adopt these biobased chemistry
treatments now that we conveniently have a facility in the heart
of the textile industry and a reputable partner in Leigh Fibers”
said Kari Ingalls, Director of Textile Business Development at
Tidal Vision. MT
www.tidalvision.com | www.leighfibers.com
16 bioplastics MAGAZINE [05/21] Vol. 16