Officina+39’s Treatment Trials for TENCEL™ Modal with Indigo Color Technology
At Lenzing, we’ve given indigo yarn dyeing a low-impact makeover.
Our TENCEL™ Modal with Indigo Color technology fibers offer an alternative to the resource-heavy process typically used to achieve the blue denim look. Instead of using significant water and energy to get dye to soak into fibers, the TENCEL™ technology adds indigo pigment while the modal is still in liquid form. This not only boasts environmental savings, but it also creates fibers that have color embedded for better colorfastness.
Italian textile chemistry firm Officina+39 has been trialing treatments for TENCEL™ Modal with Indigo Color technology. These finishing processes continue the sustainable footprint of the fibers by prioritizing chemical safety and reduced resource usage.
Officina+39’s Aqualess Mission technology aims to cut back water use in denim and garment processing. Oz-one Powder, for instance, creates a bleach effect without using water, chlorine and permanganate. Aqualess Aged, which delivers the look of abrasion, also saves on water. Compared to the usual 52 liters of water needed for laundry processing of a pair of pants, Aqualess innovations take just 12.5 liters.
As an alternative to manual scraping, the compound Novascraper IND can be used with a laser. Remover I-Tow creates a towel bleach effect sans permanganate. And Microfinish BP New is a silicone microemulsion-based softener.
“There’s no alternative to sustainable development,” Andrea Venier, CEO of Officina+39, told Carved in Blue. “This is what we thought here in Officina+39 when we saw the first washing results on modal indigo using our latest technology.
“Modal indigo is already starting to transform our R&D perspective,” he added. “It is a new amazing technology in our industry that paves the way to other water saving technologies like our Aqualess Aged or Oz-one, helping to increase awareness about the opportunity we have to change our industry.”
Click through the slideshow to check out the results of Officina+39’s trials with TENCEL™ Modal with Indigo Color technology.
