From the Sector

• Australian production of medical masks to commence from April 2021 with Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology

Neumünster/Germany, Brisbane/Queensland/Australia – Queensland company OZ Health Plus will establish Australia’s first manufacturing plant to make the critical fine plastic material used in most protective face masks. OZ Health Plus has purchased a plant of the Swiss-based technology company Oerlikon to establish a Queensland-based production plant for spun-bond and meltblown nonwovens. These fabrics are essential for Australia’s face mask manufac-turers, who currently produce about 500 million medical and industrial masks per year. However the fabrics have to be imported from overseas and access to these materials has been severely disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oerlikon’s German-based business unit Oerlikon Nonwoven has now executed legal and commercial arrangements to supply the specialised machinery which can manufacture the nonwoven material lo-cally. The same machinery is used to make almost all face masks material manufactured in Europe. The world-leading Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown plant will commence operations in April next year, with a second stage planned for late 2021.

The Oerlikon Nonwoven plant can produce meltblown fabrics for 500 million masks per year, along with other medical and non-medical grade products, filtration products, sanitary items, antiseptic wipes and more. Rainer Straub, Head of Oerlikon Nonwoven said: “We are very proud that we can now for the first time supply our Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology to Australia. Due to the short delivery time, we hope to make our contribution to the Australian population and their safe sup-ply of high-quality protective masks as soon as possible.”

Queensland company secures manufacturing plant for the only Australian production of critical face mask material

OZ Health Plus director Darren Fooks said: “Australia has access to raw polypropylene feedstock but lacks the plant to convert that raw material to specialised spunbond and meltblown fabrics. These fabrics are essential for local mask manufacturing. The Australian-based Oerlikon Nonwoven plant will fill the production chain gap for Australia by producing the fabrics we need for mask production and many other products – it will reduce Australia’s protective mask supply chain from thousands of kilo-metres, to tens of kilometres.”

“Our decision in favor of Oerlikon Nonwoven was a given once we had analyzed the material samples. It was a matter of course for us that the Business Unit of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment could supply high-quality machines and systems”, added Darren Fooks.

OZ Health Plus’ new facilities will take up 15,000 m2 of manufacturing space and will employ 100 full-time roles once the second stage of the project is complete. OZ Health Plus continues to work with both Queensland and Federal Government stakeholders and values their support in bringing this vital capability to Queensland.

Leading meltblown technology

Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown technology, which can also be used to produce nonwovens for protec-tive masks, is recognized in the market as the technically most efficient method of producing high-separation filter media from plastic fibers. Most of the protective mask capacities available in Europe to date are produced on Oerlikon Nonwoven equipment.

• 10% of their offer is eco-responsible.
• Sustainable cotton is a priority for retailers for the coming years.
• Sustainable garments cheaper than standard garments.

Brands are prepared for the new health protection rules and have reopened their stores. But aside from the direct impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, is the fashion market ready to respond to customers’ desire to act by changing their spending habits?

Based on analyses by Retviews, a recently acquired startup, Lectra has produced a survey of sustainable fashion among the leading fast fashion brands*.

The COVID-19 crisis has given many people the desire to live more meaningfully and to act more responsibly. The crisis period could be seen as the catalyst that forces the fashion industry to change the way it designs, produces and distributes its products. Since, for consumers, buying is a way of expressing a commitment and affirming their values, brands have an incentive to change their offer in preparation for the future, by taking a more eco-responsible, authentic and transparent approach.

While these factors were apparent before the pandemic, they have now become the key to interacting with consumers wanting a more responsible offer. The era of the consumer activist, long heralded without actually becoming a reality, is now here, and brands must adapt in response.

*Please read the attached document for more information

• Specialised in dye-sublimation printing, the Italian company has conquered the heights of the high fashion sector with its top-quality printed fabrics.
• With its recent investment in a direct-to-fabric printing line, Digitak is preparing to expand its range of printed products, focusing on fabric differentiation.

Dye sublimation printing of high fashion designs is the beating heart of Digitak, an Italian company specialised in digital textile printing. Operating in the textile district of Lombardy, Italy, the company has established itself among the main suppliers in the world of high fashion and sportswear in just under 15 years.

Making production versatility one of the cornerstones of its philosophy, Digitak has continued to invest in technology, as well as research and development its product portfolio. This forward-thinking approach has enabled the company to guarantee innovative, personalised products with meticulous attention to detail, with the highest – almost obsessive – standards of quality and maximum design flexibility. Over the years, the extensive experience gained by the company’s management in the field of sublimation with traditional and digital techniques, combined with their investment decisions have allowed Digitak to enhance its production performance, gradually implementing higher quality standards and differentiating itself from the competition in the complex and competitive sector of high fashion. An important feat, which has not, however, dampened its enthusiasm and willingness to continue growing and exceeding its goals. The company’s latest investment in a direct-to-fabric digital printing line with pigment ink propels the company into a new and promising production dimension.

Sublimation printing specialists

Since Digitak’s establishment, Filippo Taccani, the founder and current owner of the company, had set himself a clear and ambitious objective: “I wanted to take up the challenge of operating digitally - printing fabrics using this innovative technology to create products on a par with those  I had achieved with traditional sublimation textile printing methods during my previous work experience.”

The purchase of a Mimaki JV4 plotter, one of the first to be installed in Italy, marked the beginning of Digitak’s adventure. “To start the business, I needed a printing system that could operate with dispersed inks to print on polyester and I found the JV4 to be the best option,” explains Taccani. “It was an excellent decision, because I used these plotters to build the company and its success.”

The first Mimaki plotter was in fact followed by a second and a third. When it bought the fifth, the company moved to an industrial unit in Tradate (Varese) – Digitak’s current site – which now houses around fifteen Mimaki JV33 plotters, in addition to three Mimaki TS500-1800 wide-format sublimation printers, and a Mimaki TS300P-1800 high-speed sublimation printer. This Mimaki powered production facility – which is one of the company’s core strengths – was recently expanded with the addition of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B belt-type hybrid printing system, together with a Mimaki TR300-1850C textile coater and a Mimaki Tiger-1800.

“Naturally, over the years, we have also tested printing systems from other suppliers, but we have always returned to Mimaki. With high fashion as our key market, we need to guarantee our customers the highest levels of quality and, to date, we have never found solutions that beat the quality of this Japanese brand’s technology.”

According to Taccani, the difference lies in the “calligraphy” of Mimaki’s machines, that is the line of the ink on the fabric: “Unlike its competitors, Mimaki has focused on the ‘waveforms’, i.e. the electronics associated with the print heads. This attention paid to the way the ink jet is managed from the print head has allowed Mimaki to achieve unparalleled levels of accuracy, an aspect that has given my company a clear competitive edge.”

Moreover, at Digitak, quality comes before quantity: “We prefer to dedicate an extra day to production to guarantee the customer a final product that fully meets requirements and expectations. Mimaki’s technology not only suits this business model bult on top quality, but it crucially enables it.”

Operational and creative flexibility

Digitak currently prints around 2,000 linear metres of fabric per day. Its portfolio ranges from clothing and scarves, to beach and swimwear, with related personalised accessories, to sportswear, with technical properties such as breathability, comfort, resistance to external agents. The company have even added customised outdoor furniture to their offering of diverse and creative products.
The company’s machines operate continuously, 24/7. During the day, the machines are mainly used to develop and produce samples and colour proofs, while the actual production is carried out at night. “Thanks to our technology, we have developed an extraordinary operational flexibility. The fact that we have so many plotters allows us to work on multiple designs at the same time and to launch projects that are also very different from one another,” explains Taccani. “There are also some other crucial factors that have contributed, and continue to contribute, to increasing our production efficiency. The reliability of Mimaki’s solutions and the remote monitoring option offered is key. Once the standard start-up monitoring has been carried out and the machines are found to be printing correctly, we can let them work overnight without an operator. This is a great benefit for people who, like us, manage such a large and diverse fleet of machines.”

Digitak takes the same approach to customer service. Faced with an increasingly demanding market in terms of creativity, precision and completeness of service, the company wants to guarantee flexibility and customisation. “We decided to set up a department dedicated to the pre-press stage, in charge of preparing and checking the files supplied by customers. Seldom do our teams not need to do some editing of the files supplied, even if it’s only to make small changes that are essential for the print document to be as suitable as possible and to achieve the best final result.”

Technologies of the future

With a view to further enhancing production and customer service, Taccani has chosen to take on a new challenge, switching things up with some of the most recent investments.

While maintaining the focus on dye sublimation printing, Taccani has focused on technological diversification by installing a direct-to-fabric digital printing line. This consists of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B printing system with pigment inks and a TR300-1850C coater from Mimaki’s TR series. “The market continues to evolve and now requires even more flexibility regarding both processes and the fabrics supplied. This means that great opportunities exist for a print shop capable of simultaneously producing the same design – with minimal colour adjustment – on different fabrics, guaranteeing similar and accurate results. And this is precisely the path we are taking,” says Taccani. “Why have we opted for Mimaki again? Well, I had an opportunity to try out their new pigment inks and I immediately realised that they are a generation ahead of the other pigments available on the market. The cyan is very clean, the black is deep and there is a very interesting fullness of colour, suitable not only for furnishings, but also for other applications in the clothing sector.”

With its pigment inks, the new direct-to-fabric printing line allows Digitak to explore other related market segments. Thanks to the innovative automatic belt system, the TX300P-1800B guarantees good productivity and high-quality results. A standard of quality that is also boosted by the TR300-1850C fabric pre-treatment system: “This coater is essential for ensuring the best possible preparation of fabrics for printing. In fact, we are able to treat fabrics to make them suitable for the type of print they are intended for, sanitise them for specific applications and, in some cases, even dye them, with excellent quality.”

According to Taccani, another beneficial factor of direct-to-fabric pigment printing technology is the eco-sustainability of the process and its lower environmental impact. “We are proud to be able to offer our customers excellent printing results using little water and printing in ‘green mode’, with both the technologies we have available. I consider them winning technologies for the future, as both dye sublimation printing and direct-to-fabric printing with pigment inks use little water while mainly requiring the use of energy. Therefore, if you use renewable energy, then you’re done.”

Digitak’s other trump card is the Tiger-1800 installed in 2019. With this industrial printing system, the company aims to increase production volumes while maintaining its high-quality standards and further optimising costs. “We are excited to have these promising technologies available to us in-house. We are currently experimenting with these solutions, testing new opportunities and evaluating which paths to take to stay ahead of the game,” concludes Taccani.

• Zuverlässiger, schneller SureColor SC-F10000 bietet Textilbranche reproduzierbar hohe Druckqualität
• Neuer Epson Dye-Sublimationsdrucker setzt höhere Produktionsstandards

Meerbusch – Epson stellt mit dem SureColor SC-F10000 seinen ersten 76,8 Zoll breit druckenden Großformatdrucker vor. Der SC-F10000 ist ein neu entwickelter Sublimationsdrucker für Textilproduzenten mit besonders hohen Ansprüche an Produktivität, Geschwindigkeit und Zuverlässigkeit. Zu den zahlreichen Arbeitsbereichen der neuen Maschine zählen die Produktion von Modeartikeln, Sportbekleidung, Möbel, Werbeartikel und Soft-Signage. Der neue Epson SureColor SC-F10000 ist ab September 2020 im qualifizierten Fachhandel verfügbar.

Frank Schenk, Leiter Commercial and Industrial Printing der Epson Deutschland GmbH, erklärt: „Im Sublimationssektor erwarten Kunden von ihren Maschinen schnelle Auftragsbearbeitung, eine hohe Leistung sowie reproduzierbar qualitativ hochwertige Ergebnisse. Mit diesen Anforderungen im Hinterkopf haben wir einen Dye-Sublimationsdrucker für Industrieanwendungen entwickelt, der unserer Meinung nach neue Standards setzt. Der SC-F10000 bietet den höchsten Durchsatz aller Epson Großformatdrucker und ist mit vier neuen PrecisionCore Micro TFP-Druckköpfen und besonders großen, auch im Betrieb nachfüllbaren Tintentanks ausgestattet. Damit bleiben Unternehmen immer einsatzbereit. Die Schaffung innovativer Lösungen liegt in den Genen von Epson und dies ist einer der Momente, in denen wir in Bezug auf Produktivität im Sublimationsmarkt erneut die Messlatte höher legen.“

Wichtige Produktmerkmale des Epson SureColor SC-F10000:

•     Druckgeschwindigkeit von bis zu 255 m²/h 2
•     Neue PrecisionCore Micro TFP-Druckköpfe
•     Epson Precision Dot-Technologie(Kombiniert drei ausgefeilte Technologien für höchste Druckqualität: neues Halbtonverfahren, LUT- und Micro-Wave-Technology)
•     Einfache Medieneinrichtung(Bedienung von vorne oder von hinten)
•     Überprüfbare Medienführungdank eingebauter Kamera
•     Verbesserte Trockunungseinheit(für geringeren Tintendurchschlag und zur Vermeidung von Falten)
•     Funktion zur automatischen Überwachung der Medienspannung(Advanced Auto Tension Control, Ad-ATC) für genaue und stabile Medienzufuhr
•     Große Tintentanks (Bulk):10 Liter oder 3 Liter Volumen, während des Betriebes austauschbar
•     Vom Bediener austauschbare Teile
•     Benutzerfreundlichkeit des Tintensystems(einfache Montage, bodenbasiert, Sensor für Restbehälter)
•     Präzise Papierführung
•     Kürzere Reinigungszeit mit neu entwickeltem Hochdrucksystem
•     Neu entwickeltes 9 Zoll LCD-Touchpanel für intuitive Bedienung

Bei dem SC-F10000 kommen alle relevanten Komponenten aus einer Hand. Damit erhalten Anwender eine besonders zuverlässige Maschine, denn Druckköpfe, Tinte, Firmware und Treibersoftware wurden von Epson selbst entwickelt und perfekt aufeinander abgestimmt.

Jeweils 6000 Euro erhalten zwei Studierende der Hochschule Niederrhein für ihre Abschlussarbeiten im Fachbereich Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik. Ausgezeichnet wurden sie von der Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung, die jedes Jahr im Rahmen des Forums TextilWirtschaft Preise an die bundesweit besten Abschlussarbeiten in der Textilwirtschaft vergibt sowie einzelne Hochschulprojekte fördert. In diesem Jahr fiel die feierliche Verleihung aus. Die Auszeichnungen gibt es dennoch.

„Wir begrüßen es sehr, dass die Preise trotz der gegenwärtigen Situation vergeben wurden und sind stolz darauf, dass unsere Absolventinnen und Absolventen erneut so gut abgeschnitten haben“, sagt Professor Dr. Lutz Vossebein, Dekan des Fachbereichs Textil- und Bekleidungstechnik.

In der Kategorie Technik und Mode gewann Melissa Wenning, Absolventin des Masterstudiengangs Textile Produkte, mit einer Untersuchung darüber, wie sich biologisch abbaubares Polyester für den Einsatz in Berufsbekleidung nutzen lässt. Die 28-jährige Duisburgerin erstellte die Arbeit in Kooperation mit dem Berufsbekleidungsproduzenten Weitblick, weshalb die Ergebnisse vertraulich sind. „Der Einsatz dieses Polyesters würde sowohl Vorteile als auch Nachteile haben“, sagt sie.

Bereits zwei Wochen nach ihrem Masterabschluss zog sie um nach Neckarsulm, wo sie als Qualitätsentwicklerin für Accessoires und Bademode bei Lidl arbeitet. Das Förderpreisgeld, das zu Fortbildungszwecken genutzt werden soll, möchte sie für ein MBA-Fernstudium nutzen.

In der Kategorie Wirtschaft überzeugte Marc Hübener mit einer Arbeit über das Erfolgsmodell der US-Marke Supreme, die es ohne große Werbe-Aufwendungen schafft, eine hohe Begehrlichkeit zu erzeugen. In seiner Masterarbeit, die im Bereich Management of Textile Trade and Technology geschrieben hat, stellte der 28-Jährige fest: „Ein wesentlicher Faktor für den Erfolg ist die gewollte Verknappung“.

Hübener stammt aus Schwäbisch Hall, studierte den Bachelor in Albstadt-Sigmaringen und zog für das Master-Studium nach Mönchengladbach. Inzwischen ist wieder zurück in Süddeutschland, wo er in Rosengarten bei Prime Solution Asia arbeitet, ein auf Athleisure, Outdoor und Wäsche spezialisiertes Unternehmen. Als Projekt-Manager kümmert er sich um das Business Development.

Die renommierte Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung geht auf den 1966 verstorbenen Gründer des Fachverlags und der Textilwirtschaft Wilhelm Lorch zurück und zeichnet jedes Jahr Nachwuchskräfte und Hochschulprojekte aus. In diesem Jahr wurden insgesamt 86.000 Euro verausgabt. Zum 1. September 2020 übernimmt Professorin Dr. Maike Rabe, Leiterin des Forschungsinstituts für Textil und Bekleidung der Hochschule Niederrhein, das Amt der Stiftungsratsvorsitzenden.

• There is an urban legend that hemp canvas was used to make the very first pair of Levi’s jeans.
• While this is a myth that originated in the counterculture of the 1960s, hemp is without doubt the fibre of the moment for the denim industry.

At the second Kingpins24 virtual denim show that was broadcast from New York on June 23rd and 24th, the sustainable benefits of hemp fibre were referenced by many Monforts customers who are now including it in their collections, including AGI Denim, Artistic Milliners, Black Peony, Calik, Cone Denim, Naveena Denim Mills (NDM) and Orta.

“Hemp is an easy to grow fibre which requires no irrigation, no fertilizers, no herbicides and no chemicals,” says Allan Little, Director of Product Development for Cone Denim, which has recently launched its Sweet Leaf collection featuring the fibre. “Significantly, it also uses fifty per cent or even less water than cotton in cultivation.”

It can also bring some new aesthetics to denim too, he adds.

“Hemp has a unique colour and adds a different cast to our indigo, the drape and texture of the fabrics is different and it even adds  a bit of a unique hand, so combined with its sustainable credentials we are proud to be bringing the Sweet Leaf collection to the market.”

US supply chain

Cone is currently sourcing its hemp from France, but with much of its manufacturing now in Mexico – and with the introduction of the US Farm Bill in 2018 which has legalised the growing of legal hemp – is exploring the possibility of investing in the US supply chain.

“With US hemp we’re really at the R&D phase,” Little emphasises. “It’s a unique crop, so coming up with the right stalk to provide the right fibre is challenging. We’ve experimented with different types of seed and various methods of decortication.”

Decortication, he explains, is the mechanical removal of the outside layer of the hemp stalk to useable fibre on the inside. A second process, cottonization, is necessary to make the fibre suitable for spinning, because compared to cotton, hemp is longer, stiffer, and less flexible.

100% success

At the end of 2019, Naveena (NDM), headquartered in Karachi, introduced fabrics featuring up to 51% hemp content in blends with Tencel and recycled polyester and this year has developed the first 100% hemp denims.

“The response to the fabrics we showed last year was incredible and we were looking forward to the response to this latest development – which everyone was asking for – at the Kingpins show in Amsterdam, which unfortunately was unable to go ahead,” says NDM’s Director of Marketing Rashid Iqbal. “We produced initial samples in an undyed state because we were not sure how the wet spun yarn would react in the dyeing, but I’m happy to say we have had success in this respect and are now able to provide one hundred per cent indigo dyed hemp denim.”

Environmental benefits

“Differentiation is the key in the highly-competitive denim industry and we have assisted our customers with trials and optimised processing parameters for a range of different fibres, including hemp, both at our Advanced Technology Centre in Germany and at their own mills around the world,” says Hans Wroblowski, Monforts Head of Denim. “Given the environmental benefits of hemp, and the liberalisation of its cultivation in many parts of the world, the interest in it now comes as no surprise. We have the technologies and know-how to help our customers to fully maximise their hemp denims at all post-weaving stages of production.”

Monforts has a dominant position in the field of denim finishing with its well proven Montex stenters. It has been enjoying further recent success with its Eco Line concept based on two key technology advances – the Eco Applicator and the Thermo Stretch.

The latest Monforts innovation for denim is the CYD yarn dyeing system. This technology is based on the effective and established dyeing process for denim fabrics that is now being applied for yarn dyeing.

The CYD system also integrates new functions and processes into the weaving preparation processes – spinning, direct beaming, warping and assembly beaming, followed by sizing and dyeing – to increase quality, flexibility, economic viability and productivity. A full CYD line is now available for trials at the company’s Advanced Technology Centre.

• Industrial yarn: Capacity expansion in the high-end sector

Remscheid – the Chinese industrial yarn manufacturer Zhejiang Kingsway High-Tech Fiber Co., Ltd. is expanding its production capacities by a further 40,000 tons per annum with 5 Oerlikon Barmag lines. Kingsway is already successfully manufacturing special high-quality yarns, exclusively deploying Oerlikon Barmag industrial yarn systems.

The 21 new spinning positions will be used to manufacture a broad product range: in addition to super-low-shrinkage (SLS) and high-tenacity (HT) yarn, the business also plans to produce automotive yarns for seat belts and airbags. This flexibility is made possible as a result of the Oerlikon Barmag systems’ configuration. The new systems are expected to commence manufacturing next year.

Industrial yarns for greater safety

As a quality-conscious industrial yarn producer, Kingsway has been manufacturing its sophisticated, high-end yarns on Oerlikon Barmag filament yarn systems since 2015. Alex Yang Yu Long, CEO of Kingsway, is proud of relying on engineering artistry from Remscheid: “As expected, the yarns are first-class in terms of quality. Our products are used in safety equipment, sometimes in situations where lives depend on them. Therefore, there can be no compromises. To this end, we select our partners with the utmost care."

• New system automatically cleans corrugated printing plates in less than four minutes

Baldwin Technology Company Inc. has announced that corrugated packaging market leader VPK Group has recently installed a FlexoCleanerBrush. This new system—which automatically cleans and dries corrugated printing plates in less than four minutes—has been added to VPK’s advanced 2.1-meter-wide six-color Göpfert Ovation High Board Line flexographic printer at the company’s new high-bay factory in Halden, Norway.

With the FlexoCleanerBrush system, an inline cleaning station installed within each print unit uses a brush that runs the full width of each printing plate. Paired with a precision spray application system, the FlexoCleanerBrush evenly distributes a mixture of approximately five percent detergent and water across the plate as it spins, gently cleaning its surface. The plates are then dried by the integrated air knife. Cleaning cycles can be controlled through the FlexoCleanerBrush’s operator panel or the integrated Göpfert human-machine interface. Besides offering efficient cleaning during runs and fast end-of-job cleaning, the FlexoCleanerBrush system also enables operators to remove dry plates from the machine without the potential risk of plates sticking together once they are placed back in the plate-racking system. This helps to ensure increased board throughput, less downtime and a safer working environment by eliminating operators’ contact with nip points, moving parts and chemicals.

Kritik an mangelnder Marktüberwachung – gefährliche Regelverstöße bei Kindermasken

Durch die Corona-Krise wurden Schutzmasken zur Mangelware. Schnell machten Meldungen die Runde, dass es in Deutschland nicht ausreichend Schutzmaterialien für alle geben wird. Viele deutsche Hersteller haben auf eine Renaissance der textilen Herstellung in Deutschland gesetzt und sind in die Produktion der unterschiedlichen Maskentypen eingestiegen. Nun setzt vielerorts Ernüchterung ein. Denn es herrscht unfairer Wettbewerb, so die Kritik des Wirtschafts- und Arbeitgeberverbands Südwesttextil und des Netzwerks AFBW, die zusammen über 300 Unternehmen der Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie vertreten.

In Deutschland hergestellte Produkte unterliegen hohen Qualitätsansprüchen und Normen. Zum Teil müssen die Produkte aufwendig zertifiziert werden. „Da wundert es schon, dass viele ausländische Produkte, vornehmlich aus Asien, diese Normen und Standards anscheinend nicht einhalten“, so AFBW-Geschäftsführerin Ulrike Möller. Zwar gebe es auch für importierte Schutztextilien Regeln und Vorgaben, diese würden aber offensichtlich nicht nachhaltig genug überprüft.

So unterliegt eine Mund-Nasen-Maske beispielsweise der klaren Kennzeichnungspflicht, da es ein Kleidungstück und keine Schutzausrüstung ist. Aktuell böten deutsche Discounter und Online-Händler dennoch falsch deklarierte Mund-Masken-Masken an, bei denen die Artikelbezeichnung oder die Produktbeschreibung fehlerhaft sei, zum Beispiel wenn sie als „Schutzmaske“ bezeichnet und beworben würden. Zu einem ernsten Problem wird dies auch bei Kindermasken. Besonders die Befestigung der Maske bietet Anlass zur Beschwerde. Verstöße gegen Normen und Vorgaben sind hier keine Seltenheit. Auf diversen Online-Plattformen findet man Masken, die gebunden werden – was nicht erlaubt ist.

Seit Dezember 2014 gibt es eine aktualisierte Fassung der Europäischen Norm DIN 14682 (Sicherheit von Kinderbekleidung). Danach sind im Kopf-, Nacken- und oberen Brustbereich von Kleidungsstücken für junge Kinder (jünger als 7 Jahre) keine funktionellen Kordeln und Zugbänder erlaubt. Die neue Norm beinhaltet jetzt nicht mehr nur den Kapuzen- und Halsbereich auf der Körperfrontseite, sondern den gesamten Kopf-, Nacken- und oberen Brustbereich inklusive der entsprechenden Bereiche auf der Körperrückseite. Bei den Definitionen von Kordeln, Zugbändern, Schulterträgern und Nackenbändern wurde ergänzt, dass diese auch aus elastischem Material bestehen können.

Bei Kleidung für Kinder zwischen 7 und 14 Jahren sollten im Kapuzen- und Halsbereich keine Kordeln, die eine bestimmte Länge überschreiten oder Zugbänder, die lose Enden haben, eingesetzt werden. Kordeln im Kapuzen- und Halsbereich sollten nicht elastisch sein, außer Schulterträger und Nackenverschlüsse. Auch sollte Kinderbekleidung keine Kordeln oder Zugbänder (auch hier gibt es genaue Längenvorgaben) mit freien Enden im Brust- und Taillenbereich haben. „Masken für Kinder, die gebunden werden, sind ein absoluter Regelverstoß und stellen ein Risiko dar“, so Südwesttextil-Hauptgeschäftsführer Peter Haas.

Seine Verbandsmitglieder, die sich an die Vorgaben halten, fragten sich, warum diese Artikel überhaupt im Markt ankommen und warum diese nicht von den staatlichen Kontrolleuren aus den Regalen geholt werden. „Im Moment ist der Ehrliche der Dumme“, so Haas. Es dürfe aber nicht sein, dass heimische Hersteller, die sich an die aufwändigen Standards hielten, mit Anbietern konkurrieren müssten, die diese Standards missachteten und dabei sogar Risiken für Kinder in Kauf nähmen.

• HeiQ Viroblock by CHT provides effective antiviral treatment on different fabrics
• No infective viruses left after 30 minutes
• For a wide range of protective textile applications

CHT is cooperating with HeiQ by implementing the HeiQ Viroblock by CHT in the textile industry, globally. HeiQ Viroblock by CHT is among the first textile technologies in the world to be proven effective against SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory.

HeiQ Viroblock by CHT is a textile treatment for industrial use, designed to provide textiles with antiviral and antibacterial properties. The combination of silver antimicrobial technology and vesicle technology rapidly destroy enveloped viruses including coronaviruses. It has previously been tested against coronavirus 229E, another strain of virus in the Coronavirus family.

The latest testing with SARS-CoV-2 virus was conducted by researchers at the Doherty Institute, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, an internationally renowned institution combining research, teaching, public health and reference laboratory services, diagnostic services and clinical care into infectious diseases and immunity. The research project involved a disinfection test protocol that simulated the real-life interaction of small aerosol droplets contaminating clothing. A known concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus was contacted with the sample fabric for 30 minutes followed by measurement of remaining infectious SARS-CoV-2 viruses. The fabric sample treated with HeiQ Viroblock by CHT had no infective viruses left after 30 minutes. The result indicated a SARS-CoV-2 virus reduction of 99.99% relative to the inoculum control.