Textile antennas for use in space
06/08/2020

Textile antennas for use in space

In Steven Spielberg’s film of the 1980s, all that was needed for E.T. to build an aerial to telephone home were a few everyday objects, including an umbrella and a coat hanger. These days, our little Extra Terrestrial would doubtless have to create something a bit more elaborate to communicate with his home planet. As [...] Read more...

Textile face masks against coronavirus
31/03/2020

Textile face masks against coronavirus

On 11 March, the WHO declared the coronavirus a world-wide pandemic. All over the world people are asking: how can I protect myself? Textile researcher and biologist Dr. Anja Gerhardts explains how commercially available face masks work – and how they don’t. Dr. Gerhardts, does the coronavirus have an impact on your current working day? [...] Read more...

Textile facade soaks up pollutants from the air
11/03/2020

Textile facade soaks up pollutants from the air

Numerous studies show that nitrogen oxides are harmful to both humans and nature. The main cause is, above all, the traffic on the roads. An architect from Aachen now wants to trap this number-one air pollutant using coated fibres. It was when Jan Serode was in the seven-million-strong metropolis of Santiago de Chile, where there [...] Read more...

From LAN party to textile research
06/02/2020

From LAN party to textile research

Fabian Schreiber was 23 when he founded his first company. Initially he held network parties and organised PC seminars for senior citizens. Both activities might come to his aid in his future work as head of a textile-research institute. An interview about the tardy digitalisation of the textile industry, greater courage for change, and Spiderman. [...] Read more...

Someone who chose to learn about the assembly and finishing stages of manufacture
19/12/2019

Someone who chose to learn about the assembly and finishing stages of manufacture

In 2013, when he was a 22-year-old student, Timo Fischer founded his supply business, TEG, with just one seamstress. Six years later, over 50 employees now manufacture millions of textile automobile parts for suppliers of Daimler, VW and the like. Motor-vehicle companies, a motor-vehicle paint shop, a manufacturer of curtaining material and a textile wholesaler [...] Read more...

The textile 'Wende'
09/10/2019

The textile 'Wende'

Round about now, Germany is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Wall coming down. The fortified barrier fell on 9 November 1989. With a total length of almost 1,400 kilometres, it split Germany into two parts for 28 years and divided the textile and clothing industry there as well. In November 1991, the ‘Zeit’ weekly [...] Read more...

Wonders of technology
24/09/2019

Wonders of technology

Nowadays technical textiles are an inescapable part of almost every aspect of our daily life: from specialised outdoor or protective clothing, to medical textiles with antibacterial effects, to flame-resistant upholstery and decorative fabrics, to textile-reinforced concrete, or extended-area fabrics for roofing purposes. Common to all are the technical functions, based on years of research and [...] Read more...

Hyper, Hyper
16/05/2019

Hyper, Hyper

Climate change, environmental litter and population explosion – the world is facing mighty challenges. Alternative solutions for sustainability are a “must”. Some exciting approaches can be found at the Techtextil Special Area, entitled “Urban Living – City of the Future”. According to the United Nations the number of megacities, with more than ten million people [...] Read more...

Smart fibres
16/05/2019

Smart fibres

Like the threads spun by a busy spider, nowadays smart yarns from the textile industry are growing to spread over many industries, such as fashion, the automotive sector or aerospace. They illuminate, control, measure and heat in processes derived directly from the textile. And the smart network is continuing to take shape. “We mean to [...] Read more...

Textiles are cooler than medicine
16/05/2019

Textiles are cooler than medicine

People these days, who, instead of studying to be a lawyer, teacher or doctor, sign up for something to do with textiles, are not infrequently met with a perplexed shake of the head. “Textiles – isn’t that a bit of a dead subject?” – that it could hardly be more alive is clearly demonstrated by [...] Read more...

Ultrasonic cocktail

With an ultrasonic hand welder you can either connect glass-fibre reinforced plastic components using plastic rivets – or mix a cocktail. The latter seems more appropriate in view of the most international Techtextil of all time. Ronny Eckert Read more...

Animal cunning!

How does one of the world’s largest manufacturers of polymers, with a turnover of € 14.6 billion in 2018 get even more attention at Techtextil? The answer lies in a cleverly coated dog’s bed, together with its own resident ‘guard dog’. Ronny Eckert Read more...

No more wrinkles, no more crows’ feet

Techtextil exhibitors, Schmitz Textiles, have actually managed to do it! The company has developed an effective treatment for wrinkles and crows’ feet. Although not for people – for soft-top cars! Ronny Eckert Read more...

Like father, like son – and daughter

The presentation by the non-woven fabrics manufacturer Nanowetlaids on the joint stand of the German Ministry of Economics for new companies has such a low profile that nobody would guess he or she might discover something really unusual there: a textile family with decades of inherited fibre experience. “Last week I got a call from ... Read more...

Something new to hold

“The German textile sector is in the absolute top group of innovative industries, comparable with mechanical engineering”, says the website of the Centre for European Economic Research. The Techtextil Innovation Award shows why that is true. Ronny Eckert Read more...

Hyperloop

Hyper, Hyper

Climate change, environmental litter and population explosion – the world is facing mighty challenges. Alternative solutions for sustainability are a “must”. Some exciting approaches can be found at the Techtextil Special Area, entitled “Urban Living – City of the Future”. According to the United Nations the number of megacities, with more than ten million people ... Read more...

Smart fibres

Like the threads spun by a busy spider, nowadays smart yarns from the textile industry are growing to spread over many industries, such as fashion, the automotive sector or aerospace. They illuminate, control, measure and heat in processes derived directly from the textile. And the smart network is continuing to take shape. Ronny Eckert Read more...