Archroma, a leader in colour and specialty chemicals, has announced that Tong Siang has chosen to use Archroma’s Ultraphor KCB optical brightening agent to colour its white, high-performance sportswear.

“Thailand-based Tong Siang, a member of the Yeh Group, is making these products using what is considered by the industry as the world's first water-free and process chemical-free dyeing solution,” the company explains.

Technology

The technology in question is based on carbon dioxide instead of water and was developed and patented by Dutch process engineering company DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V. Textiles produced by Tong Siang, using this technology, are branded as DryDye fabrics.

When pressurised, COâ‚‚ becomes “supercritical” (SC-COâ‚‚), a phase between a liquid and a gas. In this state, COâ‚‚ has a very high solvent power, allowing the dye to dissolve and be transported easily and deeply into fibres, creating bright whites and vibrant colours. The COâ‚‚ is reclaimed from existing industrial processes, recycling 95% of it in a closed-loop system. The technology uses 100% pure dyes with more than 98% uptake, and uses no process chemicals and no water, and produces no waste water.

Sustainable and tested

With increased scrutiny by consumers and environmentalists alike, textile manufacturers are eagerly seeking new, sustainable dyeing techniques that do not harm the environment. Archroma’s range of optical brightening agents (OBAs) for polyester – the Ultraphor series – aims to provide a solution to meet this need.

Ultraphor KCB is a concentrate manufactured at Archroma’s dedicated OBA plant in Germany, and is proven to be suited for this water free, COâ‚‚ dyeing technology.Tong Siang has extensively tested Ultraphor and is successfully using it in bulk production, with the resulting products meeting Tong Siang’s customers’ demanding needs related to color, performance and environmental friendliness.

Step forward

Ultraphor KCB represents Archroma’s first entry into the COâ‚‚ dyeing field, and the company is looking to introduce further colouration and finishing effects in the future.

“While humans have used water to dye fabrics for more than 2,000 years, today water is an increasingly scarce resource that needs to be conserved. DyeCoo’s COâ‚‚ dyeing process offers an important step forward, and we at Archroma are pleased to be able to help advance broader use of this eco-friendlier approach,” commented Andrew McDonald, Global Head of Business Development, Synthetic & Wool, Archroma’s Brand & Performance Textile Specialties Business.

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