Archroma, a leader in colour and specialty chemicals, will be presenting its innovative and sustainable denim solutions for manufacturers and brands at DenimsandJeans Vietnam 2018, this week. From fibre to finish, Archroma offers a scope of possibilities for effects and colours, from the authentic roots of indigo to the most innovative and eco-advanced solutions.

Visitors will be able to discover solutions designed to make denim in a more sustainable and responsible way, such as Archroma’s Denisol range, a newly developed pre-reduced liquid indigo solution that is manufactured in Archroma’s award winning ‘zero liquid discharge’ manufacturing plant in Pakistan.

Denisol Indigo 30 liq is compliant with major official eco-standards and helps to produce fabrics suitable for current eco-labelling, such as bluesign and GOTS, the company reports. Responding to demands for a non-toxic alternative to the dyes that are used for the iconic and traditional indigo blue that consumers associate with denim and jeans, Archroma just announced the upcoming new Denisol Pure Indigo 30.

Towards waterless denim dyeing

The water needed to produce one pair of jeans is said to be ~ 11,000 litres. With around 167 million pairs of jeans produced monthly, that is 1,837,000,000,000 litres of water consumed every month in the process. Based on the Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing processes, Archroma’s multi-awarded Advanced Denim dyeing technology is said to allow savings of up to 92% in water, 87% in cotton waste and 30% in energy, compared to a conventional denim dyeing process. The technology has been adopted by brands like Patagonia and received the 2012 ICIS Innovation Award and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit Award.

With Optisul C dyes, denim manufacturers can expand their colour horizons with this range of six dyes especially designed to produce soft denim colours in continuous dyeing processes, as well as on coating and printing. Optisul C affinity-free, sulfide-free dyes can be combined with each other to create garments suitable for wash-down treatments in a wide array of easily achievable and reproducible soft colours.

Archroma’s Diresul RDT Ocean Blues are a collection of vibrant, ocean-themed bright sulphur blue dyes. These dyes and their auxiliaries bring out the best of indigo, improve workability, dyeing consistency and process safety, the company says. They can be combined with Denisol Indigo 30 liq in bottoming/topping manufacturing routes for avant-garde blue styles.

Archroma’s dye portfolio of conventional and black Diresul specialties will also be on display. It has been developed to allow to create a universe of greys and deep black and navies. From superficial to solid blacks for both extreme wash-down and stay black effects.

EarthColors

As consumers increasingly aspire to functional, beautiful and meaningful clothing, brands and manufacturers are increasingly interested in the environmental impact of the denim industry. Archroma’s EarthColors patented range of “biosynthetic” dyes for cotton and cellulose-based fabrics are made from waste left over by the agricultural and herbal industry after extraction, such as almond shells, saw palmetto, or rosemary leaves. The latest NFC technology used on the end-product hangtags enables transparency and traceability through the supply chain to consumers.

The EarthColors allow to produce the earth tones that are coming strong: red, brown and green colors. They have been adopted by brands such as Patagonia, Kathmandu and G-Star, and won an OutDoor Industry Award 2017.

Solution packages for sustainability

Brand owners and retailers around the world are taking action to evaluate the environmental impact of textile treatment, dyeing and finishing processes in response to consumer concerns. Archroma recently introduced the One Way Process Simulator, the last update of a calculation tool that supports its One Way Sustainability Service introduced back in 2012. The new, online software can be used to mimic and compare products and processes, and thus calculate the ecological and economical profile of the final end-product.

Archroma’s portfolio of ZDHC MRSL-compliant chemicals and dyes is integrated into the One Way calculation tool since 2013. “Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand,” said Paul O’Prey, Head of Sales, Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, Archroma, Vietnam. “While developing new products and services, we always consider the environmental impact so they are as sustainable as possible. This can be seen in our innovative and eco-advance products, such as the water-saving Advanced Denim and the aniline-free Denisol Pure Indigo.”

www.archroma.com