Monforts is offering textile manufacturers production-scale trial capacity at its Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Mönchengladbach, Germany, giving finishers a route to validate new fabrics and processes on industrial equipment before committing capital at their own mills.

The 1,200-square-metre centre at the company's headquarters houses two full Montex finishing lines, a Thermex range for continuous dyeing of denim and other wovens, a full colour kitchen and several laboratory-scale systems for smaller batch work. Trials run under confidentiality agreements.

"The ATC allows our customers to test their own textiles and technical fabrics on Monforts dyeing and finishing machines under fully confidential, real production conditions," said Monforts Marketing Manager Nicole Croonenbroek. "Using the results from these trials, we are also able to make recommendations for improving many fabric finishes."

Two lines, two fabric classes

One Montex line is configured specifically for technical textiles, where converters increasingly process materials with sharply different properties in rapid succession. Applications cover substrates for digitally printed soft signage, carbon fabrics for composites, filter media for extreme temperatures and flame-retardant barrier fabrics.

That line incorporates a four-chamber horizontal-chain stenter and an explosion-proof coating chamber, permitting treatments with organic solvents and other volatile materials. It runs at up to 320°C and can treat the top and bottom surfaces of a material at different temperatures in a single pass — a capability aimed at floorcoverings where textile face fabrics and rubber backings need separate treatment, plus PVC flooring with chemical foams and blackout blinds with heavy backings.

A Baldwin TexCoat G4 digital spray unit from BW Converting is integrated into the same line and available for customer trials, including chemistries supplied by Archroma. The unit applies softeners, antimicrobials, durable water repellents, flame retardants and other water-based chemicals to textile surfaces. Monforts claims that, combined with its stenters, the technology can cut water, chemical and energy consumption by up to 50% against conventional pad application.

"The new TexCoat installation is making an important contribution to what we can achieve and we are excited to be working together with Archroma and BW Converting to bring further transformative change to the dyeing and finishing space," said Monforts Textile Technologist Saskia Bollhöfer.

The second line targets knitted fabrics, centred on a Montex stenter with vertical chain return. Knits demand low, precisely controlled tension and even thermal treatment because of their elasticity. The line carries Monforts' Eco Applicator, which replaces the conventional wet-on-wet padder with trough-and-roller metering. Monforts says the unit reduces initial fabric moisture entering the stenter from around 60% to 40%, shortens the fabric path between coating and stenter, and can apply finishes to one or both sides, separate finishes per side, or treatments to specific areas.

Dyeing and energy recovery

Almost 1,000 Monforts Thermex hotflue dyeing systems now operate in major textile manufacturing countries, and more than 150 run the Econtrol process. Econtrol fixes reactive dyestuffs in a one-step dyeing-and-drying cycle using controlled steam and air — a pad-dry process taking two to three minutes at 120–130°C and 25–30% relative humidity.

The ATC's Thermex line has recently gained the Monforts Universal Energy Tower, a stand-alone module recovering heat from exhaust airflow. Monforts puts the energy saving at up to 25%, depending on exhaust air volume and operating temperature.

Croonenbroek tied the investment case to compliance pressure rather than voluntary targets: "The current focus of the industry is very much on cleaner processes in order to meet the commitments on sustainability made by the major fashion brands and with further regulations already in the pipeline. This is calling for new investments that enable a significant reduction in resource consumption to be achieved, but that are easy to integrate into existing production systems. Thermex lines running Econtrol fit the bill perfectly."

For finishing managers, the commercial logic is straightforward: trials at the ATC establish optimum machine settings, temperatures, dwell times and application rates, and quantify energy, water and chemical consumption, before a mill commits to new hardware or a new process. Mills facing brand decarbonisation mandates and tightening EU environmental regulation can de-risk finishing investments by benchmarking resource consumption against the 50% and 25% reduction claims on production-scale equipment first.