Interview

‘We are expecting to achieve a multi-million US$ business in India over the next 12 months’

In an exclusive interview with Steena Joy, Mr David Hellens, Global Project Leader, SPT, The Woolmark Company talks about the costs involved in applying this finish to textiles and the immense possibilities the technology offers.

What is SPT?

SPT is an advanced form of Micro-Capsule that is designed to weld to any textile fibre. The capsules are actually manufactured for Woolmark by International Flavors and Fragrances Inc based in New York, (the largest fragrance and food ingredient manufacturer in the world).

At what stage of the finishing process is the technology applied and is any new equipment necessary?

SPT Micro-Capsules can be applied to any type of fibre or fabric type, (including nonwovens). It is normally applied commercially at the last wet finishing stage via either Exhaust or Padding Process, or sometimes via spray. The process is easy for wet finishing houses to understand and requires no new equipment. Application of SPT Micro-Capsules is carried out using normal standard equipment available in any wet finisher.

How is the technology transferred?

Woolmark Development International ships the capsules as a 2 part highly concentrated system. The system is made up of Capsule Paste and Binder. Following the dilution and application instructions the wet finishing house can then convert the product into working solutions. They then apply it to the textiles in a very similar way to dyes and other textile chemical auxilliaries.

What are the costs involved?

The chemical costs of treating a square meter of cotton at about 150gms would work out at about US$ 0.15 cents per meter. A pair of socks thus would be only a few cents. Obviously there are processing costs involved at the wet finishing house, but these should not be very large. The Exhaust process takes 20 mins and the Padding is a standard online process.

What the main areas of application?

SPT comes broadly in three main areas: Aromatherapy/fragrances applications, skin benefits and, medicinal applications. All products are 100% natural, and are made to cosmetic standards and tested by IFF in their labs in the USA on humans.

Products like Lavender and Chamomile designed to help sleep, used in bedwear, and other much cleverer products like Liberty Lemon which is designed to mask the smell of tobacco smoke. The new male fragrance “Sharp Mind” which contains aromas known to promote attention and wakefulness is a classic example.

As the largest fragrance house in the world, IFF has access to many thousands of fragrances. We have made children’s clothes smell of bubblegum and strawberries. We have treated interior textiles and curtains with the smell of flowers. Even roller blinds in Italy with pictures of lemons and pineapples were treated so that they smelt according to the picture!

Do SPT treated clothes need special after care?

Fabrics treated with SPT can be machine washed or dry cleaned, and even ironed. Washing we recommend not more than 40 degrees centigrade and gentle spin, with no tumble dry, ie: Line dry is best. The maximum wash durability we have achieved to date is some 20 times.

Any textile can use SPT. Even second hand car dealers have used it in it’s spray version to treat the upholstery of the cars to make them smell nice when people get in for a test drive.

The market potential in Asia?

The market in Asia is vast for both domestic and export. Asia is the textile engine room for North America and Europe, but interestingly many of our manufacturers are using it to supply their own domestic markets as well. We have recently landed a contract in China to apply SPT to hand knitting wool, for domestic usage in China, which will run to many millions of US$. China is particularly interested for example in using the natural Tea Tree oil anti-bacteria product and have treated everything from cotton underwear to Cashmere sweaters.

What about prospects in India?

We have a joint venture with Resil Chemicals in Bangalore who are our exclusive distributors in India. It was a pleasure for me to come to India in July of last year to help them launch the product to the trade and the press. I personally accompanied the senior management of Resil to see over 200 of their customers all over India. The product has been well received and orders have been very good, and we are expecting to achieve a multi-million US$ business in India over the next 12 months.