Category: TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Country: China
Region: Asia
By Maria Cristina Pavarini
13th November, 2023
Stella Blu, a division of the specialised denim manufacturer Prosperity Textile, will launch its first full collection using Cooltrans technology during the next edition of the Denim PV show taking place in Milan in November 2023.
Stella Blu, the company’s division focused on developing alternative indigo fabrics, has developed this new color transfer technique that uses no heat and reduces water use by 90%.
Cooltrans denim by Stella Blu manufacturing
Cooltrans is a new special technology created thanks to a partnership with NTX, a global specialised company from Singapore. It can be applied directly to knit and ready-for-dye fabrics and achieve an almost endless combination of aesthetics independently of the fabric composition, including, among others, Tencel fabrics, either 100% or blended with other fibers.
This technique is both less resource-intensive and more precise in dye application than conventional methods, and it eliminates the need for baths, drastically cutting down the water used for coloring.
“In the past, we had tried several previous attempts to use digital printing on denim. Most of them had fallen short, primarily due to a lack of scalability, high prices, low resolution and poor hand feel,” explained Marco Stefanelli, director of marketing and business development, Stella Blu.
Cooltrans denim by Stella Blu, laser cutting step
“Differently, this time, Cooltrans is addressing all these issues and more. This is not digital, sublimation, or ink jet printing. It is a brand-new revolutionary waterless textile coloration technology that creates a unique value proposition. We cannot say how we compare to other waterless technologies because, to the best of our knowledge, they’re mostly specialized for singular material types or fibers. There is no other waterless low-carbon printing or dyeing technology that is applicable for any type of material or fiber like Cooltrans,” added Stefanelli.
Cooltrans can precisely color almost any fabric, both natural cellulose-based and synthetic man-made, without the need for heat and with an almost complete reduction in water usage without compromising the fabric’s engineered feel or functional performance.
With Cooltrans, they start with a white PFD fabric, and then the coloration process happens on both sides simultaneously in only one single passage—the front face gets the printed washed look, and the back side face gets printed with the twill line or any other pattern the client desires.
Cooltrans denim by Stella Blu
As NTX is an experienced company already working for the sports and outdoor industries, they expect to scale this process for denim as well, in terms of color fastness, as they can achieve high solidity with the same results as reactive dye.
Differently from denim, whose final result depends upon the fiber composition, fiber type and similar aspects, with Cooltrans, the aesthetic of the final product is completely independent of the fabric base composition. After “calibrating” the process to a particular fabric base for shades, gradients and finish patterns, they can achieve up to 500 different aesthetics on one singular twill type, though increasing the savings significantly.
Cooltrans denim by Stella Blu
Thanks to Cooltrans, a fabric’s breathability doesn't change as they use the same dye stuff as for any conventional process but only apply a different physical process. Moreover, the hand feel of the fabric feels extremely close to a traditional denim, without any rubbery or oily feeling after printing. Right after the process, the fabric is just a bit stiff, and that goes away after a very light rinse wash.
Courtesy: The-spin-off.com Photo: Stella Blu/Prosperity
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