Archroma has launched Fadex AS New, a “super UV protector” to make automotive and transportation textiles even more resistant to light. Fiona Haran reports.
Archroma, a global leader in colour and speciality chemicals towards sustainable solutions, has launched Fadex AS New, a new “super UV protector” to make automotive and transportation textiles even more resistant to light.
During the long-life span of cars and other transport vehicles, some of their components, such as the polyester trims of doors and pillars, seat covers, carpet flooring or head lining, are exposed to high levels of sunlight and UV rays. This intense light and heat often cause fabric colour to fade more quickly and polyester fibre to weaken, making the car interior look older. The light fastness requirements specified by motor vehicle manufacturers are therefore extremely high, and only carefully selected products can meet them, says Archroma.
The company developed Fadex AS New to address this challenge, providing textile manufacturers serving the automotive industry with a “new, advanced light fastness improver”, especially when used in Archroma’s LIGHT FAST CAR system with its Dorospers A & K high-light-fast dyes.
The new “super UV protector” was presented at Techtextil exhibition on 15 May 2019. According to the company, Fadex AS New was developed in compliance with ‘The Archroma Way: safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature’. The approach finds its origin in Archroma’s belief that it is possible to make the textile industry sustainable. With the LIGHT FAST CAR system based on Fadex AS New, Dorospers A & K dyes and alkaline buffer Lyocol ELD liq New, manufacturers can reportedly achieve more efficient processing, including a substantial reduction in water and energy consumption, reduced CO2 emissions, shorter process times, less rewinding and fibre breakage, and an optimised and efficient process in all stages.
As well as improved light fastness, Fadex AS New also maintains the tear strength of the polyester fibre, Archroma adds. Plus, it displays low fogging and is suitable for exhaust, continuous and printing processes, and especially recommended for the Thermosol dyeing process of seat belt fabrics, Archroma adds.
Fadex AS New and Dorospers A & K dyes can be used together with Archroma’s water repellent, soil release, antimicrobial, flame-retardant and high abrasion resistance functional finishing solutions, offering a complete system package to help textile manufacturers differentiate themselves in the highly competitive automotive market. Plus, Fadex AS New meets the requirements of the automotive industry VDA 278 test and is registered under REACH.
“Fadex AS New is the first innovation to be introduced by Archroma’s new Global Competence Center for Automotive and Synthetic Dyeing, which was inaugurated on 6 May 2019,” says Mark Dohmen, head of the Global Competence Center for Automotive and Synthetic Dyeing, Archroma.
“And the whole team there is proud to continue the long Archroma history of bringing innovation to textile manufacturers and enhanced function and aesthetics to end-users.”
