Spin city

Tell a textile renter that he'd be well advised to use a polyester product rather than cotton, and he'll start muttering about his grandma sucking eggs. He knows the story, he's heard the benefits and he's convinced. In fact, likely as not, he's been supplying coloured polyester napkins and tablecloths for the last 10 years or so.

"Filament-filament polyester fabric, like Milliken's Visa, is the bread and butter of the industry," says Malcolm Tymn, Milliken's UK and Ireland market manager. "And it has been since the mid-1980s."

However, his company is making a big noise about Signature with Softouch at this month's Hotelympia 2002 show (February 4 to 8, Earls Court, London, stand G2630). The crucial difference with this polyester fabric is that it is a combination spun-filament and Mr Tymn says: "That's where we feel the future of the industry lies." (If you're struggling to keep up with the technicalities, refer to the briefing panel.)

The market is currently dominated by filament-filament, which is regarded as superior to cotton because of a number of well-known factors, such as longer life, easier washing, colour retention and return on investment. Why would the market want to make a change to a spun-filament?

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Those at Hotelympia can ask Mr Tymn personally. But for the benefit of everyone else, he elaborates for LCN: "Signature has all the benefits you've become accustomed to getting when using Visa, but with the added value of our Softouch Technology."

He continues: "A perceived problem with filament-filament napkins was the handle - how it feels when you put it to your mouth. This is what we're addressing with Signature."

Having supplied polyester napery textiles since the early 1980s, Milliken believes it has the experience and expertise to offer the market what it needs. "The new fabric is entirely compatible with every Milliken product," says Mr Tymn. The intention is for companies currently using Visa filament-filament products to gradually replace them with Signature spun-filament fabrics.

Of course, in the increasingly intense fight for market share, any advantage can be critical. Malcolm Tymn is well aware that Visa textiles are often copied, whereas the technology incorporated in Softouch is somewhat more advanced.

Testing times

Why has Milliken opted for spun-filament and not a spun-spun solution? There are five reasons, according to the company:

• the fabric cleans better

• it feels better for longer

• it has better pilling resistance

• it costs 11% less to wash than a 7.2oz spun-spun material

• it has better absorbency.

In cleaning tests at the NC State College of Textiles in June last year, Signature was ranked against its competitors in five-wash stain release tests on a scale where "1" represented "very severe visible stain and "5" represented "no visible stain". A 7.2oz spun competitor scored 3.4, a 6.2oz spun rival got to 3.8, but spun/fil Signature reached 4.5. For the record, six food oil stains - butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, thousand island dressing, hot wing sauce and barbecue sauce - were used.

A similar result came from touch tests. research company, Elrick & Lavidge consulted 587 "fine dining patrons" and "industry professionals" in the USA. It concluded that after 75 washes and irons 80% preferred the feel of Signature to cotton, 78% preferred it to 50/50 blends and 71% rated it superior to spuns.

For pilling resistance Milliken can produce equally convincing statistics. For example, in January 1999 Testing Services Inc showed that Signature produced only "slight pills" after 75 washes, yet competitors gave "moderate to severe pills" after the same treatment.

The company also says: "Another reason that laundries are giving us for using Signature is that the standard 7.2oz fabrics are much heavier for their drivers and plant personnel when transporting bundles, compared to a Signature 6.4oz/yd2 fabric." It is not surprising, as there is an 11% weight saving.

The lighter weight fabric still offers good cover, but also provides the advantage of allowing more napkins to be processed in a load than heavier products. Milliken adds that its Visa treatment allows odours to be easily removed.

Finally, referring to a study at Texas Tech University, Signature demonstrated 148.9% absorbency by weight compared to 130.7% for a 7.2oz spun competitor, which means that the napkins and tablecloths will readily absorb spills.