Rudolf GmbH, a leading provider of chemicals to the textile industry, can now offer side-by-side performance tests of the age-old “dip and squeeze” pad versus precision spray finishing with the delivery of Baldwin Technology Inc.’s TexCoat ™ G4 lab-scale unit.
Baldwin’s non-contact precision spray technology helps textile finishers up their game by enabling consistent, high-quality finishing, with zero chemistry waste and drastically minimized water and energy consumption.
Rudolf, founded more than 100 years ago and based in Geretsried, Bavaria, offers a wide portfolio of chemical solutions and services that increase innovation and sustainability along the entire textile value chain, from fiber to finish.
“The commissioning of Baldwin’s lab scale TexCoat in Rudolf’s Customer Solution Center further strengthens the partnership of our two companies and provides the technical expertise to the textile industry in transitioning from pad to TexCoat G4 precision spray finishing,” said Rick Stanford, Baldwin’s VP of Global Business Development, Textiles.
The new TexCoat lab-scale unit at Rudolf’s Geretsried, Germany-based Customer Solution Center, tests the sprayability of chemicals on fabrics as an additional tool to help the market transition to precision spray with confidence in the performance and sustainability of the end result.
With Baldwin’s innovative system, the chemistry is precisely distributed across the textile surface and is applied only where it is required, on one or both sides of the fabric. The non-contact technology eliminates chemistry dilution in wet-on-wet processes, allowing full control of maintaining consistent chemistry coverage rates.
Plus, pad bath contamination is eliminated, and changeovers are only required when there is a change of finish chemistry. On wet-on-dry processes, the finish is applied with 50% of the amount of water required for pad finishing. Dryer fabric entering the stenter means less water to evaporate resulting in less energy and higher production speeds.
More specifically, with Baldwin’s TexCoat G4, textile finishers can expect unprecedented tracking and control of the finishing process for consistent quality. Changeovers are easily and quickly performed thanks to recipe management, including automated chemistry and coverage selection. Furthermore, the system takes speed information from the drying process to insure exact coverage regardless of any change in speed. TexCoat G4 measures every drop of chemical usage ensuring that the amount of chemical add-on is precise.
In addition, the TexCoat G4 system can process a wide range of low-viscosity water-based chemicals, such as durable water-repellants including PFAS-free, softeners, anti-microbials, easy care resins, flame retardants and more. Baldwin’s innovative technology utilizes the same chemicals used in the traditional pad bath, with no special auxiliaries required.
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