Weaving craftsmen have another hard nut to crack to create environmentally friendly and wear-resistant yarn
Nanfang Daily reporter Gao Qihua
Never ending: “So far, I think the research and development of sizing-free yarns has only been 50% completed. It will take a long way to crack the remaining 50%, and this road will also be more difficult.” Located in Foshan In the R&D center of Esquel Group in Gaoming District, senior engineer He Xiaodong and his team are conducting experiments on sizing-free weaving.
With the “assistance” of overcoming eight world difficulties to spin the world’s fine yarn, He Xiaodong won the title of Foshan City’s “Big City Craftsman” last year. Over the past year, he has not stopped and is still active on the front line of research and development. He has found himself another global problem – sizing-free weaving.
In the past, materials had to undergo a sizing process to meet the conditions required for weaving. However, sizing caused great environmental pollution. The development of sizing-free technology requires, on the one hand, maintaining the wear resistance of the yarn to prevent it from breaking during the weaving process. The number of ends is not increased, but on the other hand, the yarn quality must be improved to make the clothes better.
Such a goal is almost an impossible task in the eyes of peers, but He Xiaodong insists that “craftsmen should not set limits on themselves, but should make unremitting efforts to make the impossible possible.” In March this year, he finally cracked the “hard nut” of sizing-free weaving and hand-made more than 10 kilograms of sizing-free yarn, achieving a breakthrough.
Spending 10 Years to Overcome Worldwide Problems
After overcoming eight world difficulties to spin the world’s fine yarn, He Xiaodong found himself another global problem, which is to realize sizing-free weaving of yarn.
Since the looms are all high-speed jet type with high impact force, in the past, the yarn could only have wear-resistant properties after sizing. Without sizing, the weaving process would be difficult to complete smoothly. However, the sizing slurry not only has materials that are difficult to degrade, but the desizing process requires high temperatures and, if not handled properly, will put pressure on back-end wastewater treatment. How to eliminate the sizing process while ensuring fabric quality is a problem He Xiaodong has been studying for 10 years.
In order to verify the feasibility of the technology, He Xiaodong and team members conducted countless tests in the workshop.
In fact, to weave 100 meters of cloth, nearly 10,000 yarns are needed, with a total length of about 1 million meters. If sizing technology is used to make the yarn wear-resistant and weavable, nearly 20 weak loops may still remain on 1 million meters of yarn, with a probability of 0.002%. These weak loops will break under the high-speed friction of the loom. Stop the loom. According to traditional concepts, eliminating sizing will produce more weak loops in these 1 million meters of yarn, thereby reducing production efficiency.
During the experiment, He Xiaodong and his team members carefully recorded the experimental process and results to find out the factors that affect the hardness of the yarn.
Just in March this year, He Xiaodong and his team finally cracked the “hard nut” of sizing-free weaving and successfully hand-produced more than 10 kilograms of sizing-free yarn, achieving a breakthrough. However, this is only the first step in a long journey of thousands of miles. “So far, I think that the research and development of sizing-free yarn has only been 50% completed. It will take a long way to crack the remaining 50%, and this road will also be more difficult.”
He Xiaodong described that when product standards continue to rise to a new level, the problem will become more difficult. At this time, it is necessary to start research and development from scratch on a new basis, and the difficulty factor will increase exponentially. However, it is foreseeable that when the sizing-free process matures and is put into large-scale production, it will greatly reduce environmental pollution and improve yarn quality, making clothes better in texture and more natural and comfortable to the touch.
Let comfortable fabrics function as raincoats
Innovation in production processes also makes it possible to diversify product functions. Zhang Yugao, director of the R&D center of Esquel Group, said that in response to the needs of different groups, Esquel is not only researching warm clothes with multiple functions, but also successfully developed clothes with waterproof, anti-fouling and other functions.
How to make clothes maintain their comfort, breathability and soft feel while also achieving waterproof function has become a research and development problem for Zhang Yugao and his team. “We first analyze the clothing fabrics and materials required for rain protection to find the balance point between the two. We also need to consider the thickness of the fabric, and then repeatedly conduct formula experiments.”
Pure cotton is thin and has no chemical fiber components. Rain can easily penetrate into clothes when it has downward force, so it has high requirements for waterproof function. With more than 20 years of experience in garment research and development, Zhang Yugao believes that this is not an insurmountable technology, but it will test the team’s patience. In addition, the R&D team also needs to take into account the standard requirements for clothes to be sold in the market, such as clothes that can be washed at least 20 times. Every time a small requirement is added, the recipe needs to be adjusted.
So, how to test the waterproofness of the developed cotton fabric?�Normally, team members will place the fabric flat in front of the faucet, adjust different water speeds, and observe whether the water penetrates to the back during different time periods. In addition, the R&D team also tested the water repellency of the fabric according to relevant standards, washed it 20 times, and then checked the water repellency to ensure that functional clothes are as washable as ordinary clothes.
“Making clothing is to provide consumers with a convenient life.” Zhang Yugao said that based on market demand, Esquel’s R&D team applied new technologies in the non-textile field to the textile industry and created many new products. With the keen market acumen of international front-line customers, Esquel can also gain a glimpse of the development trends of the textile industry and conduct research and development work faster and better.
Inject environmentally friendly elements from the raw material side
Why are spinning and weaving processes prone to innovative effects? In He Xiaodong’s view, yarn and fabric are raw material links in the textile and apparel industry, and the innovation of raw materials plays a vital role in the development of the entire industry chain. They are an important cornerstone of many end product innovations.
“For decades, Esquel has focused on one thing – cotton textiles.” He Xiaodong said that in order to develop a practical “global fine” 700-count yarn, the R&D team studied various pure cotton products around the world. After conducting in-depth research on the materials, we finally took advantage of the characteristics of Egyptian cotton fiber, which is thin but not long, and Xinjiang cotton fiber, which is long but not thin, and used appropriately mixed cotton to break through the existing process limitations.
Such materials and special production processes not only effectively reduce sliver lint and neps, but also produce rovings suitable for the production of ultra-fine yarns, so that the produced yarns contain up to 80% water-soluble fibers. After treatment, it is ensured that the remaining 20% cotton fiber after the water-soluble fiber is removed will not fall apart, providing conditions for using global fine pure cotton yarn to make yarn-dyed products.
The R&D team led by Zhang Yugao has been thinking about how to make textile raw materials more green and environmentally friendly. “In terms of raw materials, Esquel focuses on natural fiber materials, including pure cotton, cotton and wool blends, and cotton and plush blends. Especially in terms of material coloring, we innovatively use natural dyes, which has achieved certain results internationally. Influence.”
It is understood that most existing dyes are synthetic dyes whose raw materials are non-renewable petroleum products. Zhang Yugao hopes to extract dye components from plants and make natural dyes.
“It took us more than 10 years to overcome the difficulties of natural dyes and launch them on the market. Although they are environmentally friendly, green and renewable materials, their application is also difficult.” Zhang Yugao said that natural dyes have poor color fastness and are difficult to wash. It is easy to fade during the process, so how to improve the color fastness has become the focus of future research by the R&D team.
Dialogue
“There is no ‘good’ in my life dictionary, only ‘better'”
As the main R&D force of the company, He Xiaodong, senior engineer of Esquel Textile, has witnessed almost every transformation of Esquel Textile’s technical performance. Last year, He Xiaodong won the honor of Foshan City’s “Dacheng Craftsman”. In this regard, he said that he will continue to do things with a spirit of rigor and excellence.
“In my life dictionary, there is no ‘good’, only ‘better’. As a craftsman, this is especially true.” He Xiaodong said.
Nanfang Daily: What changes has the honor of “Big City Craftsman” brought to you in the past year?
He Xiaodong: The government gave me the recognition as a craftsman, which is both recognition and encouragement for me. I want to set a better example for R&D personnel and encourage more people to learn the spirit of craftsmanship and do their jobs well.
Someone once asked whether it would be very frustrating to experience so many failures in the research and development process. The answer is yes, but I firmly believe that at work, there are only temporary immature conditions and no problems that cannot be solved. As long as you study hard, a difficult problem that you have never thought of can be solved in a moment of “a flash of inspiration”.
Nanfang Daily: What qualities do you think a “big city craftsman” should possess?
He Xiaodong: First of all, you must do your own job well. Those who do R&D must persevere and strive for excellence. Even if others say it is impossible, you must tell yourself that with unremitting efforts, the impossible will become possible. Secondly, we must have an innovative spirit and constantly try to come up with new ideas that are in line with future development trends. In the end, we must not be afraid of failure, because innovation inherently has a high risk of failure and cannot be defeated by one failure.
I have worked in the textile industry for many years, and I clearly understand that there are still many areas that need improvement in the industry. These issues require us to constantly think and improve. In my life dictionary, there is no “good”, only “better”. As a workerThis is especially true for craftsmen.
Source: Guangdong Esquel Nanfang Daily
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