ITMA ASIA 2008, Shanghai, July 27-31,2008


At ITMAASIA 2008 in Shanghai, China Lafer SpA will be present in stand C14 Hall E1 within the cluster of Italian suppliers.


What can be seen at Lafer’s stand

On show for the first time at a major exhibition will be the UltraSoft-T tubular knit fabric sueding machine, and a model for the liquid ammonia mercerizing plant for woven cellulose based fabric and as usual we will have a interesting range of fabric samples to exemplify the finishing trends achievable with Lafer machines (knits and wovens sueded with abrasive brushes and diamond and raised&sheared knits and wovens, open and tubular felt compacted knits and shirtings, bottomweights and denims prepared or finished with liquid ammonia).

Brush sueding tubular in fabrics

Sueding knit fabrics in tubular form allows opens new possibilities compared to conventional brush sueding in open width.
In fact tubular fabrics can be:
*sueded before dyeing immediately after knitting without the need of any preparation
*sueded after dyeing and finished in tubular form or slit and finished in open width

The UltraSoft-T is equipped with a patented width expander that keeps the fabric in the most appropriate state while sueding. The abrasive brushes surround the fabric so that it is easy to achieve a perfectly uniform sueding effect on the entire circumference of the tube. Expander settings, brush position and rotation speed, lengthwise tension are fully adjustable through touch screen to achieve the desired effect.

The original UltraSoft for open width was designed to satisfy the increasing demand for a softer hand on knit fabrics. It has since become the fastest selling model of Lafer and the most popular because endusers find that the design allows to achieve superior effects more easily while ensuring a higher production output than other brush sueding solutions. The UltraSoft-T gives finishers another solution to create different sueding effects.



INTRODUCTION TO THE LIQUID AMMONIA PROCESS

When cotton fabrics are immerged in a strong alkaline solution, like caustic soda, the fibres tend to swell and shrink. The treatment commonly known as mercerizing has the scope of improving certain mechanical properties of cotton and the fibres assume a lustrous (silky) effect.
Also liquid ammonia mercerizes cotton based fabrics giving excellent properties and allows particular effects that are greatly superior as compared to conventional soda mercerizing.


The adjustability and precise control of a wide range of operating parameters allows to significantly improve:
•handle
•crease recovery
•dimensional stability
•resistance to abrasion
•dyeing uniformity, dyestuff affinity, colour solidity
•wash and wear properties

The improved performance of ammonia are possible because:
Ammonia does not degrade the fibres like soda which is very aggressive, so the mechanical properties (abrasion, resistance, tear strength) are reinforced and the pleasant hand is not altered even after numerous washes.
Ammonia swells the fibres less, making the same more supple and resilient after the strain caused by wear and repeated washes of the treated article. The life of the article is longer as is the capability to maintain a fresh look.
The difference in swelling also explains the shiny aspect acquired by the fibres after treatment with soda and the satin (mat i.e. non reflecting) look achieved with the ammonia treatment.
Soda does not penetrate deep in the fibre fibrils as does the ammonia which has a much smaller molecule and that translates into a more uniform, regular and efficient treatment. Shrinkage after repeated washing is negligible while shades do not change over time.
Drying after ammonia treatment is much faster. Actually the creation of micro holes by effect of the smaller ammonia molecule, eases the transfer and elimination of the water based solutions contained in the fabric.

The Permafix liquid ammonia mercerizing plant, is entirely different than existing ammonia systems because the process takes place in total absence of air and water making ammonia separation unnecessary.
The recovery of pure ammonia occurs by the simple condensation of the ammonia gas collected from the processing chambers.
The technical solutions and the automatic control systems of Permafix Plant plant ensure a remarkable level of safety and ease of use.

At ItmaAsia it will also be possible to evaluate Lafer’s other new developments designed to allow finishing at higher speeds to increase profitability


Lafer Spa is attracting a lot of new business by providing new solutions for “faster-finishing”.

For instance the latest version of the UltraSoft brush sueder is now also available with a new brush configuration (Y-version) that significantly increases production speeds.

The Microsand diamond sueding machine leads to a effects on wovens unrepeatable on any other machine making it the most popular Lafer sueding solution for wovens with the added advantage of being easily convertible to brush sueding in order to broaden its versatility.

A special version of the GRI228 raising machine allows appropriately prepared knitted fleece to be raised at speeds up to 50 meters/min. Specific configurations for woven moleskin velour or wide width flannel are designed to achieve top speed and quality performances.

The Diablo shearing machine doubles shearing capacity on knits while full automatic control simplifies operation greatly.

The K500 felt compactors allow excellent dimensional stabilities and softness at speeds even beyond 40 meters/min.

We look forward to showing you how you can benefit from Lafer’s innovative solutions. See you in Shanghai! (Hall E1 Stand C14)