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Welcome
Back to Philadelphia for AIC 2000!
Testfabrics, Inc. is pleased to be
able to participate in your conference and exhibition in
Philadelphia. We appreciate your taking the time to invest
in your profession and to meet and discuss common interest
subjects with one another. We hope we can help you with
some solutions to some of your problems. We have some new
materials, products and services that should be of interest
to you in your work.
Testfabrics, Inc. personnel attending this years conference
are:
John Meyers, Sales and Marketing Associate
Tom Klaas, Technical Director
Shawn Meeks, Laboratory Manager and Textile Chemist
Introduction
to Testfabrics, Inc.
For those of you not already familiar with our firm, please
allow us to introduce ourselves. Testfabrics, Inc. is a
60+ year old textile converter, manufacturer and distributor.
We service the textile needs of a number of special interest
textile consumers. The firm began by supplying necessary
‘test-fabrics’ to the producers and consumers
of textile dyes and chemicals. These clients needed clean,
consistent, prepared for printing and dyeing fabrics for
their internal testing and development of dyes and chemicals.
Prepared for printing and dyeing (PFD/PFP) fabrics have
already been desized, scoured (washed with industrial detergents),
bleached or left unbleached and some cotton fabrics are
also mercerized for improved dyeing properties. What we
supply are not what the textile industry calls ‘grey
or greige (French word for ‘raw’ meaning ‘loomstate’)
goods’. These customers also did not need 2,000 yds
at a time on their own, but all of them together would consume
2,000 yds in a reasonable course of time. They needed to
have a reliable source of textile test materials that a
lab could buy small amounts consistently in order to reduce
the variable of substrate used in testing to a tolerable
level.
Within a few years, the surfactant and detergent industry
became the second major client group needing the same kind
of products and services. This ‘crossover’ technology
would eventually lead to more clients.
As Testfabrics, Inc. grew and continued to adapt to its
clients needs, other client groups found their way to this
unique source of supply and service. These groups included
textile educators, other textile consuming industries, textile
artists, chemically sensitive people and of course, museum
professionals. For the museum consumers, Testfabrics, Inc.
inventory already included desized, scoured, unbleached
cotton fabrics that by their own right are pH neutral. The
initial uses (and still the dominant application) are for
shelf lining, storage wrapping and covering etc.
Other items in the inventory found use in painting conservation,
object conservation etc. We then applied the same level
of service interest to these new clients as we did with
our other customer groups and it has yielded many new and
valuable products and services specific to the needs of
museum professionals. We will try to highlight some of these
newer items in this newsletter as well as give light to
some other existing products.
Catalogs and Sample Sheets Specific to
Museum Professionals
We have a new catalog that is more specific to our museum
and textile art clients, please be sure to pick one up at
the booth. We have also been trying to assemble appropriate
illustrative sheets with the numerous textile items our
museum clients use and need, there is a natural cotton tape
sheet; a sheet with about 20 different fabrics, felts, battings
and other textile products attached; a color card of vat
dyed cotton fabrics without any additional resins, softeners
etc. (discussed later in this newsletter) and a Skala thread
sample (discussed later in this newsletter, complete color
cards available for $10.00). Unfortunately, our prized swatchbook
set has been retired and will soon be replaced by another
format that should be more conducive to your use and files.
If you have any of the swatchbooks, do not let them ‘walk
away’ (we’ve been told they have legs!), they
are still very relevant to today’s inventory. (We
still have some swatchbooks dating back 50+ years and even
those have several items we still stock!)
New
Products
Conservation Laboratory Lab coats and Aprons
Our friends at the Centre de Conservation du Quebec have
worked with a noted Canadian apparel designer and a manufacturer
to produce the first lab coats and aprons specific to the
needs and wishes of conservation laboratory personnel. This
has been an ambitious project and they have agreed to allow
our firm to help them market these exciting new products.
Some sketches of the lab coats and aprons are available
along with the dimension charts. We hope to have initial
samples in time for AIC to display and from which you can
place pre-production orders during AIC at introductory ‘special’
prices.
There are to be different colors available as well as a
choice of fabrics and also the possibility to have fabrics
of your choice used if desired. Custom embroidery of names
and institution names etc. will also be available.DuraVent
Polypropylene Ultrasonic Laminate Fabric and
Products
This is one of newest items we have found in our ‘crossover
technology’ efforts to find new products for our various
client groups. We are extremely excited about its potential.
This is a tri-laminate of two non-woven polypropylene needle
punch fabrics (no resin adhesives used in producing the
non-woven) with an air permeable, waterproof polypropylene
film sandwiched in between and all ultrasonically bonded
together. This method of bonding employs no harmful adhesives
and provides a unique waterproof dust cover that allows
air and gases to pass through. It is currently being used
in outdoor furniture and boat covers as well as some specialty
apparel applications. We have it in full width fabric form,
60 inches wide and available by the yard.
We have also taken some DuraVent and produced some storage
sleeves suitable for textile and carpet storage. These are
30” in diameter and 72” long, some with two
sides ultrasonically welded, an alternative to stitching
that employs soundwave technology. Some sample sleeves also
have just the one long side sealed, both ends open. Ultrasonic
welding provides a non-stitch seal thereby eliminating a
potential hole for water to seep through. To make a reclosable
seal on the open end of the sleeve, we have easy to use
nylon cable ties (used in the electronics and telecommunications
fields for bundling multiple cables together tightly and
securely). These can be opened and closed repeatedly.
We also have several small samples of DuraVent with ultrasonic
seals available for your evaluation and to show your colleagues
that might be interested.We are open to your suggestions
for other possible designs and configurations for products
to be made from this material. We think you will find it
to be both affordable and easy to use.
Artetco
AC 247 Beige Polyester ‘Linen’ Canvas for Painting
Conservation
Testfabrics, Inc. is pleased to advise you that we have
entered into an agreement with Artetco of Paris, the producer
of the 224 cm wide polyester ‘linen’ look canvas
sought after by painting conservators. We are currently
awaiting our first roll and expect to keep inventory of
this special fabric for quick and easy access to our conservation
clients. With any luck, we will have samples available here
at the AIC Conference but if not, certainly shortly thereafter.
The fabric will be available by the linear yard, 1 yd. minimum
order.
Don’t forget that we do have a 66” wide beige
linen look polyester available and several other polyester
fabrics for paintings conservation and related applications.
‘Skala’
Fine Polyester Sewing Threads in 35 Translucent Colors
Our textile conservation customers were quite pleased to
see this addition to our inventory. These ultra fine polyester
sewing threads are extremely strong and their colors pick
up the colors of the grounds in which they are sewn and
become virtually invisible. These threads come on 5,000
m. spools and are readily available.
Two Inch Wide Bias Binding Made with #400U, Desized, Unbleached
Cotton Print Cloth
In addition to our line of natural cotton tapes, we will
be including a 2” bias binding made with #400U put
up on 20-25 yd. rolls. Samples on request.
Other fabrics can be cut into bias tape, subject to minimums.
Mr. Shawn Meeks, New Lab Manager
We are pleased to advise you that we have a new lab manager,
Mr. Shawn Meeks, BS Textile Chemistry NCSU ’93. Shawn
has been a dyer in large commercial dye houses and a QA
lab manager for other textile producers prior to being hired
by Testfabrics, Inc. We feel he will add credible support
to our efforts to supply viable materials for conservation
and related museum applications. Should you have some technical
questions or need some help matching a shade in dyeing a
replacement for a project, please let us a know, perhaps
we can help.
We are also considering offering commercial lab services
for the evaluation of textile materials for exhibit applications.
We are open to your input for this service, please contact
us if you are interested.
Vat Dyed Cotton Upholstery Fabrics Without
Additional Topical Finishes
We have introduced a line of cotton fabrics that are produced
in volume for the home furnishing industry. These vat dyes
have good light and wash fastness properties and contain
no additional chemical treatments. They are getting some
use and we expect them to continue growing in exhibit applications.
Color cards are available.
We have been trying to achieve some results with some velvets
for exhibition purposes, however the commercially dyed materials
are often difficult to use in exhibition cases. We have
access to dyed cotton velveteen (style #448) and do have
a beige velvet used in flammability testing that might be
of interest, style 8500, please ask for a sample if interested.
72” wide Museum Batting Available
by the Linear Yard
We have stock of the ½” and ¾”
thick museum polyester batting with no adhesives used in
bonding and sell it by the linear yard, minimum order 1
yd.
Padded
Hanger Sets To Get Upgraded
We have recently gotten an order for the padded hanger sets
to justify making a new lot. The new lot will have an additional
feature over the initial production, we will be adding an
archival epoxy coating to the wire to help prevent it from
powdering overtime. Any other suggestions you might have
would be appreciated.
Dyeing
Equipment Installed
We work in a textile facility in Philadelphia where we wash
several of the textile test materials we produce. We have
now begun to acquire and install some dyeing equipment to
expand our dyeing service offerings. If there are some colors
on certain fabrics you feel would be of interest to museum
consumers, please let us know and we will try to make them
available on a consistent basis.
Portable,
Tripod Mounted Support Stretcher
We recently came across an item that we think might have
some application in conservation, it is a stretcher frame
used by silk painting artists to hold a silk scarf blank
in a way they can work on it easily without anything underneath.
It is mounted on a tripod and may provide a very convenient
and flexible working area for small textile pieces or similar
items. Stop by and see the unit on display. It also folds
up very neatly into two convenient storage bags.
Web
Page Up and Accessible
We are trying to keep pace with technology and our web site:
www.testfabrics.com is up and provides good initial information
quickly. This and other client newsletters will be posted
for your review. We are always open to input from our clients
regarding changes and additions. Our email is: testfabric@aol.com
Cutting,
Sewing, Sourcing Services
We provide all of the above services, please do not be hesitant
to ask about them when you need help!
What
Can We Do For You!
Please remember that we are not the consumers of our own
products and services, YOU are! If you do not tell us the
problems you are having, we won’t be able to help!
Distributing
these items:
Velcro
Dust Bunny Products
Berna Clamps
Unbleached Cottons
Silks
Wools
SyntheticsPadded Hangers
Natural Dyes
Cotton Tapes
Decco Felt Strips
Wool Galoon 2.25” wide
Poly Tape 1 1/16” wide
Airplane Cloth
Storage Stuffers
Olfa rotary cutting tools, mats and accessories
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