Microfibre expertise, advanced Monforts finishing technology and an endlessly inventive R & D team combine to give Italy’s Orsa a highly differentiated lead in the nonwovens industry. And the company continues to launch new products which are pushing nonwovens into entirely new fields of applications.

 

As part of the Legano-headquartered Crespi Group – Europe’s largest producer of synthetic leather – the principal end user fields for Orsa’s products are in the footwear, automotive, household and industrial cleaning sectors.

 

In addition to traditional needle punched fabrics, the company has been a front-runner in spun lace production, installing its first hydroentanglement line in the late 1980’s and a second some years later.

 

However it quickly moved out of commodity wipes when the market ‘exploded’ from 2000 onwards.

 

Based near Milan, Orsa’s specialisation in in-house polyester and polyamide microfiber production allows it to make nonwovens with very specific parameters bringing a range of competitive advantages in respect of properties such as absorbency, strength and volume, explained Production and Logistic s Manager, Giorgio Edefonti.

 

“In addition, we are able to achieve microfiber fabrics which have almost no variation between their performance properties in both machine and cross directions – the MD/CD ratio, he said. This makes them extremely smooth and ideally suitable as printing substrates. They also find their way into specialist applications such as automotive finishing, prime cylinder head cleaning and even as separator layers for the electronic circuits employed in car airbags.

 

Orsa’s reputation rests heavily on its special finishing prowess and, as such, the company invested in two Monforts Montex stenters; both supplied by local representative Sacconaghi Monaco Srl.

 

The latest Montex with seven chambers and a 3.2 m working width, forms a critical part of a full line which incorporates both a dye padder and printing heads.

 

“All our patterned microfiber cleaning products are produced on this line with impregnation, dyeing and printing followed by thermofixing in the Montex,” said Mr Edefonti. “The majority are then calendered to further enhance the finished aesthetics.”

 

In addition to its own nonwovens, Orsa carries out the value added finishing of both third party materials and the special air laced fabrics containing pulp and cellulose fibres manufactured by its joint venture company Orma, which began production 10 years ago in Pisticci Scalo in Southern Italy.

But in addition to printing patterns and carrying out other surface treatments such as embossing, the combination of thermofixing and calendaring results in microfiber nonwovens that also lend themselves to subsequent transfer printing.

 

Here much more vivid, brighter and full colour patterns can be achieved. The result is materials are now being used as bathrobes and beach towels.

 

While Giorgio Edefonti is responsible for the careful production parameters of these materials, it is R & D and Technology Manager, Lorenzo Pernigotti who is constantly throwing out new ideas at him.

 

Another area to which the latest Montex stenter has contributed to success for Orsa is the production of so-called ‘colour catcher fabrics’ – the strips that are employed in household washing machines to capture any loose dye particles and ensure clothing comes out the same as it went in.          

                           

This effect relies on a cationic resin which is impregnated and thermofixed into the nonwovens on the Montex stenter.

 

Pernigotti and his R & D team have been working to add further functions to the colour catcher strips, including optical bleaching, which, according to him is difficult to achieve since it requires a combination of both cationic and other resins that are not naturally compatible.

 

Other household products include strips for tumble dryers that are impregnated with perfumes and fabric softners, in addition to anti-static treatments.

 

For the apparel sector, Orsa has developed brightly coloured and attractive microfiber fabrics that can, in many cases, replace cotton layers, being moisture managing and wind resistant due to their very closed structures.

 

Other wool-containing products have been double-printed on both sides as entirely crease-free blankets and similar items.

 

Household products companies such as Falpi are also now marketing Orsa products which are blends of polyester or polyamide microfiber blended with 43% bamboo fibres. These have proved highly successful in applications such as hospital cleaning products due to their proven antibacterial effectiveness.

 

Laminates of 60% merino wool and 40% microfibers meanwhile combine breathability and warmth as materials similar to Gore-Tex-type laminates for light raincoats.

 

“Production and research and development work ‘hand in hand’ sat Orsa,” said CEO Alessandro Baratto, he continued, “We are constantly striving to introduce fabrics that have greater aesthetic and visual appeal; to the markets. New product development remains the key, backed up by the best technology, including Montex stentering.”