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Your wardrobe is set to go eco-friendly soon. A renewably sourced fibre called Sorona has found favour with top Indian textile mills to blend in their brands and creations.
Shirts or saris worn could soon contain this fibre, derived from corn and developed by global science company DuPont, based out of Wilmington, Delaware in the US.
The eco-friendly polymer is being used for clothing, carpets in some western countries.
Companies such as Arvind, Raymond, Vardhaman, Banswara Syntex are working with DuPont to utilise the fibre. In the domestic commercial market, brands such as Van Heusen and Peter England (Aditya Birla Group), Pantaloons, Gueternann (India), Vipul Sarees have woven the fibre into their offerings.
This is one of the first domestic, commercial applications of the research work being carried out by scientists at the DuPont Knowledge Centre, Hyderabad. “We have collaborated with some of the leading Indian mills to develop textile applications using Sorona,” said Homi Bhedwar, Technical Director (South Asia & Asean).
Various aspects of the textile sector such as sewing threads, sari, dynamic fit denim, permanent flex woven, easy stretch woven and ultra-soft knits have been addressed. DuPont India is developing partners throughout the value chain to bring new offerings and products, he said
Trial runs
Trial runs have also been made integrating the fibre in select saris and ladies wear material with the mills of Surat. In the near future, DuPont has plans to set up weave-and-dye facilities in the country, he said.
Sorona is soft, has permanent comfort stretch and stretch recovery, which make it easy to blend the fibre along with natural ones such as cotton and viscose. Spandex, nylon, and other synthetic fibres also can be combined with the biopolymer. Its crease resistance coupled with softness makes it comfortable for jacket wear, which has been launched in other regions of Asia under the “Shape Memory” fabric concept.
Sorona uses renewable plant based ingredients to help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and petrochemicals. Combine this with lower energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, when compared to the production of an equal amount of nylon 6 it stands up to other fibres in environmental comparisons, says DuPont.
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