Why Solution Dye?: Performance Advantages

Imagine your favorite pair of socks. What makes those socks so special? It could be the color, the fit or how soft the fabric is. Whatever the reason, you want those socks to stay in good condition as long as possible.

With the solution dyeing process, the quality and color of fabrics have a longer life for a range of textiles from carpet to clothing.

The solution dyeing process integrates colorants into fiber as it is being spun. As a result, the color is dyed throughout the fiber, locking it in. The process also has numerous environmental advantages such as saving water, energy, and chemicals.

Solution dyeing produces fibers that are extremely colorfast. Since the color is evenly spread throughout the fiber, it lasts longer, in contrast with post dyed fibers which are only colored on the surface. Let’s go back to your favorite socks. If those socks are blue, they will stay blue longer. Even after you walk through the house, outside and throughout your daily activities, you will not see the color wear away. Beyond apparel, this applies to carpet, synthetic turf and other outdoor fabrics which hold their color against UV light, perspiration, and cleaning chemicals. So for example, that awning will hold up against the harsh summer sun, and you can scrub your solution dyed carpet using harsh chemicals without losing the color.

What is the benefit to colorfast products if you don’t have consistency? With solution dyeing you achieve lot-to-lot consistency. Whether you produce 20 or 20,000 products, you can see the uniformity in every product produced.

There is no doubt that the advantages of solution dyeing speak for themselves. Like your favorite socks, your appreciation for solution dyeing will endure for a long, long time.

Aubrey Barto
Marketing Intern, Americhem Inc.

Dedicated to Carpet: Five Americhem Plants Dedicated to the Industry

Americhem’s dedication to the worldwide carpet industry is unequaled among manufacturers of color for solution dyed carpeting. We’ve been designing and making color and additive concentrates for the industry for nearly thirty years and our capabilities span a range of polymeric materials including nylons, polypropylene, polyesters and more.

Three decades is a long time. This experience exceeds that of all competing color concentrate manufacturers. We lead the industry in color control and color consistency, both lot-to-lot and within lots. We support the industry with the most personnel dedicated to carpet makers, including sales, technical, and customer service. We pride ourselves on being the most dependable carpet industry supplier in quality, service and communication with our customers. And we understand your manufacturing processes and maintain 11 high- and low-speed synthetic fiber spin lines in our facilities around the globe to assist in product development and testing without interfering with our customers’ production equipment.

No other masterbatch supplier has three manufacturing plants dedicated to the North American carpet industry. Did you know that Dalton,Georgia is home to more than 150 carpet mills and that more than 90% of the functional carpet produced in the world today is made within a 65-mile radius of the city? That’s why Americhem has been on the ground with a plant in Dalton for over twelve years, and we’ve been serving the industry long before that. Our Dalton plant is a Center of Excellence for carpeting, with resources dedicated to manufacturing, product development and design. The plant also houses our fiber color design center, with thousands of card wrapped colors displayed in a room that serves as a giant light booth, including three different light sources: incandescent, daylight, and cool white fluorescent.

Our Concord, North Carolina facility is also dedicated to the carpet industry and serves as our Center of Excellence for nylon and polyester manufacturing technology. Established in 1989, this plant has served the industry ever since. Our Liberty, North Carolina facility was created with advanced material handling technology, enabling large runs of white, black and additive concentrates. Liberty’s lines are geared toward manufacturing campaigns of 10,000 pounds or more with the perfect combination of superior dispersion technology, end-product consistency, and cost effectiveness.

Outside of North America, our plants in Manchester, United Kingdom and Suzhou, China are also dedicated to the carpet industry. The Manchester facility serves customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and is widely regarded as one of the leaders in the industry. The Suzhou plant serves customers in the Asia Pacific region and maintains pilot lines dedicated to carpet fiber that assist our customers in product development and testing.

It’s clear to see that Americhem is dedicated to the carpet industry worldwide. Let us know how we can benefit you with our technology, support personnel, pilot line technology and facilities dedicated to the industry.

Scott Blanchard
Senior Corporate Marketing Specialist, Americhem, Inc.