Weaving craftsmen pick up "hard bones" to build the most environmentally friendly wear-resistant yarn

He Xiaodong led the team to develop the finest yarns in the world. Photo courtesy of respondents

“So far, I think that the research and development of sizing-free yarns has only completed 50%. To break the remaining 50%, it will take a long road and this road will be even harder.” Located in Gaoming District, Foshan City In the Esquel Group R&D center, senior engineer He Xiaodong and his team are conducting sizing-free weaving experiments.

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Under the "assistance" of conquering eight world's toughest spinning world's finest yarns, He Xiaodong won the title of "Dacheng Craftsman" in Foshan last year. Since the past year, he has not stopped and is still active in the R&D frontline. He has also found himself a world-wide problem - no sizing weaving.

In the past, the material passed the sizing process to obtain the necessary conditions for the weaving. However, the slurry was environmentally polluted and the sizing technology was not developed. On the one hand, the abrasion resistance of the yarn was maintained and the yarn was broken during the weaving process. The number of heads does not increase, but on the other hand, the quality of the yarn is increased and the texture of the clothes is better.

Such goals are almost impossible to accomplish in the eyes of their peers, but He Xiaodong insists that "artisans should not limit themselves, but must work tirelessly to make it impossible." In March of this year, he finally took the “hard bones” of sizing-free weaving, and made more than 10 kilograms of sizing-free yarn by hand, achieving zero breakthrough.

● Nanfang Daily reporter Gao Yihua

Spend 10 years to overcome world problems

After conquering eight world difficulties to spin the world's finest yarns, He Xiaodong has found himself a world-wide problem, which is to realize the sizing-free weaving of yarns.

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Since weaving machines are all high-speed jet type and have a large impact force, in the past, only after the sizing was performed, the yarns had the characteristics of wear resistance. If the sizing was not performed, the weaving process would be difficult to complete smoothly. However, the sizing slurry not only has a hard-to-degrade material, but also the desizing process requires high temperatures, and if not handled properly, it also puts pressure on the back-end wastewater treatment. How to ensure the quality of the fabric under the premise of eliminating the sizing process, this problem He Xiaodong has been studying for 10 years.

In order to verify the feasibility of the technology, He Xiaodong and his team members conducted numerous tests in the workshop.

In fact, to weave 100 meters of cloth, we need to use nearly 10,000 yarns, with a total length of about 1 million meters. If sizing technology is used to make the yarn wear-resistant and have a weavability, there may still be approximately 20 weakened loops on a 1 million-meter yarn with a probability of 0.002%. These weakened loops will break at the high-speed friction of the loom. Stop the loom. According to the traditional concept, sizing-free will cause more weak loops in the 1 million meters of yarn, which will reduce production efficiency.

During the experiment, He Xiaodong and the team members carefully recorded the experimental process and results to find out the factors affecting the yarn hardness.

In March of this year, He Xiaodong and his team finally took the “hard bones” of sizing-free weaving and successfully produced more than 10 kilograms of sizing-free yarns to achieve zero breakthrough. However, this is only the first step of the Long March. "So far, I think that the development of the sizing-free yarn has only completed 50%. To break the remaining 50%, it will take a long road, and this road will be even harder."

He Xiaodong described that when the product standards continue to rise to a new level, the problem will become more difficult. At this time, we need to start from scratch on a new basis, and the degree of difficulty will increase geometrically. However, it can be foreseen that when the sizing-free process is mature and put into production on a large scale, it will greatly reduce the pollution to the environment and also improve the quality of the yarn, so that the texture of the clothes is better and the feel is more natural and comfortable.

Comfortable fabric with raincoat function

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Innovations in production processes also make it possible to diversify product features. According to Zhang Yugao, director of the Esquel Group R&D Center, Esquel is not only researching warm clothing with multiple functions, but also successfully developing clothes with waterproof, anti-fouling and other functions.

How to make clothes not only maintain its comfort, breathability and soft feel, but also to achieve waterproof function, becoming a research and development problem for Zhang Yugao and his team. “We first analyze the fabrics of clothes, materials needed for rain protection, etc. to find the balance between the two, and we must also consider the thickness of the fabric, and then repeat the formula experiment.”

Because the cotton material is thin and there is no chemical fiber component, the rain will easily penetrate into the clothes when it has a downward force. Therefore, the waterproof function is highly demanded. With more than 20 years of experience in clothing R&D, Zhang Yugao believes that this is not an insurmountable technology but tests the patience of the team. In addition, the R & D team also needs to take into account the standard requirements for the sale of clothes in the market, such as clothes can be washed at least 20 times. Each time a small demand is added, the formula needs to be modulated.

So, how to test the waterproof properties of the developed cotton fabric? Usually, the team members will flatten the cloth in front of the faucet, adjust different water speeds, and observe whether the water seeps into the back during different time periods. In addition, the R&D team also tested the water repellent condition of the cloth according to the relevant standards, and washed it back and forth 20 times, and then checked the water repellent condition so as to ensure that the functional clothes were washable as ordinary clothes.

“To make clothes is to provide consumers with a convenient life.” Zhang Yugao said that in response to market demand, Esquel's R&D team applied the latest technology in the non-textile field to the textile industry and created numerous new products. With the keen market sense of international front-line customers, Esquel can also spy on the trends in the development of the textile industry and do a better job of research and development.

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Injection of environmentally friendly elements from raw material ends

Why are innovations such as spinning and weaving prone to innovation? According to He Xiaodong, yarn and fabrics are raw materials in the textile and apparel industry, and the innovation of raw materials plays an important role in the development of the entire industry chain. They are an important cornerstone for many terminal product innovations.

“Over the past several decades, Esquel has focused on one thing – cotton textiles.” He Xiaodong said that in order to develop a practical “world's finest” 700-ply yarn, the R&D team made a variety of cotton In-depth study of the material, the final use of the finest but not the longest and the worst cotton fiber in Xinjiang, but not the finest characteristics of Xinjiang, the use of a proper mix of cotton, breaking the existing process limitations.

Such materials, combined with special production processes, not only effectively reduce sliver linters and nep, but also produce rovings that are suitable for the production of superfine yarns. The resulting yarns contain up to 80% water-soluble fibers. The treatment ensures that the remaining 20% ​​of the cotton fibers remaining after the removal of the water-soluble fibers will not be scattered, providing the conditions for making yarn-dyed products from the finest cotton yarns in the world.

All along, Zhang Yugao’s R&D team is thinking about how to make textile raw materials greener. “In terms of raw materials, Esquel focuses on natural fiber materials, including pure cotton, blends of cotton and wool, and blends of cotton and fluff. Especially in material coloring, we have adopted innovative natural dyes, which have been internationally Influence."

It is understood that most of the existing dyes are synthetic dyes, and their raw materials are non-renewable petroleum products. Zhang Yugao hopes to extract dye components from plants and produce natural dyes.

“It took us more than 10 years to capture the difficulties of natural dyes and launch the market. Although it is an environmentally friendly, green, renewable material, it is also more difficult to apply.” Zhang Yugao said that natural dyes have poor color fastness and were washed. It is easy to fade in the process. How to improve the color fastness becomes the research focus of the R&D team in the future.

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â– Conversation

"My life dictionary is not 'best' but 'better'"

As the main force of R&D of the company, He Xiaodong, a senior engineer at Esquel, has witnessed almost every change in the technical performance of Esquel. He Xiaodong won the "Great City Craftsman" honor in Foshan last year. In this regard, he said that he will continue to work in a rigorous and meticulous spirit.

"In my life dictionary, there is no 'best', only 'better.' As a craftsman, it should be even more so," said He Xiaodong.

Nanfang Daily: In the past year, how did the honor of "Dacheng Artisan" bring you changes?

He Xiaodong: The government gave me the approval of craftsmen. This is both an accreditation and a spur to me. I want to set a better example for R&D personnel and bring more people to learn the spirit of craftsmen and do their job.

Someone once asked whether the R&D process will have to fail so many times and it will not be frustrating. The answer is yes, but I firmly believe that in the work, there are only temporary immature conditions and there are no problems that cannot be solved. As long as we study with great concentration, the puzzles that cannot be solved may be overcome by the momentary “flash of aura”.

Nanfang Daily: Do you think that as a "Great City craftsman" should have what quality?

He Xiaodong: First of all, it is necessary to do a good job in its own affairs. If we do research and development, we must persevere and strive for excellence. Even if others say it is impossible, you must tell yourself that as long as you make unremitting efforts, it will not be possible and will become possible. Second, we must have an innovative spirit. We must continue to try and come up with new ideas that are in line with future trends. In the end, we must not be afraid of failure because innovation inherently has a high risk of failure and cannot be defeated by one failure.

I have worked in the textile industry for many years and I clearly understand that there are still many areas in the industry that need to be improved. These issues require us to think and improve constantly. In my dictionary of life, there is no "best", only "better". As a craftsman, it should be even more so.

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