#Dyeing, Drying, Finishing

2023-04-20

Breathable, soft, and stable…the finishing touch for textiles

SANTASHRINK PROGRESS SUPER JUMBO © 2023 Santex

The launch in 1982 of Santashrink, the first relaxation dryer, laid the foundation for a remarkable success story. Today, Santex and Cavitec are world-renowned brands of the Santex Rimar Group, parts of which grew from that breakthrough development. Their combination of tradition and innovative strength offers confidence for ongoing future prosperity.

Innovation makes Santex and Cavitec brand leaders

Santex specializes in machines for finishing knitted fabrics, while Cavitec built its reputation on systems for coating, laminating and impregnating technical textiles. The Santex and Cavitec brands embody innovation and cutting-edge technology. Developed and manufactured in Tobel, Switzerland, the products are characterized by the highest precision and reliability. Meet the experts at booth A110 in Hall 18 at upcoming ITMA 2023.

Look and feel of Santex

When yarn made of cotton, cotton blends or viscose is used for knitwear, Santex machines come to the fore. Their finishing processes provide knitted fabric with soft handle, sheen, smooth surface and no pilling. Items such as t-shirts and fitted sheets do not shrink during washing. World-famous fashion labels rely on Santex know-how.

Founded on more than 40 years’ experience, Santashrink continues to deliver convincing performance, with excellent results in shrinkage, relaxation and tensionless drying of tubular or open-width knitted fabrics. Its future-oriented design brings technical and economic benefits, along with a number of application advantages in operation.

Clever plus from Cavitec

The aerospace, automotive and wind power industries demand textile materials with special properties. For these applications, surfaces might be modified, or different textile materials combined. Cavitec supplies high-tech solutions enabling world-class corporations to manufacture products of the highest quality. An aircraft’s vapor trials in the sky remind us of one Cavitec specialty – since its wing components likely feature sophisticated technical material produced on Cavitec machines.

Cavimelt Pro is the brand’s latest innovation, for multi-functional coating based on hotmelt technology. Cavimelt Pro is a two-in-one solution covering the most important application ranges, and giving users the opportunity to extend their customer base. It has high flexibility, as some applications require material to be coated only to change the surface composition, while the more common task is to bond two layers of material together to build a composite material.

Success factors

The textile industry demands top technical performance – as well as sustainability along the value chain. Santex and Cavitec back up their machinery ranges with an excellent level of service, with the commitment and enthusiasm needed in the highly competitive international textile machinery market.

CAVITEC Cavimelt Pro white © 2023 Santex

As part of the Santex Rimar Group, both brands are strong pillars of its overall success. Says Ferdinando Businaro, President of Santex Rimar Group: “Santex and Cavitec introduce new technologies, which allow applications that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Innovating means to us as a textile machinery manufacturer renewing our products and processes. This requires a high degree of flexibility and the willingness to leave our comfort zone. This is exactly the attitude that is anchored in our Swiss workforce.”

Santex and Cavitec are well positioned for a prosperous future through times of dynamic development in the textile industry and changes in the global value chain. They aim to anticipate customer needs and meet them directly, managing the business in an agile manner.

High precision in coating and laminating // Cavitec introduces new technology achieving unmatched performance of activewear fabrics

Cavitec stands for high-end machines for coating, laminating, impregnation and is the first choice of prepreg suppliers. The Swiss firm, part of Santex Rimar Group, presents – first time to the public – the redesigned Caviscreen at Techtextil Frankfurt. Caviscreen features latest technology attaining unparalleled results for breathable laminates and offering an interesting cost bonus.

New Gravimax MMX-R X-ray sensor platform opens up new application fields

The demands placed on quality control in web-based production processes are increasing: materials are becoming more complex, basis weights are varying more widely, and at the same time, pressure is growing to make processes more efficient and transparent. Precise measurement data across the entire web width has therefore become a key factor in ensuring stable production processes. With its new Gravimax MMX-R sensor platform, Mahlo introduces a radiometric measurement solution designed to set new standards in determining basis weight and material composition. The platform combines advanced X-ray technology with newly developed signal processing, enabling measurement tasks that previously often required multiple sensor technologies.

BW Converting to present its Baldwin TexCoat® G4 at Techtextil 2026

BW Converting will present its Baldwin TexCoat® G4 precision spray finishing system at Techtextil Frankfurt 2026, taking place April 21-24 at Messe Frankfurt. Visitors to Hall 12, Booth C56B, will have the opportunity to explore how this advanced spray technology helps textile manufacturers improve finishing quality, increase efficiency and reduce resource consumption across a wide range of applications.

Smart sensors, smart savings - Reducing energy and cost in textile finishing

As energy prices, sustainability requirements and quality expectations continue to rise, manufacturers of technical textiles face increasing pressure to optimize efficiency while ensuring process reliability. At the same time, skilled labor shortages require production systems that are intuitive, automated and easy to manage. PLEVA addresses these challenges with robust, maintenance-friendly sensor technologies combined with intelligent process control.

New study shows low environmental impact by Cotton made in Africa Organic Cotton from Tanzania

Today, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is announcing the results of a comprehensive life-cycle analysis (LCA) for cotton produced in Tanzania under the Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic) standard. The study emphasises the small ecological footprint of CmiA Organic verified cotton. This can largely be traced back to the absence of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers, and artificial irrigation. Consequently, CmiA Organic cotton can help the textile industry meet regulatory requirements as well as science-based targets. The results also show that the consequences of climate change threaten the livelihoods of these cotton farmers, even though the type of agriculture they practise barely contributes to climate change.

PERFORMANCE DAYS proves its relevance as the industry’s key meeting point

Held on March 18–19, 2026, PERFORMANCE DAYS once again confirmed its position as a leading international platform for functional textiles. A total of 3.366 trade visitors and around 560 exhibitors gathered in Munich, with the event already kicking off successfully on DAY 0, which received highly positive feedback for its interactive format. Despite challenging conditions caused by the public transport strike in Munich, the event saw strong attendance and a consistently high level of activity across both exhibition days.