Specialty Fabrics Review February 2023 - 36

CONSIDERING
COLOR
O
ne of Henry Ford's famous
quotes about the Model T
was, " Any customer can have
a car painted any color that he
wants, so long as it is black. "
Medical textiles may often
seem to be that bland as well,
as function over form is the
standard. But even though
Stickman Dialysis Industries,
in Kennebunk, Maine, knows
that black and white are the
most popular colors for the
peritoneal dialysis (PD) belts
it sells, those two colors alone
are not enough.
" Our fabric supplier, Carr
Textile, always has black and
white fabric to sell us in smaller
quantities, " says Stickman
owner Jean Clermont. " That's
super handy, not only from cost
but space limitations as well.
But beige has become popular
as well, so we custom order
those through Carr. "
But not all customers see
beige as " colorful, " either. So
Stickman also adds a layer of
color fabric to its belts so that
they can be sold in Cool Wave,
Patriotic Camo, Lucy Kitty and
Shark Camo, among others.
Eastex develops 2XCOOL
Eastex Products Inc., based in
Plymouth, Mass., develops and
distributes a variety of medical-grade
textiles and composites, including
AirMesh spacers, fluid-barrier fabrics,
anti-migration materials, antimicrobial
fabrics and custom laminations.
Eastex is a solution provider and
distributor offering a standard stocked
product line and custom product
development, which is primarily the
work done by Stephen Schroeder,
the company's sales manager for
technical textiles. " I'm usually on the
road meeting customers to gain an
understanding of their pain points
and what they're looking to achieve
now and in the future, " says Schroeder.
" Eastex offers a wide range of solutionoriented
capabilities and regularly
launches new products we develop.
" With over 30 years in the global
textile manufacturing and distribution
industry, I've gained extensive
knowledge and a perspective on
the industry, including experience
in weaving, knitting, coating,
finishing, printing, dyeing and
lamination, " he explains. " I bring
our customers product knowledge
and an industry understanding we
can draw from to create solutions
and performance attributes we
incorporate into our products.
" A lot of what I do is combine
different products into one, " adds
Schroeder. " By utilizing a range of
materials, lamination processes, unique
yarns, coatings and finishing processes,
we are able to offer our customers a
wide variety of customizable options
and solutions. "
Eastex recently launched its
2XCOOL performance cooling
product line. 2XCOOL is utilized in
the medical market as well as other
industries. " It can be used in skeletal
support systems, patient transfer
systems and patient support surfaces, "
says Schroeder.
2XCOOL can be laminated onto
AirMesh spacers, neoprene or opencell
foam, according to Schroeder,
Eastex Products, Plymouth, Mass.,
produces medical-grade textiles, including
Airflex 60091 (left) and Airmesh 53000.
The company has a stock line and custom
products. Photo: Eastex Products
Specialty Fabrics Review February 2023

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