BRADFORD, England — December 5, 2013 — Marks and Spencer Plc. has partnered with SDC Enterprises
Limited and UL VS UK Ltd. to develop and produce a new Multifibre Adjacent fabric, SDCE Multifibre
. The existing Multifibre fabrics (DW type), approved for use in M&S accredited testing,
contain an Acetate component which is considered to be no longer commercially relevant. This
acetate component has been replaced by a Lyocell component, which is more relevant to the fibres
commonly found in modern fabrics for general apparel.
Extensive testing has confirmed that the specific regenerated cellulose fibre selected, the
Lyocell component, provides an optimum level of staining to accurately predict the staining
performance of the principal types of regenerated cellulose (Lyocell, Modal and Viscose), and their
blends. The testing also demonstrated that the substitution of the Acetate fibre with a Lyocell
fibre does not, in any way, alter the staining performance of the other five fibre components.
To ensure the continuity and reproducibility of the staining performance, between batches of
SDCE LyoWTM and between merges of yarn, SDCE have introduced a number of new dye injection test
methods. These tests will be conducted in addition to those methods, originally developed by SDC,
adopted under ISO 105 F10 – as referenced in M&S C03.
To readily distinguish between SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM and DW type Multifibre, SDCE has
positioned its security thread in the selvedge alongside the Lyocell component. SDCE Multifibre DW
has the security thread on the same side as the wool stripe, wool being the most easily identified
component.
SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM is the first major development of a Multifibre adjacent fabric since
SDCE Multifibre DW was introduced in 1987. The use of SDCE Multifibre LyoWTM will be exclusively
for M&S test methods and M&S accredited laboratories.
Posted December 10, 2013
Source: SDC Enterprises
