Quaker innovation not quite finished

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/23/2001 12:00:00 AM

FALL RIVER, MA —

Quaker Fabrics has developed two proprietary finishes, one to create a silk hand, the other a significant improvement in backings for washed fabrics.

Quaker Silk, a topical finish, is used on the company's fabrics in the Quaker and Whitaker lines on boucle and flat yarns to create a soft, lustrous silk-like hand and a fluid drape, according to Tom Muzekari, vp. The process is not used on chenille yarns, he added.

Most of the fabrics using Quaker Silk are all rayon yarns. The opening price point is $7 for a plain woven in 50 colors.

The second new process, Quaker Wash, enables washed fabrics to be backed without losing the integrity of the washed effects, Muzekari explained. The fabrics are 54 inches wide but woven wider to allow for the shrinkage when washed, and offer the stability of a backing.

"As we went to washed goods, many people couldn't use the fabrics without a backing for stability, and earlier backings lost 50 percent of the washed effect. Now with Quaker Wash, the fabrics retain 85 percent of the washed effect," Muzekari said.