Textiles and Clothing News

September 23, 2023

Top Headlines

Hartshorn Salt and 'Baking' Solves a Serious Environmental Problem

Aug. 4, 2023 — Polyester is the second most used textile in the world and an environmental menace, especially because most of it never gets recycled. The fabric, a blend of plastic and cotton, has been difficult for the industry to separate and therefore recycle. ...

Taking a Lesson from Spiders: Researchers Create an Innovative Method to Produce Soft, Recyclable Fibers for Smart Textiles

July 10, 2023 — Researchers drew inspiration from the spider silk spinning process to fabricate strong, stretchable, and electrically conductive soft fibers. Their novel technique overcomes the challenges of ...

Sweat It Out: Novel Wearable Biosensor for Monitoring Sweat Electrolytes for Use in Healthcare and Sports

July 6, 2023 — Wearable sensors are becoming a promising tool in personalized healthcare and exercise monitoring. In a recent study, researchers develop a novel wearable chemical sensor capable of measuring the ...

Fiber Optic Smart Pants Offer a Low-Cost Way to Monitor Movements

June 28, 2023 — New research describes a fiber optic smart pant that can monitor movement and health. The pants can be used to detect activities such as sitting, squatting, walking or kicking without inhibiting natural ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:34pm EDT

A Touch-Responsive Fabric Armband -- For Flexible Keyboards, Wearable Sketchpads

May 2, 2023 — It's time to roll up your sleeves for the next advance in wearable technology -- a fabric armband that's actually a touch pad. Researchers say they ...

Upcycling Method Turns Textile Trash to Functional Coatings

May 2, 2023 — In an effort to make textiles more sustainable, a new method allows researchers to break old clothing down chemically and reuse polyester compounds to create fire resistant, anti-bacterial or ...

New Programmable Smart Fabric Responds to Temperature and Electricity

Apr. 24, 2023 — A new smart material is activated by both heat and electricity, making it the first ever to respond to two different ...

Cheaper Method for Making Woven Displays and Smart Fabrics -- Of Any Size or Shape

Apr. 21, 2023 — Researchers have developed next-generation smart textiles -- incorporating LEDs, sensors, energy harvesting, and storage -- that can be produced ...

Synthetic Biology Meets Fashion in Engineered Silk

Apr. 20, 2023 — Engineers developed a method to create synthetic spider silk at high yields while retaining strength and toughness using mussel foot ...

Stab-Resistant Fabric Gains Strength from Carbon Nanotubes, Polyacrylate

Apr. 19, 2023 — Fabrics that resist knife cuts can help prevent injuries and save lives. But a sharp enough knife or a very forceful jab can get through some of these materials. Now, researchers report that carbon ...

Thread-Like Pumps Can Be Woven Into Clothes

Mar. 30, 2023 — Researchers have developed fiber-like pumps that allow high-pressure fluidic circuits to be woven into textiles without an external pump. Soft supportive exoskeletons, thermoregulatory clothing, and ...

Thermal Paint: MXene Spray Coating Can Harness Infrared Radiation for Heating or Cooling

Mar. 30, 2023 — An international team of researchers has found that a thin coating of MXene -- a type of two-dimensional nanomaterial -- could enhance a material's ...

Reactive Fabrics Respond to Changes in Temperature

Feb. 21, 2023 — New textiles change shape when they heat up, giving designers a wide range of new options. In addition to offering adjustable aesthetics, responsive smart fabrics could also help monitor people’s ...

Under Pressure: Breakthrough New Material Solves Problem of Wearable Sensors

Jan. 30, 2023 — Researchers have synthesized a new material that solves one of the most difficult problems in the quest to create wearable, unobtrusive sensitive ...

Earlier Headlines

Summaries
Headlines

New Study Shapes Understanding of Adaptive Clothing Customer Needs

Mar. 21, 2023 — With the growth of the niche adaptive clothing market comes new challenges for retailers, including making the process of online shopping more inclusive for people with varying degrees of disability ...

Powering Wearable Technology With MXene Textile Supercapacitor 'Patch'

Jan. 30, 2023 — Researchers are one step closer to making wearable textile technology a reality. Materials scientists have reported a new design of a flexible wearable supercapacitor patch. It uses MXene to create a ...

Researchers Demo New Type of Carbon Nanotube Yarn That Harvests Mechanical Energy

Jan. 26, 2023 — Nanotechnology researchers have made novel carbon nanotube yarns that convert mechanical movement into electricity more effectively than other material-based energy ...

Hand Washing Fabrics Reduces Microplastic Release Compared With Machine Washing

Jan. 12, 2023 — From tiny plankton to massive whales, microplastics have been found throughout the ocean food chain. One major source of this pollution are fibers shed while laundering synthetic fabrics. Although ...

'Smart' Coating Can Be Precisely Applied to Make Fabric Into Protective Gear

Jan. 9, 2023 — A new durable copper-based coating can be precisely integrated into fabric to create responsive and reusable materials such as protective equipment, environmental sensors, and smart filters. The ...

Researchers Eye Embroidery as Low-Cost Solution for Making Wearable Electronics

Nov. 22, 2022 — Researchers tested embroidery as a low-cost technique for making power-generating ...

Color-Changing Fibers for Smart Clothes

Oct. 18, 2022 — When we think about clothing, we usually think of it as something we wear to cover our body, convey our style and protect us from the environment. What if the cloth changes its visual appearance when ...

Engineers Weave Advanced Fabric That Can Cool a Wearer Down and Warm Them Up

Oct. 11, 2022 — Textile engineers have developed a fabric woven out of ultra-fine nano-threads made in part of phase-change materials and other advanced substances that combine to produce a fabric that can respond ...

Wearable Sensors Styled Into T-Shirts and Face Masks

Sep. 23, 2022 — Researchers have embedded new low-cost sensors that monitor breathing, heart rate, and ammonia into T-shirts and face ...

Wearables Take 'Logical' Step Toward Onboard Control

Aug. 30, 2022 — Engineers design fluidic logic into garments to help people with functional limitations perform tasks without electronic ...

New Nanophotonic Coating Could Aid Thermal Management and Counter-Surveillance Efforts

Aug. 25, 2022 — A research team has developed a new reflective coating that can be used in counter-surveillance military applications to provide camouflage under the scrutiny of thermal imaging cameras. Their tests ...

Smart Textiles Sense How Their Users Are Moving

July 7, 2022 — MIT Media Lab researchers developed a novel fabrication process to create smart textiles that comfortably and snugly fit the user's body, enabling very precise pressure sensor data that can be ...

How to Tie-Dye Cotton With Acorns and Rust

May 26, 2022 — Tie-dyeing is a fun activity that can spice up clothes with colorful patterns. Although kits are available in stores, nature provides dyes that can be extracted from items found in one's yard -- ...

Design Tweak Helps Prevent Malfunction in Yarns Designed to Store Energy

Mar. 22, 2022 — Findings in a recent study could advance the development of 'smart textiles' that would capture energy from the wearer's ...

New Acoustic Fabric Converts Audible Sounds Into Electrical Signals

Mar. 16, 2022 — Researchers have developed a new acoustic fabric converts audible sounds into electrical signals. They designed a fabric that works like a microphone, converting sound first into mechanical ...

Cloth Masks Inferior for Protection Against Airborne Viral Spread

Mar. 1, 2022 — A new study examines the efficacy of particle filtration by woven fabric, which consists of fibers twisted together into yarns. There are, therefore, two lengthscales: the diameters of the fiber and ...

Anti-Odor Coating Is No Washout

Feb. 8, 2022 — For the first time, researchers have found a cost-effective and convenient way to apply a silver-based antimicrobial clear coating to new or existing textiles. Their method uses polyphenols, commonly ...

Clothes Dryers Are an Underappreciated Source of Airborne Microfibers

Jan. 12, 2022 — No one likes when their favorite clothes develop holes or unravel after many laundry cycles. But what happens to the fragments of fabric and stitching that come off? Although it's known that ...

Sustainable Silk Material for Biomedical, Optical, Food Supply Applications

Jan. 4, 2022 — Researchers discuss the properties of silk and recent and future applications of the material. It has been used in drug delivery and is ideal for wearable and implantable health monitoring sensors. ...

Invention Lets People Pay for Purchases With a High-Five

Nov. 16, 2021 — Imagine your car starting the moment you get in because it recognizes the jacket you're wearing. Consider the value of a hospital gown that continuously measures and transmits a patient's ...

Tuesday, March 21, 2023