Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On July 6th 2022, business magazine Fast Company spoke of fashion start-up Simplifyber of New York City making biodegradable shirts and shoes from liquid cellulose and 3D printed moulds. (Simplifyber’s material is made from a mixture of wood pulp, biodegradable additives and other plants.) This would eliminate the wasting of fabric that cutting and sewing would entail, while also enabling the addition of fabric dyes while the material is in liquid form to save water. In addition, the material can be recycled into other clothes at the end of its life.
Most of the material’s strength comes from an unspecified ingredient made from food waste, which CEO Maria Intscher-Owrang claimed results in it being circa 94% as strong when wet compared to when dry. Moulding the material’s shape also means that it’s possible to create textures on it as it’s made, as well as enable the texture to change on different parts of the product. For example, on a prototype of a sneaker, the designers were able to integrate different levels of thickness and padding in a single-step process. (The sneakers’ soles were 3D printed from another material via a collaboration with multinational information technology company HP of Palo Alto, California.)
After beginning with the high end of the market, Simplifyber intends to later begin mass manufacturing. Intscher-Owrang argued that the start-up’s methods could be more affordable than conventional fashion production, due to how much of the traditional supply chain it replaces, including spinning and weaving. She contended that at scale Simplifyber could theoretically produce as much in a day as a traditional factory would produce in a month. In a September 2022 interview with vegan business magazine Vegconomist, Intscher-Owrang boasted that Simplifyber hopes to manufacture what she described as “the first natural fiber 3D-molded shoes to ever hit the market” in 2023.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “Van Gogh – Drei Paar Schuhe” is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.
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