News & Events

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — June 22, 2021 — Today, Tidal Vision announced a new partnership with Leigh Fibers and the opening of a new production facility in Wellford, S.C. These developments transform the textile industry’s access to sustainable bio-based textile treatments that are now displacing millions of pounds of man-made, often toxic, chemical treatments used in the textile industry.

Many consumers are not aware that textile fibers used to produce their apparel, carpet, mattress, furniture and many other products are often treated with toxic antimicrobials and fire retardants. These nonbiodegradable chemicals, such as heavy metals like silver or copper, often end up washing out and polluting waterways. Historically, sustainable bio-based alternatives required textiles manufacturers to compromise on price or performance.

Tidal-Tex™ is Tidal Vision’s product line of water-based textile treatment solutions that are formulated with a non-toxic, abundant, and biodegradable biopolymer called chitosan. To make switching convenient, Tidal-Tex is customized to be a “drop-in” product that is usable in textile manufacturers’ existing infrastructure. Tidal Vision sources, extracts, and processes chitosan from crab and shrimp shells, byproducts of the seafood industry that would otherwise be discarded.

Tidal-Tex can be applied to textiles through a simple dip, spray or coating application where curing is as easy as drying, or removing the water, and leaving behind the desired performance benefits. Tidal Vision formulates different variations of Tidal-Tex to provide biostatic, fire retardant, or anti-odor properties to textiles. Tidal-Tex product line offers formulas with Tidal Vision’s patented crosslinking technology for unprecedented washing durability performance. These high-performance bio-based treatments are applied to fibers, yarn, woven or nonwoven textiles — which make up products ranging from furniture, mattress to apparel and more.

Tidal Vision and Leigh Fibers are looking forward to the positive impact their partnership will have on the textile industry and the environment. Tidal Vision’s CEO Craig Kasberg, said: “Our mission is to create positive and systemic environmental impact. In the textile industry, to have the biggest impact it made sense to start with fibers treated at the top of the supply chain. Leigh Fibers was our ideal partner since their mission, values and business model are so synergetic with ours. Both of our companies produce sustainable solutions by upcycling byproducts that would otherwise end up in landfills, and through vertical integration we provide high performance products out of what was previously considered waste.”

“Partnering with Tidal Vision is a win-win for our company, our customers, and the environment,” said Eric Westgate, senior vice president of Leigh Fibers. “Their Tidal-Tex product line delivers the key benefits that our customers look for in textiles at a lower price and is made from sustainable materials in the USA. At Leigh Fibers, we’re committed to advancing sustainable innovation and repurposing textiles for a cleaner, healthier planet.”

The opening of Tidal Vision’s new 24,000 square foot facility within Leigh Fiber’s 1,000,000 square foot headquarters provides for economies of scale in the heart of the U.S. textile industry. The facility delivers Tidal-Tex chitosan solutions at a lower cost than the traditionally used synthetic chemical textile treatments. This transformational shift in cost and availability of environmentally friendly bio-based textile treatments empowers textile companies to displace toxic chemical treatments without compromise, which ultimately leads to less toxic chemicals washing out or leaching into waterways. Tidal Vision’s strategy is to provide these bio-based solutions at a lower price to advance their mission to create systemic environmental impact.

“Our proprietary lower-cost chitosan technology, combined with lower freight costs from our new facility, allows us to deliver our Tidal-Tex product line to textile manufacturers at a price point less than half of many heavy metal antimicrobials, such as silver and copper. This is the first time that fiber, yarn, and textile manufacturers have had an environmentally friendly option at a lower cost with equivalent or better performance. I believe the entire industry will adopt these bio-based chemistry treatments now that we conveniently have a facility in the heart of the textile industry and a reputable partner in Leigh Fibers” said Kari Ingalls, director of Textile Business Development at Tidal Vision.