Look, they've invented ... linen!

[iain robb]

Came across this article on another forum:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703696704576222800474866630.html

Key quote:

"Last month, Naturally Advanced Technologies, a small Portland, Ore., maker of sustainable fabrics, said it signed a 10-year deal with Hanes to "commercialize" flax fiber. The fiber is typically discarded after the plant is harvested for its seeds and oil, which are used in health foods and industrial products."

Um ... isn't that linen, which has been around for centuries? Linen is, by definition, cloth woven from thread made from flax fibers. What am I missing?

[Auryn]

maybe they are making a big deal of it because they have figured out a way to reduce the production costs hence the "commercialize"  comment??
I dont know

[Anna Iram]

I was reading some links about linen processing and there is a process called "cottonizing" that cuts down on costs by using cotton machinery...different I guess from regularlinen processing, so Hanes won't need to invest in much new equipment. I'm betting this is what they'll be doing. Either way, both linen and cottonized linen have been around, so no, not anything really new. I think they are trying to cash in on the "green" movement. By product being they save money.

[gem]

It sounds like they've figured out a way to use the waste products for cloth production, which is exciting, because think of all that good linen going to waste! I imagine that linseed oil, etc, were initially byproducts of flax's textile applications, but as linen fell from popularity (since everyone no longer wears yards of linen undergarments on a daily basis--which is kind of a shame, since it would be a thousand times easier to take care of now!) became the primary cash crop for a lot of flax growers, and as "organic" fabrics are gaining ground right now, growers were looking for ways to capitalize on that movement. It might not be "new," exactly, but it sounds like a good thing!

[Anna Iram]

I found an article on The WallStrret Journal about this. It looks like Hanes is in patnership with a company that has found a way to treat flax fibers with an enzyme that makes linen stronger, more absorbant, and less prone to wrinkles. They are calling it Crailar. Makes me curious. I hope this is a kinder gentler product to produce than cotten. Cotten is so harsh on the environment.

An amusing sidenote: Hanes was also looking into using hemp fibers in their garments, but decided to go with Crailar because they were concerned with how to market hemp.  Seriously?.....

[gem]

Crailar? That's a HORRIBLE name! It's like Craig's List + Trailer park. Ugh. They ought to have asked us. I think we could have come up with lovely names for a new kind of linen textile.

[Elennare]

An amusing sidenote: Hanes was also looking into using hemp fibers in their garments, but decided to go with Crailar because they were concerned with how to market hemp.  Seriously?.....

Well, it does have a pretty strong connection with "hippies" and smoking a particular version of the same plant..  I could see how that could create issues for marketing to the general public.

[Anna Iram]

They should have used the "founding fathers" "all american" slant.

Yeah...that name, Gem. Makes me think of a Japanese mega monster.

[LordPaulet]

Reason for the name:
Named after the town of Craik, Saskatchewan

[iain robb]

Then why not call it Craiken? 

[DonaCatalina]

ROFLMAO

Release the Craiken!

[NoBill Lurker]

ROFLMAO

Release the Craiken!