Textile World Breaking News Dyeing Printing & Finishing TPA TWA MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany — September 21, 2026 — The Monforts Advanced Technology Centre (ATC), initially opened in 2103 and subsequently expanded, continues to be an invaluable
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MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany — September 21, 2026 — The Monforts Advanced Technology Centre (ATC), initially opened in 2103 and subsequently expanded, continues to be an invaluable resource to customers from around the world in achieving new standards in fabric finishing.
Covering an area of 1,200 square metres, the Monforts ATC at the company’s headquarters in Mönchengladbach houses two full MONTEX finishing lines, engineered to accommodate an extremely diverse range of processes, in addition to a THERMEX range for the continuous dyeing of denim and other woven fabrics, a full colour kitchen and a number of lab-scale systems for smaller batch trials.
“The ATC allows our customers to test their own textiles and technical fabrics on Monforts dyeing and finishing machines under fully confidential, real production conditions,” says the company’s Marketing Manager Nicole Croonenbroek. “Using the results from these trials, we are also able to make recommendations for improving many fabric finishes.”
Technical textiles
A highly-controlled and contained environment was a key consideration when constructing the special MONTEX line for technical textiles at the ATC.
“Technical textiles are extremely diverse in their end-use applications and manufacturers can be called upon to quickly produce a succession of materials with widely differing properties and performance applications – often within a single shift,” explains Monforts Textile Technologist Saskia Bollhöfer.
“These range from substrates for digitally-printed soft signage to carbon fabrics for today’s high-performance composites, and from filter media which must perform in extreme temperatures to flame retardant barrier fabrics.
“These very different materials all require expert coating and finishing for maximum efficiency and the technology to allow for ultimate flexibility and the ability to switch quickly from one fabric formula to the next, without compromising on the economical use of energy or raw materials.”
Advanced functions
The technical textiles line incorporates a Montex four-chamber, horizontal chain stenter and is fitted with an explosion-proof coating application chamber in order to allow treatment to be carried out with organic solvents and other volatile materials.
Special features on the line relate to further advanced functions – the ability to treat materials not only at temperatures of up to 320°C, but also to be able to treat the top and bottom faces of certain materials at different temperatures within a single pass through the machine. There are many applications where employing two separate temperature treatments is beneficial, such as floorcoverings – where the textile face fabric is treated at one temperature and the rubber backing at another – as well as PVC flooring employing chemical foams or materials like black-out roller blinds with heavy backings.
At the same time, in the pharmaceutical indu
