TMC has introduced Herculan, the world’s first product that offers performance benefits of wool coupled with unmatched durability and sustainability for apparel. Due to its unique durability, Herculan is a technology that opens the door for wool to be used in high abrasion and impact zones in apparel and other applications, without succumbing to wear.
A result of more than three years of R&D, Herculan is a patented technology that was developed by making ground-up modifications to TMC’s proprietary Nuyarn spinning machines, enabling them to accommodate strong wool – the coarsest and most durable grade of wool fibers (>38 microns) historically suitable only for interior textiles, like flooring and upholstery. This “carpet wool” as the industry coins, has a low market value, and during recent bearish years, is often cost-prohibitive to process, package, and ship, and therefore discarded into landfills, the company said in a press release.
According to the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), it is estimated that anywhere from 40-50 per cent of the global wool yield is Interior Textile Wool. With the new innovative technology, these coarse long wool fibres are drafted around a performance filament, creating an extremely fine yarn – Herculan – which, pound for pound, outlasted some of the industry’s leading synthetic textiles in the Martindale abrasion tests.
In addition to its extreme durability, Herculan has significantly better performance and comfort benefits to both natural wool textiles (that is twisted) and synthetic fibres alike; efficient moisture management and quicker dry times, higher volume, aeration, elasticity, and thermal retention, non-reflective, quiet, and naturally odour-resistant. This is due to Herculan’s unique yarn construction –-like Nuyarn – which is built by drafting carpet wool around a performance filament without twisting or fraying.
“We are incredibly excited to be introducing Herculan. There is nothing like it on the market and it meets the needs of consumers, who want more sustainable and durable natural fibres in their garments, while also creating new potential categories for performance and technical apparel brands,” said TMC Ltd. CEO Andy Wynne. “When we first started working to transition carpet wool into the apparel sector, everyone thought we were crazy because it has never been done before. But we had a vision and were determined, and ultimately our team found the solution. The durability, performance, and comfort results speak for themselves.”
Sustainable manufacturing processes like Herculan, which take advantage of materials that are often cast aside, simplify supply chains and encourage end users to waste less by making natural fiber garments that last longer and have performance comfort benefits.
