Swiss carpeting specialist Lantal on Tuesday introduced digital deep-dyeing technology, a sustainable process that promises significant savings of time, cost, and environmental footprint in the production of aircraft carpeting.
In contrast to traditional carpet manufacturing, which requires yarn to be dyed in the individual colors a pattern calls for, digital deep dyeing uses only undyed white yarn, and imprints the pattern directly into the raw fabric after the carpeting is produced. Moreover, digital deep-dyed carpets are “ultra-lightweight,” and can be created “within days,” greatly lowering production time, while the process significantly reduces water consumption and CO2 production over traditional woven carpet manufacturing, according to Lantal.
A family-owned company founded in 1886, Lantal developed the technology over the past five years with the intention of “doubling down on sustainability.”
While airlines are Lantal’s primary aviation customers, digital deep-dyeing can be deployed for custom applications and is “ideal for private jets,” Aviation Interiors executive v-p Luzius Rickebacher told AIN. The company might make digital deep-dyed carpeting available to business aviation via the aftermarket, through arrangements with MROs, for whom it currently provides custom traditional carpeting, though no such plans are currently under discussion, he said.