Laser Washing Sheds New Light on Occupational Safety in the Textile Industry
Sandblasting: The Source of Distress in Garment Processing
“Sandblasting is so fatal; it’s a totally unnecessary process”, states Sam Maher, who works at the Clean Clothes Campaign, an organization determined to improve the working conditions of people within the garment industry.
In 2016, Turkish researchers found a (causal link between sandblasting in the textile industry and silicosis. There have been 78 registered deaths so far, according to Physician Y. Yasin, although she fears many more people “have died in silence at their hometowns”. An estimated 5000 workers suffer from this condition within the garment industry alone.
Today, companies are interested in developing techniques that reduce pollution and use of resources, while improving throughput and occupational safety. Laser Washing does it all. Laser Washing for denim finishing, an eco-washing process, has yielded impressive benefits in terms of textile production efficiency. This new technology cuts the energy consumption by 62%, water consumption by 67% and chemical use by 85%. Additionally, it reduces the time spent on denim finishing processes by up to 55%. Our CleanTech™ family of laser cleaning systems offers clothiers a user-friendly, ethical, and efficient solution for a plethora of garment finishing processes.
What industries use laser technology?
The garment industry isn’t the only industry that should be concerned with the working conditions of people. Sandblasting within any industry is “totally unnecessary” when laser cleaning technology is an affordable process that requires no maintenance, no reoccurring material costs, and is unknown to cause any health conditions in conjunction with the operation.
Paint Stripping, Surface Preparation, and Corrosion Removal from steel and aluminum can be done easily and quickly with laser cleaning equipment—without damaging the base material. This process doesn’t expose the operator to harmful inhalants; unlike abrasive blasting or wet chemical processing. Those methods strip years from the lives of the workers conducting them: which is why they are under scrutiny from the FDA and EPA.
What is laser cleaning?
Laser cleaning is a process that removes debris, contaminants, dirt, or impurities (e.g. silicon, rubber, coatings, carbon, oxides, etc.) from material surfaces by using laser irradiation. The benefits of using a laser cleaner are that it is extremely environmentally-friendly, has low maintenance and implementation costs, and has myriad applications across almost any global industry.