Standard Textile Carolina Team Supports Front Line Healthcare Workers

Difficult situations call for compassion and creative ingenuity. At the onset of the pandemic earlier this spring, the Standard Textile team at our advanced manufacturing facility in Union, South Carolina took on the challenge to develop a new textile chemistry solution.

Typically focused on serving customers through the bleaching, finishing, and pre-washing of bedding and terry products, the goal for this new project was to transform existing sheeting substrates into a barrier fabric that could be used to make liquid-resistant garments for medical professionals and first responders on the front lines of the response to COVID-19.

Rapid Development to Make Liquid-Resistant Medical Apparel

Our Carolina team created and trialed new chemistry, applied the chemistry to several types of sheeting, and sent samples to our CORE laboratory in Cincinnati for review and approval within five days.

“With American based manufacturing operations and a local rapid prototyping and innovation center, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our extensive technical expertise and facilities to urgently provide needed personal protective equipment,” said Dr. Richard Holbert, Director of Development for Standard Textile.

Barrier Fabric In Production for Healthcare Workers

The Carolina team received approval to start making the new fabric on March 19 and immediately jumped into production. In less than two months, the team has produced 1.2 million yards of the barrier fabric and their efforts continue today.

In addition, the Carolina Terry Team was asked to begin assembling face shields for our workers in the medical field. Our associates were more than happy to take on the project and wanted to do what they could to help the greater cause. The team began assembling face shields on April 7 and have completed over 165,000 of them as of this week.

We are grateful to all our associates for demonstrating responsiveness, dedication, and commitment to our customers and front line healthcare workers. Together, we are making a positive difference.

Standard Textile team members making face shields at our Union, South Carolina manufacturing center.

Learn more about how Standard Textile increased production to support medical workers.