AIS, a manufacturer of commercial office furniture and seating, has partnered with Applied Textiles for Alta™ – a new textile performance technology that is bonded directly to AIS seating fabrics; the technology preserves fabric aesthetics and improves the life of upholstered seating products, ensuring seats stay looking their best years after installation.
Alta™ enables virtually any textile to withstand the rigors of real life – including oil- and water-based spills and stains – without leaving a mark. AIS is the first global office furniture manufacturer to offer Alta™ performance technology as a standard on AIS’s new line of Grade B seating upholstery. The technology can be specified on virtually any fiber-based fabric.
“Alta is built on the premise that all environments are not created equal. It’s a game-changing technology that renders old-school methods of textile protection obsolete – and we’re very excited to be the first office furniture manufacturer to offer this technology as a standard on a number of our woven fabrics,” said Brianne Devine, director of seating and tables, AIS. “This technology will keep all kinds of seating products looking great.”
Why Alta™ is different
Alta™ is a more comprehensive solution than other treatment products on the market; the technology provides the highest combination of repellency of liquids and cleanability of liquids and oil-based stains, according to Applied Textiles President and Founder John Schroeter.
“Real life is rough on fabrics – there’s just a lot of wear-and-tear that can happen with upholstered seating, especially seating in high-traffic areas. That’s where our Alta technology comes in: We design specific formulations to resist the conditions that fabrics live in,” Schroeter said.
Alta™ is permanent technology that lasts as long as the fabric itself. The treatment obsoletes temporary spray-on treatments. Alta™ will not change the way the fabric feels, or the fabric’s color, and eases maintenance demands while eliminating the need for harsh cleaning agents.
How Alta™ works
Alta™ uses less chemistry to create more performance. Applied Textile’s custom solutions utilize covalent bonding to create a permanent change at the molecular level of the fabric’s fibers. Due to the chemical bond, the treatment will not wear off or wash off. The change in chemistry creates repellency between the fibers and oil- or water-based spills and stains.
Alta™ is unique in its ability to specify an exact “recipe” for protection in a given environment – whether that’s stain repellency, fire code compliance, Durablock® waterproof barrier, puncture protection – or a combination of the above.
“For designers and specifiers, this ability to customize protection means not having to choose betweenbeauty and performance. For facilities owners, it means not having to pay for costly protections that may not be needed in a certain environment – and being prepared for those environments that do call for heavy-duty fabric protection,” Devine said.
Alta™ is a sustainable, environmentally responsible, water-based treatment that meets the requirements and standards of the US EPA, CAL Prop 65 and the European Union’s REACH standards for safe chemistry. Alta™ formulations can be designed to meet specific fire-code compliance standards.
Already available on select AIS fabrics
Alta™ is already available with standard lead times on AIS’s new line of Grade B seating upholstery, which includes the Frock, Sway, Mirage and Prospect fabrics. Through special request, Alta™ also can be specified on other AIS fabrics and COMs (Customers’ Own Materials) as long as the fabrics are fiber-based. In fact, all fiber-based upholstery – including fabrics with an existing finish or chemistry – can be treated with and benefit from Alta™. For the standard family of fabrics, there is no additional lead time to provide exceptional performance. AIS’s Alta™-treated fabrics feature a five-year warranty for stain resistance.