Nassimi Improves Their Product Standards for Sustainability

February 13, 2023  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry   

Staying true to its ethos, Nassimi’s commitment to 100% removal of PFAS is characteristically bold. As the first textile company to produce phthalate-free faux leather in the early 2010s and remove flame-retardant chemicals from its upholstery materials in 2017, Nassimi has always prioritized self-motivated product improvements.

Now, the company has reformulated the last of its textile lines containing PFAS, Resilience TX, to create a fully sustainable product portfolio that still delivers on performance.

PFAS, often referred to as fluorocarbons, are a large, complex group of manufactured chemicals present in a variety of consumer products, including performance fabrics, that do not degrade easily in the environment and may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals.

While many companies are just now beginning to develop PFAS-free alternatives as a response to current legislation in some states, Nassimi has always been at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing, engineering its fabrics to be PFAS-free from the get-go.

The majority of Nassimi products, including its revolutionary performance upholstery fabric Supreen®, have always been PFAS-free, while offering the same level of high stain and liquid resistance.

“Human health and environmental stewardship have always been of great importance to us at Nassimi. For many years now, we’ve been on the path to ending the use of potentially harmful chemicals in our fabrics, and we are proud to eliminate PFAS from all products,” said Executive Vice President at Nassimi Iwan Nassimi. 

“Given our prior experience developing PFAS-free alternatives, I’m confident that our customers and end-users will still find that the performance capabilities of our fabrics exceed expectations.” 

While conventionally used PFAS-free alternatives are often less effective in repelling stains, Nassimi’s state-of-the-art proprietary technology in the finishing process offers highly effective stain protection.

As an example, Nassimi’s Supreen® liquid barrier fabrics use a silicone-based stain repellent that is applied following a patented fabric-purification process. This allows for the silicone to fully embed itself into the textiles’ fiber to create an invisible layer of stain protection.

Likewise, the surface treatments of Writer’s Block polyurethanes, SiO silicones, and Resilience faux leathers provide exceptional stain resistance, without the use of any harmful chemicals.

There are four states with current legislation related to stain repellents used in furniture and upholstery textiles: California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. In general, these laws prohibit the sale or distribution of carpets, rugs, fabric treatments, upholstered furniture, or textile furnishings that contain perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl chemicals.

It is important to note that the first state to have a law against the sale of upholstered furniture to date is Maine. The law has two phases, the first of which is requiring a disclosure statement be supplied to the State of Maine for any company that ships products containing PFAS into the state of Maine. This requirement goes into effect on January 1, 2023.

The second phase, which prohibits the sale of furniture with PFAS, is scheduled to be fully implemented January 1, 2030. With most products already free of PFAS and all new production of Resilience TX converted, Nassimi is already ahead of the curve.