Dartex Coatings was acquired by the Harris Watson group in 2001. With a UK operation in Nottingham and a USA plant in Slatersville, Rhode Island, the business offers transfer coating and lamination solutions to customers worldwide from both sides of the Atlantic.
Managed by Shaun Ambrose-Jones in the UK and Patricia Tilden in the USA, Dartex Coatings employs 90 people and has a combined turnover in excess of £10m.
The primary market is the supply of fabric to the healthcare and outdoor industry. They also supply the trenchless piping repair market (CIPP) and have a well-established business for weatherproof protective wear and high-breathability workwear.
Dartex Coatings continues to provide technical solutions for the use of fabrics to their customers. Recent technical developments include Silver3®, a fabric which kills MRSA for use in hospitals, and MelaphosFRTM, a patented, halogen-free, fire retardant coating for public buildings and transportation.
- Developed by Dartex Coatings and Smith & Nephew Extruded Films, Dartex Silver3 is proven to kill 99.9% of microbes on contact, when incorporated into a medical device.
- Flame retardants containing halogens are widely used but research indicates they can damage the environment and accumulate in animals and humans. European and US legislation is progressively banning their use. New from Dartex Coatings is MelaphosFR™, a break-though in halogen-free flame retardant technology, which delivers superior flame retardant performance without impairing coating integrity or product performance. MelaphosFR™ is a superior and safer flame retardant.
- Our transfer laminating line is a one-off design with great flexibility for handling different substrates. We can also use a variety of techniques such as solution casting films or direct application of hot melt webs. Dartex can laminate films between fabrics rendering them impermeable to both wind and water. This process also achieves high degrees of moisture vapour transport, without interfering with the fabrics' own characteristics such as drape and particularly, stretch.
- Our transfer coating line is a one-off design with a high degree of flexibility for handling different substrates. Transfer coating and stretch are production partners and no one does it better than Dartex. The basic principle of the process of transfer coating or transfer laminating is to solution cast a film on to a carrier medium that can then be transferred to a variety of substrates. An adhesive layer is then added to the film bonding a substrate to the initial layer.
- Dartex Coatings has manufactured literally millions of metres of Dartex fabric found in hospitals all over the globe. No other transfer coating company can match its prestige or proven track record. We are proud to acknowledge that Dartex fabrics significantly contribute to the health and quality of life for patients world-wide.