The Tour de Yorkshire is a three day cycling stage race and staged in Yorkshire over 28-30 April 2017.

Although this is not really a textile story – as the Day 2 stage included my home town Pateley Bridge I would like to post this item.

I should add however one of my clients – New Zealand Merino work closely with the active outdoor sports sector and lightweight wool sports clothing is a growing sector (companies such as IceBreaker NZ).

But back to the race……

Day 2 was 122.5 km long and began in Tadcaster, ending in Harrogate.

Record breaking crowds over the 3 days saw numbers rise from 2 million spectators last year to 2.2 million this year. The men’s race winner was Serge Pauwels from Belgium. Whilst Yorkshire’s Lizzie Deignan won the Women’s Tour de Yorkshire.

It was a great spectacle and brought so many visitors to the north of England.

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USA Success!

I recently returned from a very successful 8 days in the USA. One of my clients WoolSafe, have a great new program we have introduced to 11 Wool Carpet and Rug companies. It was great to visit and meet some of my long term friends and colleagues in the industry again. WoolSafe are an organisation that provides after sales care services for carpets and rugs. The WoolSafe App is free to download is a great example of a practical solutions for the industry.

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For a second year in a row I have been a judge for the international Wool carpet competition, held Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. The other judges were Editors of leading consumer magazines – Country Life, Country Homes and Interiors, Homes and Gardens and Homes and Antiques. Over 200 entries ensured a strong showing for innovation and design. Some great products and the Awards evening was well received – especially by the winners….

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I have been an active member of the Textile Institute for 30 years, and I have enjoyed being a member of the textile industries leading trade organisation.

Therefore I was very pleased to take the role of Convenor for Floor coverings and play my part in the reviewing and amending of the latest edition of the Textile Institutes guide to Textile Terms and Definitions.

Working with me on this task were Al Ross CTexT FTI (NZ and China) and Alejandro Dandolo CompTI (Argentina) both colleagues are very experienced in the carpet industry and I would hazard a guess that we have 140 years experience between the 3 of us…..

The Textile Terms and Definitions have been published by the Textile Institute since 1954 and the TI note that it is “generally regarded as the established, most authoritative and comprehensive English-language reference manual of textile terminology”.

As long term textile people we were proud to play a part in the July 2014 revision.

For the first time this is available on the internet at www.ttandd.org

The Textile Institute (TI) is a unique membership organisation for textile professionals and serves textile related industries worldwide. The TI support the industry in many ways including industry awards and professional qualifications.

I was honoured in 2000 and was presented with a Fellowship of the Textile Institute and becoming a Chartered Textile Technologist and able as my colleagues above to use letters after my name. – Malcolm Sims CTexT FTI.

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I have worked on a few projects in the last few weeks where I have needed colour references, selecting potential ranges and new developments. I have always found the well established Chromatone colour reference system to be a great source of inspiration and with many dye houses, spinners and international mills using the same system, it is the best way to communicate colour. I certainly recommend this system to any developer or creative people wishing to construct a colour story.
See below the Chromatone story.

Chromatone Colour Reference System – The international reference source for carpet colour in use all over the world which can be viewed on www.carpet-color.com.

Chromatone is the premier international colour reference system used by the carpet/rug industry and is trusted by over 1400 companies in 69 countries worldwide. Since 1988, the 6 digit Chromatone numbering system has allowed colour to be instantly and accurately communicated between clients and also provides an excellent colour bank for use in product development. It now has an extensive colour bank of 2151 individual shades which are packaged to suit all markets and budgets.

All Chromatone collections are produced from 100% NZ wool because we believe this to be the best fibre to display colour. However, the system is not wool specific as other substrates can be accurately matched to the required Chromatone colour using a close arrangement we have with the major dyestuff suppliers.

The Chromatone Atlas comprises 1080 colours including 24 hues including 45 derivatives per hue producing a full spectrum of colour. There are 2 versions available, The Traditional which has 24 individual triangular cases and The Portable, an image of which is attached, has 6 trays housing the colours.. Both versions come complete with a strong case to store and protect the colours.

The Chromatone 360 & 600 Collections contain a full spectrum of 24 hues each having 15 or 25 associated colours and are smaller versions of the Chromatone Atlas. All the colours are housed in a carry case.

Additional Atlas Colour Collections provide a further 8 colour hues of 45 colours. In total an additional 360 colours packaged either in 8 individual triangular cases of 45 colours or in two banks of 180 colours in a case or all 360 in one carry case.

480 Intermediate Chromatone colours comprising Chalk, Mineral, Grey, Natural, Autumn, Chameleon and Strong colours housed as individual books or all 7 collections in one case.

The Carbon Collection – 64 graphite and earth colours ( greys and browns )

Contemporary Style – 60 mid tone shades

Glacial Collection – 24 enhanced colours.
Evergreen Collection – 24 forest canopy colours.
Treasure Chest – 24 colours based on gemstones.
Watercolours from Chromatone – 24 mid tone pastel colours.
All of these are now available in a 4 drawer unit.

Neutral Strip – 11 back through to white colours.

The total collection comprises 2151 individual colours.

Chromatone also have the expertise to design, develop and produce custom made colour collections using either yarn provided in any fibre by the customer or alternatively we are pleased to make our stock supported colour-bank available for this purpose.

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Over my career in carpets I have been involved in over 50 carpet inspections in the UK, New Zealand and the USA. These were a mix of consumer/residential inspections and large contract inspections. I have also been involved in court cases as an expert witness relating to carpet issues as well as being responsible for the running of a complaints department for a carpet mill. So I am quite experienced in the area of carpet complaints and investigation.

I decided recently to attend formal courses run by the WoolSafe® Organisation on ‘Carpet Inspection, Report Writing and The Investigation of Carpet Complaints. There is an exam to sit at the end of the course and I was pleased to have passed. I am now a WoolSafe® Registered Inspector.

Since starting my consulting business I have occasionally been asked to give an opinion on a number carpet issues, relating to technical criteria and carpet performance characteristics, so this new qualification is very useful and I must admit the course and entire process was very interesting and educational.

The course tutor was Dr Eric Brown, who is a world expert in the area of carpet inspections and complaints having also written many books on the subject. The courses were very practical, detailed and relevant and I certainly would recommend it for any carpet technologists involved in carpet complaints. Eric has a great relaxed style and he was able to illustrate many of the subjects with personal experiences.

The WoolSafe® Organisation is a cleaning industry service provider, devoted to promoting best practice in carpet and rug care through maintenance product evaluation and certification, education and training, and the promotion of professional cleaning and inspection services.

Established in 1991, the WoolSafe® Certification Mark is widely recognised in many parts of the world as the standard for excellence and safety of carpet care chemicals, both for professionals and consumers. It is used by many of the world’s largest suppliers to identify and promote those carpet care products specifically suitable for use on wool.

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