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Wow - are you still working in textiles? Been really interesting learning about the Pertext heritage ….we were trying to get hold of more archive pieces for the weekend here, perhaps you dyed the Rab fabric we had, which was stitched in Sheffield ….naming is a complete coincidence! Once you see the name, it appears everywhere, pubs, house names, animals etc etc
Chopsicle-
Unfortunately not still in textiles. I work in the Aerospace sector now. The company made poor investment in a packaging company, which didn't work out and ultimately led to the closure of the factory. We wove the fabric and then dyed and finished it all in the same factory. It was a real shame when it closed and I think I would have still been there now.
We definitely did work for Rab. I remember each batch we dyed had the customer on the job sheet that followed the it throughout the factory. We did W.L. Gore, Montane, Buffalo, Snugpak, North Face and plenty more.
We also did parachute material for the MOD and leisure sector.
We tried everything to get a new buyer, but ended up selling all the machinery abroad and Mitsui of Japan bought the Pertex brand. -
We used to make 10,000m rolls of fabric, which would then be slit down for typewriter ribbon.
Then someone had the idea of dyeing the fabric, adding a water repellent finish and then running the fabric between two massive heated rollers to close up the fabric and make it windproof. That's how Pertex started!
It was in the last few years before it shut when they were developing the lighter weight fabrics like Quantum. These were dyed on a beam rather than a jig so as to avoid damage to the quite delicate fabric. -
This is a beam dyer that the Quantum would be dyed on.
gt
I used to dye Pertex fabric when it was made at Perseverance in Lancashire until the factory closed in 2005. The name of the factory was Albion Mills. Is that just coincidence or is there a link to someone that worked there?