Fabric4masks
Fabric4Masks is an urgent and current project to review and redesign woven protective materials to the highest possible technical level. This is done in a rapid 18-month iterative design process, where innovation takes place in a multidisciplinary team and with a proposed production concept that allows us to design, develop and iterate together with local experts and within local supply chains.
The aim of the project is to set up an agile regional network in the Eindhoven region, for prototyping and home production of masks, based on innovative 3D double-woven fabrics and state-of-the-art design methodologies.
The goal is threefold:
- Explore the possibilities of local production systems that can develop material with a focus on scalability, distribution and agile development of designs and production methods.
- Explore the potential of 3D woven materials for protective use, based on available production systems and material flows.
- Design and develop masks (or other fabric-based protective clothing) that by their design maximise the potential of the material developed in point 2 and the possibilities for distributed production in point 1.
Project budget €165,200, with €109,000 PPS surcharge being used.
The project is finished
The Fabric4masks project delivered an innovative washable woven fabric that filters on par with disposable masks based on melt-blown Polypropylene. The innovations include:
- A breathable woven material with high filtration capacity.
- A portable testing set-up to evaluate filtration and flow.
- A methodology example of close collaborations between science, industry and design.
- A set of weaving patterns and instructions making use of 3D weaving and local manufacturing capabilities.