Has GBA ever tested polyester fiber insulation made from clothing?
Brian Timlick
| Posted in General Questions on
Has GBA ever tested polyester fiber insulation made from clothing? If so, what were the results and who makes it in North America?
Apparently, there is a huge push to use PET from recycled plastic bottles but little push to use recycled poly fabric. Some 75 to 80 % of Pet is used in fabric and it is largely going to landfills.
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Brian,
Over the past few years, several manufacturers have tried to market polyester insulation. The first two manufacturers who tried to launch polyester batts — Rtica Corporation of Stoney Creek, Ontario, and Dow Building Solutions of Midland, Michigan — have both given up and abandoned the market. Rtica is out of business, and Dow’s product (SafeTouch batts) was discontinued in 2011 due to dismal sales.
The latest entry into the market was Vita Nonwovens of High Point, North Carolina; for a while, the company tried to sell polyester batts under the EnGuard brand. As far as I can tell, EnGuard, like all the earlier brands of polyester insulation, is now extinct.
I thought there were a couple South American companies in the polyester fiber insulation biz, but I can't actually name them.
http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/safetouch-polyester-batt-insulation-dow
Richard,
The link you provided is consistent with my report. Dow's SafeTouch insulation is no longer available.
Nor, for that matter, is EnGuard.
Thank you Martin. Have you assessed the performance of SafeTouch or EnGuard before they were discontinued? Also, were they made of fabric or recycled bottles?
Brian,
According to the article in BuildingGreen, SafeTouch was made of 100% new virgin fibers.
EnGuard insulation was made of 50% new fibers, and 50% recycled fibers from plastic bottles.
I have not tested either product.