Textiles Alive operates the largest fabric printing plant in New Zealand. The custom-built facility spans more than 17,000 square feet and houses some of the largest dye-sublimation fabric imaging and pressing machines in Australasia. Housing more than 25 pieces of capital equipment to deliver fabric printing and finishing.
Common applications for our printed fabric include event displays, banners, posters, lightboxes, flags, tablecloths, apparel and even furniture.
We run a vertically integrated printing business and as such we do our printing, pressing, cutting, and sewing inhouse. This allows us full control of materials, lead-times, and quality.
Our customer base spans every industry imaginable and every conceivable use for printed fabric. Over recent years we have moved to develop, manufacture and stock hardware to meet these demands such as flags, exhibition solutions, fabric tension structures, signs, counters, furniture, specialty signage, lightboxes, and retail displays.
With an on-going investment into the latest technology and capable textile print, press and finishing equipment we are sure to offer our customer the absolute best. Most of the machinery installed in our plant is considered the most innovative available today – not only in locally, but globally.
Our fabric printing plant has a collective capacity to print 984sqm an hour in house. This equipment not only provides increased efficiency and volume, but also ensures that when it comes to image reproduction quality, there is no competition.
With our aqueous-based European machines we are able to produce exceptional image reproduction through the dye-sublimation fabric printing process, dramatic four colour printing, deep colour saturation and wide colour gamut. They feature ultra-high resolution of up to 2,400 dpi and four level greyscale printing with 4pL to 18pL drop sizes. Many of these machines operate at 3200mm and 3400mm wide, allowing us to print on most fabrics available at 3200mm wide with no seam. Our plant is also the only site within New Zealand that houses multiple 3200mm wide dye-sublimation fabric production machines.
When considering our pressing function, the state-of-the-art European pressing machines have been designed specifically for pressing of high-end printed fabrics used in the fashion industry, internal furnishing, and display fabrics. The uniformity of the end result and impressive colour reproduction is due to the exclusive method of heating the cylinders, with a patented design, that allows close and constant temperature control. This guarantees excellent print quality in terms of both uniformity and penetration of inks. The wide range of operating temperatures obtainable within the cylinders means that production can be altered to account for a wide range of substrates to ensure these are easily processed.
Our extensive experience in pressing means we are able to offer you sound advice and solutions based on a wide range of fabrics, whether they are woven, mono or bi-stretch fabrics, etc.
When considering our cutting function, we have the capacity to cut 562 lineal metres per hour in house. The hi-tech European laser machine allows an optimum use of printed fabrics due to a specially developed scanning system that scans the entire bed within 3 seconds before starting the cutting process. The feeder system advances the fabric, keeps it flat and eliminates waves on the surface. By limiting the operator’s involvement, we can warrant an accurate cut every time. The machine will also compensate automatically for shrinkage and distortion eliminating the need for manual measurements. Fabrics will be accurately cut on-size with sealed edges ensuring that there is no fraying as well as cut the contour of the image.
Our plant offers not only the largest, but the only laser cutting bed in New Zealand and is able to handle fabric rolls up to 3200mm wide. The bed surface is more than 25sqm and features a series of automated feeding controls to ensure maximum efficiency. The controlled laser-cutting solution is recognised as the most advanced method of cutting textiles and incredibly the cutting point never touches the fabric. The overhead projection controlled remotely when required ensures the most accurate cut possible.
When considering our sewing function, we have the only dedicated sewing team in the country running our state-of-the-art finishing equipment. The collective sewing team come all walks of life and bring their sewing and finishing skills to some of the most complex fabric deliverables imaginable, these people are probably the smartest in the building. We boast a suite of European finishing machines, including fully automated sewing machines through to more manual specialised equipment, to allow us to service our client’s needs in the dye-sublimated graphic production. This choice allows us to ensure the highest quality and flexible solutions when finishing and manipulating the dye-sublimated textile imagery.
Across our finishing team and machinery, we are able to collectively sew 238 lineal meters per hour in house. The skillset within the finishing team has been built up around our customer’s requirements and ranges from standard product with astronomical quantities through to small run bespoke items that are manufactured under contract.
We use our machines to ensure that we achieve consistency within our finishing and to achieve undeviating high-quality flat seams, curved seams, and correct positioning. This reduces production time so our finishing team can spend more time on working on collaborated bespoke projects where they really shine.
Textiles Alive is a premium dye-sublimation textile production house in New Zealand. As a trade-only fabric printer we guarantee a collaborative approach in the delivery of textile-centric solutions to market. Privately owned, the business was established in 1980 and has been at the forefront of the fabric printing local market. We have a relentless focus on innovation, ensuring that we lead the industry in best practice, world-class delivery and personalised customer service.
