Inside Outdoor Summer 2017

36 / 76

Clean(er) Polyester
Polyester’s ubiquity in the outdoor market
and its consequential impact have given rise
to technologies aimed at improving the dye
process on several fronts. One of which was
featured in Inside Outdoor Summer 2014,
“Dyeing to be Clean,” a look into waterless
supercritical CO2 dyeing. Another new ap-
proach, with potential lower cost of process
integration and with low or no water usage
could well be a formidable competitor. These
two disruptive technologies have similar
ends, but the following illustrates how differ-
ent they are, starting with supercritical CO2.
A supercritical fluid (SCF) is simply a
lesser known phase of matter unlike the
very familiar solid, liquid and gas states.
The supercritical phase is where matter
transitions back and forth between a liquid
and a gas (Figure 2). The Yeh Group’s Dry-
dye Technology takes advantage of polyes-
ter’s physical characteristics and combines
them with carbon dioxide’s supercriticality to
make a waterless dye process. What makes
CO2 especially well-suited to this process is
its ability to swell polyester.
Additionally, enabled by its gas-like,
low-viscosity behavior, the dyes piggy-
Figure 2. The critical point were carbon dioxide (CO2) becomes supercritical
is at 88F/31C and 1,071 pounds per square inch/7.39 MPa (Image: Creative
Commons CCO 1.0 Ben Finney, Mark Jacobs, 2010)
Poorly designe
Slow respondin
sales or custo
Poor features/r
on social medi
Customer servi
via phone or in
Source: KOA
Which of
you stop
(Please s
Source: KOA
Liquid
Gas
Solid
Supercritical
Fluid
Critical point
1
10
200 250 300 350 400
100
1,000
10,000
pressureP (bar)
temperature
T (K)
Triple point
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
19951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017E
Retail Unit Closings, USA, 1995-2017 YTD
Source: Credit Suisse
Unit Closings
Average
Percent o
Source: Retail Touc
Manage branded
Promote special i
Increase our ema
Increase adoptio
Alert staff when V
Promote our loya
Deliver survey to
Track visitors’ pat
Determine how
5%
5%
3%
3%
3%
3%
Leisure
Anywhere
New for 2017, Coghlan’s has introduced
a full line of nylon parachute hammocks
and accessories for lounging in the great
outdoors. With single, double and insect
mesh hammocks, Coghlan’s has the perfect
hammock to meet your customers’ needs.
cl_insideOutdoorJuly2017.indd 1 12/07/2017 11:18:20 AM Inside Outdoor | SUMMER 2017 36