Komatsu Seiren Co., Ltd. recently received the Good Design Award 2016 for its Onibegie fabrics dyed with natural ingredients.
It is the third time that the company has won this award, and the first time for a fabric. Its Greenbiz ultra-microporous foam ceramic material was awarded in 2013, and Greenbiz G ultra-water-retentive and water-permeable interlocking blocks that were developed jointly with The Nippon Road Co., Ltd. in 2014.
Developed in 2014, Onibegie is a fabric in which synthetic fibers are dyed with dyes containing various natural ingredients based on components extracted from the skin of onions that are to be discarded. Generally, it is difficult for natural ingredients to adhere to synthetic fibers, and natural ingredients also fade easily.
Onibegie uses a special processing technique to modify the fibers so that natural ingredients easily adhere to the fibers and do not fade. It can produce natural expressions that cannot be produced by chemical dyes.
One of judges appraised Onibegie, saying, “It is an innovation that enables dyes containing natural ingredients to produce natural shades even on man-made fibers.”