Today, we announced the latest advance in denim manufacturing, the NoStone®, a new system developed in collaboration with Levi Strauss & Co. The new process is designed to overcome economic, mechanical and environmental limitations of existing stone-wash processes.
The NoStone® system eliminates the use of pumice stone, replacing it with a stainless-steel abrasive drum, fastened to the washing machine. This drum can create a variety of finishes through flexible abrasion adjustments to create the look and styles varieties consumers love. Due to the mechanical – rather than chemical – nature of the process, the NoStone® effect is the same as that of stone-wash and reduces the carbon footprint created by using pumice stones.
NoStone® was developed to be applied in all Tonello machines and maintains the same load capacity, enabling easy adoption throughout denim manufacturing facilities. The lining can easily be removed, so the machine can also run normal washing and dyeing processes.
We expect the NoStone® process will reduce water consumption, production costs, carbon footprint, processing time and manual labor. The NoStone® process eliminates the dust and sludge generated from stones, it doesn’t damage the machine as pumice stones do, and it creates desired finish effects in both sampling and production machines.
When union makes a difference
Bart Sights, Senior Director of Technical Innovation in Levi Strauss & Co affirms:
The NoStone® innovation is a good and exciting example of how two iconic companies, Levi Strauss & Co. and Tonello, can collaborate in a way that brings sustainable technology to the industry. We challenged our team with the dream of a viable, mechanical alternative to pumice stones. Tonello created multiple rounds of machine prototypes which were tested in our production environment. The results have been very positive and we anticipate a scalable, cost-effective and sustainable process in the very near future. This will be a win for our two companies, but also the industry as a whole. And perhaps, most importantly, the environment.
All the advantages of NoStone®
- The NoStone® effect is the same as that of stone-wash
- No more stones and related mining, transport and storing
- No more damage to machine cylinders
- No more constant, costly cleaning and maintenance operations
- Less manual work
- No more need to dispose the stones, the sludge and to purify the waste water
- NoStone® almost entirely eliminates the carbon footprint (CFP) of pumice stones
- Reduced water consumption, production costs, emissions and processing time
