Edited by: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief

Tietex International, Ltd., one of the world’s largest suppliers to the bedding industry, has been serving the mattress industry since 1973. With the emergence of new health, fashion, performance and especially fire safety issues as major concerns for all mattress/bedding manufacturers and retailers, Tietex is making a significant strategic shift in business direction- the group formerly known as Tietex Tickings has been renamed Tietex Mattress Solutions, according to Reed Cunningham, president and COO of parent company, Tietex International, Inc.

To fully appreciate the significance of this strategic move, mattress manufacturers and retailers should know that Tietex has served the mattress industry for 35 years with a special focus on unique manufacturing processes, technology products and innovation to meet the fashion, technical and performance requirements of mattress textiles.

Historically, in response to the needs and desires of mattress/bedding manufacturers, Tietex has offered a broad line of various mattress fabric products. These have included over a dozen categories of what were called “Ticking Fabrics” including decorative panel fabrics, various blends, nylon, cotton, cashmere, specialty finishes, stitch-bonded, warp knit and woven and circular knit fabrics to name a few. Theses fabrics have also been enhanced with specialty fabric finishes such as Aloe Vera, Anti-bacterial and Antistatic chemistries.

Under the category of performance fabrics, two years ago Tietex introduced the Sleepfree™ family of flame retardant mattress components, including filler (bottom) cloth, sewing thread, knit socks for latex mattresses, printed tickings, and recently Kwiltz. Kwiltz will be showcased at the ISPA Expo in Baltimore. Kwiltz are FR border composites ready to slit and use in closing the mattress and foundations.

Tietex also partners with other organizations in the textile industry to offer unique products to mattress manufacturers. One recent result of such cooperation was Tietex’ introduction of BodyClimate by Polartec. BodyClimate is a state-of-the-art thermal control fabric with four way stretch and a patented construction that ensures an improved level of comfort on latex mattresses by wicking away moisture and controlling the temperature of the mattress.

Other textile products and services introduced recently by Tietex include cut panels, narrow regular and FR filler cloths for continental mattresses and foundations, cost effective alternatives to quilted borders and thermal control features as noted earlier. Commenting on their historical product development approach, Beth Hunt, Mattress Solutions General Manager notes that, “Over the years our product development teams have listened to customers and have responded to key needs: offering one-stop shopping, leading-edge style and design, complete fabric selection, exceptional hand and performance, sewability, thermal control and the most complete FR capability in the industry.” Hunt explains that until the late 1990’s the company’s focus was on decorative products. However, with the introduction of the no-flip or one-sided mattress, Tietex developed a regular filler cloth, and then went on to lead the industry in the design and development of FR filler cloth in 2004.

With the new strategic positioning as Mattress Solutions, Tietex will concentrate its technical, development and sales resources on a wide variety of high-performance fabric products essential to the current health, safety, fashion and performance demands of mattress manufacturers, Tietex will also continue to design, manufacture and distribute its line of decorative stitchbond and warp knit prints.

President Reed Cunningham said an emphasis on technical products would be the main agenda of Tietex Mattress Solutions. “In keeping with our long-term strategy to concentrate on the performance aspects of technical bedding fabrics, we are redirecting our resources,” he said. “In addition, we are expanding our manufacturing capabilities and revamping our national sales and customer support staff—all of which establish a total commitment to performance-based fabrics,” he added.

Capitalizing on the company’s core technologies, Tietex will now offer one-stop shopping for FR products and services. The company will offer manufacturers compliance procedures and manuals and take a leadership role in offering FR and technical consultation to their customers. The goal is to provide a full a range of Sleepfree FR products including custom designs and to make the process of compliance easier for manufacturers while providing assurance to retailers and consumers alike.

Mattress Solutions’ General Manager Beth Hunt said her division’s focus is in complete accord with the company’s mission to provide technical or engineered solutions to the challenges and problems faced by the mattress industry. “Since it was founded over 30 years ago, Tietex has earned a reputation for hatching new ideas; so the new Mattress Solutions programs do not surprise our customers who already view us as technical consultants,” she said. “In recent months, we’ve worked very closely with them on quality control issues—to help them find to tal solutions in what has become a complicated regulatory climate.”

For instance, Wade Wallace, Director of Sales and Marketing for Tietex Mattress Solutions, explained that recent legislation related to FR compliance has required numerous changes in the design and production of mattresses. “We essentially have made a total commitment to our customers to help manage these issues, and we are in the process of refocusing our sales efforts. Our goal is to be clearly seen as the industry leader in supplying cost effective, high performance FR textile solutions to our customers.” Wallace said Tietex Mattress Solutions would continue to provide a full range of mattress fabrics. “We will broaden our technical fabrics line but will continue to offer unique decorative fabrics with increased emphasis on improving their technical performance and FR capability,” Wallace said.

Hunt predicted the mattress industry would continue to evolve, as domestic manufacturers search for cost-effective ways to be in regulatory compliance. “The days when you could offer the same products every year are over. The future is much more complex; so we have now positioned ourselves to be in the forefront of change, by offering technical products, services and solutions that address the full range of safety, health, performance and fashion issues faced by mattress manufacturers and their retail dealers,” she said.