Mitchell Faux Leathers

Doubletake is a high-performance double-sided fabric that gives designers two aesthetic options in one, and the ability to address multiple applications with one fabric.

 

At officeinsight we love to stumble upon newer companies that we find have great things to offer to our A&D audience. Such is the case with The Mitchell Group, a company founded in 2004 as a converter of coated fabrics to many upholstery markets around the world.

Bill Fisch, President of Mitchell Faux Leathers

The Mitchell Group converts Polyurethane (PU), PVC and silicone products manufactured in Asia. Since its founding, the company has traversed the world searching for the best way to create performance faux leather upholstery. It offers faux leather for commercial and residential applications, through a variety of pattern and color collections that speak to designers who want both peak design quality and sustainable ingredients and processes baked into the products they specify.

As stated on its website, “Our capabilities to decorate product include release paper, embossing, post processing, and two-stage printing effects. Our products are subject to rigorous testing, in-house at our production facilities and independently in the United States and Asia at various certified labs, before they are introduced to market, in order to ensure that standards of quality and technical engineering are met and exceeded.”

The Mitchell Group’s corporate offices are located outside of Chicago in Niles, IL with an additional 100,000 square foot distribution and customer service center in Pontotoc, MS. “The company has diverse sales networks with representation through a combination of internal house account specialists and independent territory and market specialists. Mitchell takes great pride in building and strengthening long-term partnerships with customers in various target markets.”

Jim Blesius

We spoke with Jim Blesius, Director of Marketing at The Mitchell Group, about a few of Mitchell’s newest products.

Sta-Kleen Silicone(SI) is a new member of the company’s Sta-Kleen family of coated fabrics. Made from 100% silicone with a 100% polyester double-knit backing that allows for better recover and 4-way stretch for easier upholstering, the fabric contains no plasticizers, phthalates, stabilizers, or heavy metals.

“There is nothing harmful in the product or in its manufacturing process, so Sta-Kleen Silicone is very environmentally friendly, and it represents where we believe the future of coated fabrics is heading,” said Mr. Blesius.

Sta-Kleen’s product information on the web clarifies the environmental benefits of a silicone fabric: “Silicone is an organic polymer unlike PU and PVC which are inorganic polymers. Simply put, organic polymers use cleaner building blocks, like Carbon, at the molecular level.

Sta-Kleen Silicone (SI) is a new member of the company’s Sta-Kleen family of coated fabrics. Made from 100% silicone with a 100% polyester double-knit backing, the fabric contains no plasticizers, phthalates, stabilizers, or heavy metals.

“The production process is as environmentally friendly as it gets. Sta-Kleen Silicone is produced through a one station casting process which uses far less energy than a traditional coated fabric manufacturing process. The process does not use any solvents and very little water. Less water to re-cycle (which takes significant energy) or in some cases leads to pollution. There is no VOC released and no air pollution.”

Mitchell’s newest product – just introduced in early February – is a clever design that gives designers two aesthetic options in one, and the ability to address multiple applications with one fabric. Doubletake is a high-performance double-sided fabric with a stain-resistant finish coated onto a soft suede fabric.

Available in 17 complementary two-sided colors, Doubletake has a polyurethane surface and a polyester backing. One example application would be to apply one side of the fabric to chairs, and then the other to a coordinating ottoman. Cost savings on specifying one fabric for multiple applications is an attractive benefit to using a product like Doubletake.

Both sides of the fabric pass the standards set by the Association of Contract Textiles (ACT), as well as most common environmental standards including REACH and RoHS.

Designers who take some time to get to know this company and its products will not be disappointed. We’re excited to see how Doubletake, Sta-Kleen Silicone, and future offerings develop in the contract, hospitality and healthcare markets.