Momentum Textiles Launches PVC Free Wallcovering

Momentum Group Showroom, Chicago. Photography courtesy of Momentum Textiles

Momentum Textiles is entering the wallcovering market with the launch of a collection of PVC free wallcoverings designed by Patty Madden. In line with its commitment to sustainability Momentum and Ms. Madden have developed a collection of 6 patterns in 82 colors that is entirely free of PVC.

Patty Madden

Patty Madden is known throughout the wallcovering industry as an innovator. Her knowledge of wallcovering design, innate sense of color, innovations in technology and pursuit of perfection made her the perfect choice to partner with Momentum as they made plans to bring a PVC free wallcovering line to market.

Ms. Madden said, “The technical problem is finding a material that can be heated to the right degree to accept the embossing of the pattern and then not lose that shape when it cools. There are also major issues with how the material accepts ink when it’s printed. Until about 2007 or 2008 there wasn’t a viable alternative to PVC that could meet these technical demands.

Around that time there was a breakthrough using TPO (Thermo Plastic Olefin) but when the economy tanked the breakthrough sort of got lost in the shuffle, and we didn’t see a major movement toward TPO. I’m thrilled that Momentum has decided to enter the market with a PVC free line. They have the marketing strength to really raise the awareness that now we can do PVC free wallcoverings.”

Together Momentum Textiles and Patty Madden set out to design a sustainable collection that would not only be beautiful but would support Momentum’s sustainable product offering, be useable for the broad contract market and perform as well as vinyl wallcovering.

The result is Momentum Textiles’ foundational collection, which enters the market with 6 patterns suitable for everyday use in a broad range of application settings. The line works perfectly well in corporate, hospitality, higher education, healthcare and retail environments.

Patty Madden uses a proprietary embossing technique that she developed. Called “Lenticular Design” it is a manufacturing technique that creates a three-dimensional effect by manipulating the reflected light and shadow on the surface. Says Ms. Madden, “I pioneered this engraving technique in order to subtly harness the light at angles to achieve the pattern I wanted to see.”

The Wallcovering Collection can transform any space. The patterns Ms. Madden designed have an interesting way of looking slightly different when viewed from different angles.

The Wallcovering Collection delivers exceptional performance along with its sustainable story. It cleans easily and hangs beautifully without the environmental issues of a vinyl wallcovering and it costs no more than vinyl wallcovering. (See the entire collection in the photo gallery below.)