Subscribe to Furniture Today
Research Store
RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email

Share this on
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

Hickory Springs names bio foam

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 12, 2006

Hickory Springs has named and put into limited production a new upholstery and bedding foam made from biological raw materials, rather than non-renewable petrochemicals.

The product, using materials from Cargill, will be marketed under the trade name Preserve. Hickory Springs expects to announce at the High Point market in April which furniture and bedding companies will market the first products using the new foam.

The new product comes at a time of rising petroleum prices and concerns about raw material availability after last year's Gulf Coast hurricanes interrupted the flow of chemicals used to make foam.

It is Hickory Springs' first foray into the creation of flexible polyurethane foam that replaces a portion of its petrochemical-based ingredients with a material made from a sustainable, renewable resource. The company said that it provides cushioning that is comparable, if not better, in quality and performance to oil-based foams.

"Our goal is to find new uses of resources and to avoid the waste that has been part of our industry's history," said Bobby Bush, vice president of foam and environmental technology for Hickory Springs.

"Not only is Preserve, which incorporates bio-based polyol as an active ingredient, an attempt to lessen our dependence on oil, it is also an opportunity to steer our industry's thinking away from its short-term mindset," he said. "This gesture may be small in impact, but we feel that Preserve is the initial step in what would be an arduous but fruitful move by the foam industry away from dependence on a product in short supply."

While the concept is not new, the company said the product previously has been out of reach due to constraints of economy and technology.

RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email

Share this on
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

Resource Center

Featured Company


Related Resources

Advertisement
More Content
  • Blogs
  • Photos

Sorry, no blogs are active for this topic.

» VIEW ALL BLOGS RSS

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

Here is a selection of products shown at this month's International Gift & Home Furnishings Market here.

Networking at the 13th annual F/T Leadership Conference

NAPLES, Fla. — Industry executives and guests took the opportunity to network and play golf during down time at Furniture/Today's 13th annual Leadership Conference here this month.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES

research marketing module
FT Industry Resources module
eNewsletters
eletter_callout_box_FT2
About Us   |   Advertise   |   Site Map   |   Contact Us   |   Subscription   |   Affiliate Links   |   RSS
© 2012 Sandow Media LLC.All rights reserved.
Use of this website is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy