Peek into Asia’s best garment washing plants

Ever wondered how a brand new pair of jeans is made to look worn and scruffy even before it reaches the seller or how a boring white t-shirt is transformed into a colourful garment? The Sunday Times FT got a chance to visit Brandix Finishing’s Ratmalana facility and find out exactly how this happens.

Brandix Finishing Ltd which started with 15 wash machines has, over the last 10 years grown into one of the largest players in the field of garment washing, dyeing and finishing – not only in Sri Lanka but the whole of Asia.

The Ratmalana facility offers such services as washing, dyeing with special finishes such as grinding and sandblasting also on offer while another Brandix facility at Avissawella mainly focuses on garment dyeing at the moment, says Felix Dias Abeyesinghe, Manager – Marketing & Merchandising. The Ratmalana plant provides employment to about 1500 workers with the Avissawella plant employing close to 600. The clientele of Brandix Finishing include giants in the international market such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Marks and Spencer, Next, Dockers, Levi’s, Diesel to name a few. The optimum balance, according to Abeyesinghe, would be a 50-50 split between the American and UK customer, but this varies with each season.

The receiving bay is where the journey began, with all garments that need to be washed, dyed and finished being brought there. The garments, brought there by customers within the Brandix group as well as non-group customers, are stored according to the process that it needs to undergo. Here the daily allocations are made for the washes.

From the receiving bay it’s on to the pre-wash inspection area where each load that comes is inspected on a random basis. “This is to make sure that the garments that we have here are suitable for washing,” Abeyesinghe told us. Depending on the product, what has to be done to the garment before it is washed will be recommended to the customer. The pre-wash colour standard is also checked. Once these are checked and the inspection is successful, the garments are sent for washing. If the inspection fails the garments are put on hold while the customer is advised. Confirmation from the customer will send the garments on their way to be washed. If no confirmation is received the garments are returned. The decision has to come from the customer.

Brandix Finishing boasts of the largest sampling facility in Sri Lanka which will be officially opened in the coming month. Explaining the importance of sampling, Abeyesinghe said, “When a buyer confirms an order the bulk order is not produced immediately. There are different stages of sampling that we have to go through before we hit the bulk stage. Looking at the samples the buyer will decide what they want to do in the final bulk ranges. Today customers decide on orders based on sampling turnaround and sample approvals. If we don’t get the samples right there is no bulk order.”

After sampling comes the dyeing stage. “Our strength lies mainly in garment dyeing. We as a finishing house concentrate on garment dyeing and special finishes,” he explained. After a garment is dyed it is sent to the washing machines to be washed. Here the garments undergo washes such as enzyme washes, stone washes, bleach washes etc. After washing the garments are sent to the dryers for drying after the water is extracted from them.

Brandix Finishing is also home to the biggest laser facility in Asia, where any kind of garment, ranging from children to adults, from pants to shirts, could be finished. Laser technology replaces the old technology of sandblasting. Laser technology is preferred by the customers as the accuracy is higher, and the fall-out rate is lower as it is computerized. Laser technology is also more environmentally-friendly when compared to sandblasting.

Processes like grinding, curing, hand-sanding, spraying, tying, painting also known as the special finishes are done in a separate area. The manual work done here is what most customers require and it is what adds value to the garment. Majority of the work force is involved in these manual processes. Grinding is the process where garments such as jeans are made to look old and worn by shredding the ends. “It is a risky job involving a lot of skill and talent and adds a lot of value to the garment,” Abeyesinghe noted, adding that the workforce that is employed in that area are all permanent workers who are constantly trained in these skills. Having a large workforce engaged in manual finishes is what the customers are looking for. Brandix Finishing has an in house multi-skill programme where employees acquire more than one skill, which also helps the company to retain people.

The final quality inspection area is where the final inspection before dispatch takes place. A 100% inspection is done here before handing over to the customer. If the garment does not meet the requirements of the customer it is sent back for re-processing.

The final stop for a garment that had been through Brandix Finishing is the final dispatch area, where it will arrive after the washing, dyeing, finishing and inspection. When the garments are ready for dispatch, the customer, on collection is required to count simultaneously with a Brandix Finishing representative, so as to avoid any conflict in the numbers.

Throughout the tour it was obvious that large amounts of water were being consumed by the facility. Since we found out what happens to the garments since their arrival at the plant, we were also keen to find out the fate of the water that is used.

Hilary Thiagarajah, Manager – Environment Research Engineering showed us around the waste water treatment plant at Brandix Finishing which treats the water that is contaminated in the washing, dyeing and finishing of garments. Water coming from the wet processes are treated in three stages, the first being the physical treatment which is also the primary treatment. Here the water is allowed to settle in a tank where all the suspended matter settles.

Thereafter it goes to the equalisation tank. Here, water coming from different processes (and therefore, containing different effluents such as softener, bleach, dye etc) are mixed together with defused air. This stage is called homogenisation.

Next is the biological treatment phase where microbes are allowed to grow in the water. Nutrients are added to the physically treated water to help the growth of the microbes and the temperature is also controlled to ensure the optimum temperature for microbial growth. Air is also pumped into the water. These microbes digest the chemicals in the water and die in the process. The dead microbes float on water creating the biological sludge which looks a lot like a dirty soapy scum on the water. A scraping arm rotating around the tank removes the sludge from the surface of the water sending the water to the third and final stage of its treatment, the chemical treatment.

Thereafter, chemicals are added to the water and it is sent to the DAF (Dissolved Air Floatation) unit. Here another sludge is formed and again, defused air brings the sludge to the surface. A rotor, which is a more advanced and faster method of sludge removal, gets rid of the surface sludge.

The water that finally comes out is clear and most of it is released to the drainage system, finally reaching the Lunawa lagoon, with about 10%-20% being retained for re-use within the facility.

According to Thiagarajah, research has shown that the sludge is high on nutrients and has a fertilizer value. “We’re planning on using this as a fertilizer,” he said. He pointed out that a research study that is being carried out with a student of the Moratuwa University shows that a mixture of sludge and soil, mixed at a particular ratio, promotes the growth of plants more than normal soil alone does.

The primary sludge is also mixed with cement and turned into cement blocks that can be used for construction work. This is also an ongoing research project.

With environmental pollution on the rise and its adverse effects on man and nature becoming more and more harmful, it is a welcome change to see companies such as Brandix Finishing trying to minimize the impact they have on nature while also maintaining the quality and standards that give them the edge in the national and international market.