The beauty of our flocked flooring product, Flotex FR, is the sheer flexibility it can offer. As well as the traditional rotary printing method, Flotex FR can be digitally printed, enabling anything from company logos to HD photography to specific Pantone colour references. What’s more is the process is relatively simple, meaning we can produce high volumes quickly.

The same way that our Flotex Colour range is produced, the base product for the Flotex Vision range is manufactured at our Ripley site in the UK, you can read more about it here.

Before production begins, customers can choose one of our many existing designs or have something completely unique created. If they choose a custom design, our dedicated design team at Ripley is on hand to create the necessary files in order to print. The design files are then sent to our team at Chateau Renault, France.

Once the white base product is made in Ripley, Flotex FR is shipped to Chateau Renault to be digitally printed.

Before printing can commence, a pre-treatment paste is applied, helping the inks to fix onto the fibres. The base material is then steamed to ensure all of the fibres are angled the same way from the start to the end of the roll. This is to ensure the final print is of a consistent high quality.

After steaming, the product is then sent to print at a resolution of 604.8 dpi.

Once printed, the product is steamed then sent through the washing room to remove any unfixed inks. After, the Flotex material is then carried through a drying machine to avoid ink transferring and to keep colours sealed.

Here are some examples of the quality that can be achieved through the digital printing process.

Bespoke design for Translink NI Railways, Northern Ireland

Wood effect design from the Flotex Vision range for David Fishwick Minibuses

Custom digitally printed Flotex for Innotrans 2014 exhibition

A Flotex portrait of Keith Strode Penny, owner of transportation design house, Barnacle Design

Written by Chloe Taylor – Marketing, International Key Accounts