Marimekko and Origin by Ocean partners to introduce algal-based thickeners for printing

Marimekko is a Finnish textile, clothing and home furnishings manufacturer. The company has entered a partnership agreement to work with Origin by Ocean, a company that refines algae, on a project pilot. This partnership focuses on developing a more sustainable print process for the textile industry.

Their combined aim is to work with a sustainable print paste thickener eliminating synthetic chemicals to minimise the use of chemicals Marimekko’s printing process.

The printing paste uses the most chemicals in its thickener. Origin by Ocean developed Caerulo, an algal-based thickener to replace chemically based chemicals in the printing paste.

Caerulo was used as a thickening agent to print a number of textile products in a test run. This confirmed the positive results while also serving the goal of reducing the chemicals used in supply chains.