Marimekko partners with Origin by Ocean on sustainable textile printing

Finnish companies Marimekko and Origin by Ocean have joined forces in a pilot project to re-imagine a more sustainable textile printing process—the pilot aims to substitute synthetic chemicals and reduce the amount of chemicals used in Marimekko’s printing process.

Origin by Ocean is a Finnish technology and material innovation startup working on algae-based products. It uses a patented bio-refining process to extract bio-based chemicals from harvested harmful algae and ecologically farmed seaweed.

In the pilot, the company substituted a synthetic thickener with Origin by Ocean algae-based thickener within the print paste. A set of textile products was printed with Origin by Ocean Caerulo alginate, a print paste thickener made from marine biomass from the Dominican Republic, the company said.

Thickeners play a crucial role in the textile printing process, as they’re the main component in the paste. Testing the use of bio-based thickeners in printing process helps in the goal of reducing the amount of chemicals used in the supply chain.