NOSTONE
THE STONE AGE IS OVER
WHY DID WE DEVELOP NOSTONE?
Stone-wash has several environmental, economic, and mechanical disadvantages.
Pumice stone is a limited resource, and many quarries, especially those in Europe, have already been closed for years due to the depletion of the raw material. The depletion of quarries has caused the deterioration of the landscape and the shrinking of beaches on the islands from which the pumice was extracted.
Stone-wash generates a huge carbon footprint
Due in part and primarily to what happens before the actual process. In fact, the stone has to be extracted by diggers, loaded onto containers and taken for grinding. The pumice stone is then ready to be transported to laundries, where it requires storage space.
Stone-washing also requires a lot of manual labor in the laundry.
The stone must be loaded along with the garments inside the washing machines. At the end of the process, the pumice stone must be removed from the washing machine, and the garments must be cleaned of the dust generated by rubbing. In most cases this process must be done manually.
Dust generated inside the machine also causes clogging of filters and pipes. Keeping the washing machine in good condition requires costly and continuous cleaning and maintenance, which also includes removing the sludge generated by the absorption of water by pumice stone residue. Filters must also be replaced every two months to ensure their proper functioning.
Other environmental damage is caused by wastewater generated at the end of the stone-wash process. This water requires very expensive purification systems for the total removal of TSS (Total Suspended Solids) before it is discharged. In some countries, for economic reasons, this operation is bypassed and the wastewater discharged directly outside into the seas and rivers.
Another factor to consider is the life cycle of the pumice stone, which tends to wear out quickly wash after wash and soon become useless for garment treatment; of course, once its effectiveness is “exhausted,” the stone must be properly disposed of. The process also produces dust and micro-dust in the work environment, which, in the long run, can create respiratory problems for operators.
The process cannot be controlled, as everything in the washing machine is abraded by the stone, including the drum itself. This exponentially shortens the life cycle of the machinery, equally increasing production costs.
THE NOSTONE PROCESS IS THUS CAPABLE OF REVOLUTIONIZING THE TREATMENT OF THE DENIM GARMENTS AND MAKING A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND INCREASING SAFETY FOR WORKERS.
NoStone® eliminates the need for pumice stone, is reusable, installable on existing Tonello machines, and its latest version is more durable. In addition, the new easy-lock feature (available on all models) allows it to be installed and removed in minutes
NoStone® zeroes out the emissions associated with the procurement of pumice stone, i.e. its extraction, transport and processing
NoStone® is easy for the operator to use: the system is lightweight, easy to handle, and requires no extra handling of garments, such as that required with any traditional process to load and unload the stone from the washing machine
NoStone® is more responsible because the system does not generate dust, sludge, and micro particles that can clog filters/pipes and must be properly disposed of, has a long service life, and can be regenerated
NoStone® is less cumbersome: say goodbye forever to carts and bags full of stones, always in the way and needing to be stored in large spaces in the laundry. When not in use, the NoStone® is slim, stackable and not bulky at all
NoStone® is good for your wallet, as it eliminates all those costly and time-consuming operations associated with the use of stone: the disposal of sludge, dust and pumice at the end of each process, the purification of wastewater, the cleaning and maintenance of the washing machine, which is damaged by the stone, drastically reducing its useful life
Last but not least, NoStone® achieves the same taste as traditional stone-wash with less water, as it allows you to skip all the rinses needed at the end of the process to remove the sand/dust from the garment