Military and Protective Industries

Shawmut produces added-value textiles and laminated components in the USA for a diverse set of ultra-high spec protective technical fabric applications, such as flame, chemical and biological protection, military applications, and ultra-high-standard utility workwear.

We also have a storied history of supporting our home country during times of crisis and need. We made protective materials for the troops during World War I, bomb parachutes, field jackets and blankets during World War II, long underwear for soldiers during the Korean War, and are now manufacturing PPE to support the country through the pandemic and beyond.

Much of what we manufacture in the US uses trusted sources near our facilities, with a solid, long-term US supply chain base that goes back decades. That history fills us with the expertise to work with exacting environmental, regulatory and contract-specific compliance challenges others would walk away from.

Our vertical integration from yarn design and creation through coloration and finishing and unmatched lamination expertise allows us to hit those marks year after year, program after program, better than anyone else. Our certified material testing and color labs are unmatched in the industry for precision and repeatable color control. 

It all starts with our high-tech rapid color formulation and dye matching for color and consistency, through our visual and AI automated optical inspection. We’re experts in jet dyeing, beam dyeing and tank dyeing, as well as controlling the finishing process to understand how a color might shift in the finishing, heat setting, lamination, adhesive or molding processes.

One of our core competencies is the development and production of laminated hard and softshell materials capable of resisting extremely high temperatures, providing a protective barrier against harmful chemicals, and remaining durable against the elements and multiple commercial washes while maintaining a high moisture vapor transmission to guard against heat stress.

We use PVC/nonwovens and inherently flame resistant fibers – such as PBI®, Nomex®, and Kevlar® – structured into woven technical fabrics or knits, and combined with selectively permeable membranes.

We also craft composites for utility rainwear that conforms to requirements such as ANSI/ISEA 107 for high visibility workwear, flame resistance, and electrical arc resistance. 

Our other protective composites range from nonwoven/Saran® film laminates used to make HazMat suits, to durable surgical medical gowns capable of achieving ASTM F1670 and ASTM F1671 standards for blood and viral barrier resistance.