To cut fabric samples fast and perfect, one needs a sharp punch knife and a tough underlying material. In Switzerland, a special polyethylene sheet was discovered to be an excellent alternative to traditional materials that are less durable

The fabric samples are cut out of large pieces of fabric, after which they are put together in a collection binder from which a designer can select the fabric needed for a specific design. Because the punching of the samples from the larger pieces of fabric has to be fast and clean cut, the punch knife has to be sharp and the underlying material has to be durable. In this case, a PE co-extrusion sheet was selected, consisting of three layers. The two outside layers are made of white PE, with a layer of black, with special stabilisers filled PE in between.

Automatic sharpening of knifes

Because the top of the PE material is capable of recovering automatically and closing itself after being cut though, the fabric is not damaged by cuts in the underlying material. The bottom of the PE sheet does not damage due to its durability. Additionally, the special, co-extrusion, stabilisers filled layer in between takes care of an automatical sharpening of the punch knifes.