Wallcovering Basics.
Manufacturing Process.
OMNOVA Solutions
manufactures
our Bolta®, Genon®, and Tower® brands of wallcovering (along with our private-label wallcovering) at our 90,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Columbus, Mississippi. The facility is also home to our Custom Design Center and houses one of the industry's largest libraries of embossing rolls. In an average year, our Columbus plant produces almost 2,500 miles of wallcovering – enough to reach from New York City to Los Angeles.
The size of our manufacturing operation combined with our attention-to-detail allows for tremendous volume and great flexibility in the production of a variety of textures, colors, special treatments and patterns. Our short-run capability on many of our patterns provides an added dimension of service while meeting the demands of an evolving marketplace.
We are particularly proud that our Columbus facility achieved ISO 9001 certification several years ago. To maintain this certification, the facility has to continually meet strict standards in human and material resource management, exacting attention to customer service and unswerving devotion to product quality.
At Columbus, as with all OMNOVA facilities, we pay careful attention to energy-efficient, environmentally sound manufacturing processes. We pride ourselves in the flexibility and speed with which we produce a wide variety of premier quality wall surfaces.
Vinyl Wallcovering Production
OMNOVA produces its vinyl wallcovering in several stages. Each stage proceeds under stringent production guidelines to ensure that the resulting product meets our high quality standards before moving on to the next stage of production.
Mixing and Calendering
The initial stage involves a process called “calendering” (see illustration below). The process begins by mixing and heating several separate ingredients to a uniform consistency. This pre-mixed PVC-based compound then undergoes the calendering process. The compound is heated and “squeezed” through a series of hot metal rollers that flatten the vinyl compound into a sheet of vinyl film. The process is repeated until the film reaches a specific uniform thickness. During the final stage of the calendering process, a fabric backing can also be bonded to the film using a mixture of heat and pressure.
OMNOVA also produces some of our wallcoverings using a pre-mixed liquid vinyl called Plastisol and a proprietary manufacturing technique similar to the calendering process.
Printing and Embossing
The vinyl wallcovering base is now ready for printing and embossing. During this stage of the manufacturing process, large, specialized printing presses apply one or more stages of ink to the vinyl surface to create specific wallcovering color ways and patterns. It is also during this stage that a surface texture is applied to the wallcovering using carefully crafted embossing rollers.
Several printing options, such as blotch coating, spanishing, and tip printing can also be achieved at this stage to achieve numerous special effects. Our large printing presses allow us to create wallcovering patterns with especially large printed or embossed repeats.
In recent years, OMNOVA has invested heavily to maintain our position in regards to printing and embossing technology. Our printing fidelity, accuracy and tonal range, as well as our inking systems and color matching capabilities have all been enhanced in order to provide our customers the best possible quality of which we are capable.
Also recently, we have expanded our printing repertoire to feature new inking systems that include metallics, pearlescent pigments and interference inks.
Finishing
During the final stage of production, a finish or top coating is applied to the surface of the wallcovering. Several options of finish are available including a basic clear vinyl coating, our proprietary Prefixx® stain resistant top coating, and Tedlar®, a clear film laminate from DuPont that provides additional surface protection, durability and cleanability.
Afterwards, our wallcoverings are cut to specific lengths, rolled, packaged and ready for shipment.
Materials Used to Make Vinyl Wallcovering
OMNOVA wallcovering consists of one or more layers of a vinyl film combined with a woven or nonwoven fabric backing. OMNOVA uses a fabric backing because it adds strength and tear resistance to the finished wallcovering. Generally, the weight and strength of the fabric backing differs with each type of wallcovering. The lightest fabrics are used in Type I and the heaviest in Type III.
The vinyl compounds which OMNOVA uses in the manufacture of our wallcoverings consist of the following ingredients:
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin
The basic building block of our wallcoverings. Provides them with the added benefits of cleanability, durability, strength and abrasion resistance.
Plasticizer
Helps improve the pliability, cold crack resistance and processing ease of the PVC resin.
Stabilizer
Assists the calendering of the vinyl wallcovering. Some stabilizers provide heat resistance during the calendering process; others provide color stabilization during long term color stability after calendering. Stabilizers are a small part of the finished product’s total weight, but are vital to the manufacturing process and the life of the product.
Pigments
Are used to give the vinyl wallcovering base a specific desired color. Unlike our competition which simply prints color on top of a white base, OMNOVA impregnates the pigments throughout the entire vinyl layer.
Additives
Helps facilitate the calendering process by making the vinyl more “workable.” Additives such as fungicides and flame retardants also provide a degree of additional protection to the finished wallcovering.