SAFF Panels
Sound absorbing fast fashion panels By Astrid MacFarlane
Figure 1, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘My Wardrobe’ Figure 2, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Silk offcut’
Figure 3, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Synthetics’
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Table of Contents 4 - 5
About author
6 - 7
Task 1
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Babis Panagiotis
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Ange Guntailate
12 Tare down 13 - 14
E-waste
15 E-waste survey
Figure 4, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Textile off-cuts’
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E-waste survey photos
Task 2
20 - 21 22 - 23
Designer precedents
24 - 25 Case study (Veena Sahajwalla) 26 waste
Introduction to textile
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History of textile waste
Task 3
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Figure 5, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Stretch fabric’
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30 - 31 Sound absorbing fast fashion panels 32 - 33 Sound absorbing panel precedents 34 - 35 Sound proofing vs sound absorption 36 - 37
Material and properties
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Natural and synthetic fibers
40 Fabric samples 41 Product sketches 42 - 43
Equipment used
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Prototyping and research
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Testing
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Outcomes
Figure 6, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Cotton dress’
55 Results table
Figure 7, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fabrics’
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Contribution to field
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Bibliography
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About Me My name is Astrid MacFarlane, I’m a second year industrial design student. I live in Melbourne Australia, however I spend a lot of time overseas with my family who live in Canada. My mother is a musician and audio engineer, so I’ve spend a lot of time around performing arts and the Melbourne music scene. I love performing and playing music with my friends as well and hope to release some music in the future. I love fashion and costume and as a result I volunteer at a vintage clothing store. I love learning about sewing and pattern making and these are areas that I’m interested in perusing at some time. These aspects of my life have helped shape this project as it deals with two thing I feel very strongly about and have had first-hand experience with. My plans for the future include going on exchange in Vancouver BC, doing more preforming and recording and working in industrial design for health ether in Melbourne or in Vancouver.
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Figure 8. Adalita, 2019, “Lies music video behind the scenes� 5
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TASK 1
Figure 9, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Tare down’ 6
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E-Waste survey and designer precedents
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Babis Panagiotis
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Trojan Horse Babis Panagiotis is a German artist based in Numenburg. His sculpture ‘Trojan Horse’ was created from the keys of old discarded keyboards. The sculpture is a replica of the original trojan horse which Panagiotis says was ‘the first figure to carry its actual target under its skin’ (translated). The artwork is meant to depict how vulnerable we are in the digital era and how seemingly harmless things like social media, can turn dangerous in an instant. I found this sculpture particularly interesting as many artists working with e-waste based their practices in patterns, abstract sculptures or visually shocking images. They aim to make the viewer think about the waste that is produced though our societies deep rooted need for new and improved technology in literal and shocking ways
However I feel Panagiotis’s work is incredibly subtle in its expression and gives more room for interpretation. The scale of the sculpture and the detail of the form hides its true identity of being made from waste. It repurposes old tobacco stained plastic and creates something beautiful and clean. This was as aesthetic and way of expression I did not necessarily anticipate to find when looking into artists and designers working with e-waste.
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Angė Guntaliatė
Figure 13, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fabrics’
Agnė Gintalaitė is a Lithuanian artist. She created a series of mandalas for world environment day using e-waste to promote community awareness and engagement about the different kinds of e-waste and essentially why it’s important to separate materials.
The project was commissioned by the Association of Electronic Distributors in Lithuania to raise awareness for the need we have for recycled electronics, environmentally and economically. Gintalaitė wanted to create something that felt and looked natural and aesthetically pleasing, which lead her to the creation of the mandalas.
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Figure 14, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fabrics’
The mandala is something that is common in nature and the repetitive and pleasing visual of the mandala was something wanted to utilise. The exhibition was designed to draw the audience’s attention and help instil the idea that old waste doesn’t have to be ugly, overwhelming or inherently cluttered. In her words; “A pile of garbage is obtrusive, but the human touch: sorting the garbage, arranging it according to the colours and forms, create a new aesthetic object… It becomes a reminder that we must act responsibly and properly sort waste.”
Figure 15, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fabrics’
I found this to be a particularly interesting take on e-waste. I like the use of nature to offset the visual impact in her work and I feel that the pieces do hold a certain feeling of order in a satisfying way. I felt that the message she was trying to convey was well expressed in the artwork and that in some ways it gave an interesting take on pre-existing recycling and sorting symbols
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Figure 16, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Tape recorder tare down’
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E-Waste Task 1 essay As newer and better technology is released and made more and more accessible, the issue of e-waste grows. In many ways I feel that this is driven by the fact new technology is often expensive, and although much of it only remains relevant for around 5 years, we grow very attached to our technology. In particular our phones and computers. As a society we are fully reliant on new technology to stay informed and function within the world. For these reasons I feel that the emotional connection we have towards our technology and the things that let us use that technology i.e. the chargers we plug them into, have created a paradox where we don’t need them, but we don’t necessarily want to throw them away. In my personal experience this has not necessarily been a major part of my household waste, however it is something that seemed true for many people which I discovered through my research into household e-waste. My definition for E-waist going into
this research was; Any electronic object that used batteries or was plugged into a wall socket that no longer serves its purpose best, has been replaced, no longer has a day to day use or is broken beyond repair. This definition is important as some of the objects I consider e-waste in my life still work, however they may have been replaced by a newer or better model or device or become obsolete i.e. old iPod’s, DVD players and some connectors and cables which I have had no need for. Much of the broken e-waste in my house came in the form of old ear bud headphones and frayed wires which did still work, but were too dangerous to use. This showed me two extremes of how my household valued these products, broken old earbuds were disposable and the effort to pick them up seemed too dignifying for the object and the computer charger cost so much to replace that throwing out the old dangerous one felt uncomfortable.
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In general however, almost all of the old electronics we had still worked and served some kind of a purpose in our lives. Most e-waste wasn’t kept beyond its use and anything with missing parts was generally thrown away automatically. Partly I think this was due to living in small spaces and having moved around a lot, however I think it is also due to my mother being incredibly carful with electronics. As an example of this, we have a 2008 MacBook pro that still works and is still used and she if often the one to use and find purposes for the old electronics. During my research I decided that I didn’t have enough e-waste at home to fully explore the extent to which it e-waste can be a huge problem in the house. For this reason I went to my partners place to explore the kinds of e-waste they have. During this part of my reserch I discovered that their family held onto almost everything that at some point worked. There were tubs of old headlights, cameras and cords and shelfs of thing to be disassembled or ripped up for parts. The difference, I believe was that his family owned their house and had lived there for over 20 years. To add to this, my partner has an older brother who was a teenager around 2007 – 2014 and he consumed
much of the technology produced around this time. A lot of this old technology was something I hadn’t ever encountered, such as Cas Calculators from 2011. For my research posters I used different backgrounds on the items I photographed to indicate which house they were from. The use of the wood was to indicate the feeling of stability and longevity. The white background reflected my own home and the idea of newness. This felt like the simplest and most literal way to express the difference between the two worlds that this technology comes from.
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E-Waste Survey Contact sheet information
Image
Date Who owns it Description
DSCF5326 DSCF5330 DSCF5332 DSCF5334 DSCF5338 DSCF5341 DSCF5343 DSCF5346 DSCF5348 DSCF5350 DSCF5352 DSCF5354 DSCF5356 DSCF5358 DSCF5362 DSCF5364 clock DSCF5365 DSCF5366 DSCF5367 DSCF5368 DSCF5370 DSCF5371 DSCF5372 DSCF5373 DSCF5374 DSCF5376 DSCF5377 DSCF5378 DSCF5379 DSCF5380 DSCF5381 DSCF5382 DSCF5384 DSCF5386 DSCF5387 DSCF5388 DSCF5289 DSCF5391 DSCF5392 DSCF5393 DSCF5393 DSCF5394 DSCF5396 DSCF5397 DSCF5398 DSCF5400 DSCF5401 DSCF5402 DSCF5404 DSCF5405 DSCF5406
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Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece
Lantern Tourch Tourch Tourch Tourch Head tourch Tourch Reading light Head tourch Power socket Tourch Tourch Tourch Tourch Tourch Camping alarm
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Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece
Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Power board Power board speakers DVD player Misc cord Wacom Wacom mouse calculator Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Head torch
DSCF5408 DSCF5409 DSCF5410 DSCF5411 DSCF5413 DSCF5415 DSCF5416 DSCF5417 DSCF5418 DSCF5419 DSCF5420 DSCF5421 DSCF5422 DSCF5423 DSCF5424 DSCF5426 DSCF5427 DSCF5429 DSCF5430 DSCF5431 DSCF5434 base DSCF5435 DSCF5436 DSCF5437 DSCF5438 DSCF5439 DSCF5440 DSCF5441 DSCF5454 DSCF5455 DSCF5456 DSCF5457 DSCF5458 DSCF5459 DSCF5460 DSCF5461 DSCF5462 DSCF5464 DSCF5465 DSCF5466 DSCF5468 DSCF5469 DSCF5470 DSCF5471
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Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece
Misc cord Misc cord Fujifilm battery Fujifilm camera Fujifilm camera Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Power adaptor Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Headphones Headphones Sewing machine Peddle Power board Speakers DVD player DVD player Food processor
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Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Kathy Preece Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane Laura MacFarlane
MacBook pro Misc cord Ipod Smart phone Motor Flip phone Flip phone Cas Calculator Speaker Digital camera Headphones Headphones Headphones Misc cord Misc cord Power adapter Mouse Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord Misc cord
Figure 17, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Survey page 1’ : page 15 Figure 18, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Survey page 2’ : page 16 Figure 19, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Survey page 3’ : page 17 Figure 20, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Survey page 4 ’ : page 18
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TASK 2
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Fast Fashion Waste . Noise pollution . Sound Absorption
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Echo Panel Echo panel is a great company to explore for product, service and aesthetic inspiration. The panels are created from a mix of recycled and virgin PET material (plastic bottle material), they use no adhesives and the company is fully committed to using eco-friendly dies. The company aims to create effective, aesthetic and easily customizable soundproofing materials to use in office spaces predominately. The panels come in different shapes and styles and each come with a variety of mounting styles. The materials they create have been used in sound proofing panels, however they have also used the materials to create different soft furnishings and statement wall designs. The vast application of this material is something that I would like to draw inspiration from for my own product. Particularly in terms of finding different ways to incorporate sound proofing into spaces apart from wall panels i.e. could the material be used as a patrician, soft furnishings cover or cat scratching post?
Bee Keeper Parade Bee keeper parade is a Melbourne based company that makes bags from textile waste and offcuts. Their company philosophy is routed in the idea of sustainability and education. All the bags are made by woman in Cambodia that have been trained by the company to sew the bags. The money from purchases is then used to help fund education for children in the region. Bee keeper parade has found ways to sew these bags with almost all different types and thicknesses of material by layering and using interfacing to create the desired fabric properties. The use of interfacing and other thickening methods is a particularly effective way of changing the properties of fabric.
Anny Duff Anny duff has been one of the founders of an Adelaide based sustainable fashion brand that works to create and support ethically made and manufactured, made to last, staple clothing items. They have a design and manufacturing philosophy that puts emphasis on the materials they use to create their clothing and making sure each item is going to last for as long as possible regardless of style. Anny Duff lead a team during Adelaide fashion week to create runway items using the left over reams of fabric and oversupply from other fashion labels. This has often been seen as a major taboo in fashion, but she believes it needs to be talked about to create a better discourse on how wasteful the industry has been and continues to be.
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Case Study Veena Sahajwalla Veena Sahajwalla is a scientist who specialises in molecular alchemy and has consistently worked in the field of sustainability with aims to improve the way we as a society manufacture and recycle products at end of consumer and end of life waste streams. Her work includes green steel in which she aided in changing the steel manufacturing processes by introducing carbon from old tires as a replacement for coking coal, an integral component of steel. She has also studied ways in which textile and fast fashion waste can be re-used in building materials. Her study with other peers specifically looked at the sound absorbing properties of building materials that used textiles from end of life and end of consumer waste streams. The world health organisation classifies urban and city noise pollution as one of the most polluting factors that such areas create. This pollution has a direct negative effect on both animals and wildlife and the humans that populate these areas by casing hearing loss, immense and in turn cardio-
vascular health related issues. Using textile waste to help noise pollution therefore helps to reduce the negative impacts of both waste streams. Polymer fibres and different natural fibres such as cotton and wool as well as foam from discarded mattresses were all used as different bulk materials and tested at different densities. The tests analysed which frequencies were most effected by the different materials and in all the study found that different materials and fibres had different sound proofing effects when used in the same density and with the same other materials. Wool and natural fibre materials were particularly effective as a filler for higher frequency sounds. Sahajwalla and her team concluded that these methods of using textile waste as bulk additives to building materials is a viable and effective option for improving the sound absorbing qualities of building materials.
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Introduction Textile waste Current society has created a system in which we need to consume and keep up to date with new and improved items. People purchase things they don’t need or use and cheap, breakable and fad focused items litter the market and our landfill. Unfortunately many cheap and low quality items are not easily recycled and this is incredibly true for textiles. Most fast fashion items are unable to be recycled, upcycled or even re-used by those in need due to how low quality the fabric is. When textiles are able to be recycled, the act of breaking down the materials creates fibers that often need added virgin material to be useful for new garments or products. This recycling process also excludes the use of small offcuts of fabric, a unavoidable byproduct of garment making. Recycling cotton and polyester using current methods (often chemical solvents) creates overall weaker materials that degrade faster. People living in small spaces, particularly shared spaces have to be very careful with the things they bring into their homes. Smaller spaces are often more economical, however privacy and noise pollution from within the home, and from the city can be a huge issue. I want to explore how one could improve small indoor spaces by re purposing material waste from fast fashion. In particular I am interested in easy to create and install soundproofing panels created from textile waste.
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History of textile waste Fashion has only recently become so accessible to everyone. Never before in history have we been able to so easily replace, purchase and change items in our wardrobes. The textiles trade is one of the oldest and most affluent trades however it is not easy to make fabrics. Huge quantities of water and energy are required to make and maintain textiles which has made it one of the most intensive resources. It wasn’t until the 20th century that new fabrics and the globalization of fashion that clothes could become disposable. Before this, many garments were expensive investments that were made for individuals. These pieces were designed to be worn for the life of the person i.e. darts and pleats were designed to be let out and moved as people’s weight and body type fluctuated and many woman’s clothes were made to be expanded during pregnancy. Fast fashion is an incredibly new concept that has emerged with new technology
and the full globalization of trends. Zara, a fast fashion brand stated in the early 2000’s that it aimed to be able to complete the full designing, making and distributing process in 14 days. Meaning they could stock all stores with a new design in 2 weeks or under. This has meant that the current industry has made it into the top 3 most polluting industries in the world, equating to 4% of the worlds total pollution and 92 million tons of waste annually. Fashion and textiles use the most amount of water after agriculture and has permanently polluted water supplies with dyes and chemicals. The process of making fast fashion has also killed many people each year in unsafe and toxic working conditions. Unfortunately poorly made textiles like the ones used in fast fashion cannot be properly recycled as any process of tuning them into new yarn breaks the fibers down too much. For much of this kind of waste the only option is to up-cycle the waste, like I will be doing in task 3. 27
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TASK 3
Figure 28, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘’ 28
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Sound absorbing panels
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Sound Absorbing Fast Fashion Panels My Project In Response to Fast Fashion waste
I want to look at how to create effective sound proofing boards easily at home, using fast fashion waste. To do this I will look at which composite materials will work best. If different combinations of synthetic and natural fibres work differently or if different treatments will change the sound proofing of the material i.e. using starches and glues. From my research I have uncovered that the internal structure of materials can effect sound proofing and how effective sound proofing is. For this reason I want to look into how I could shape, cut or change the materials to create better
sound trapping cavities. I also want to explore how different fibres and thread counts may make differences to a fabrics soundproofing capabilities. I also want to explore ways to treat the fabrics at home to make them pleasant to look at and potentially treating the fibres to make them more effective in sound proofing. Examples of this can be natural dying and staining as well as creating fabric starch and glues to help stiffen and hold the fabric together. Using echo panels as inspiration, I also want to look at different wall mounting techniques that may work.
Figure 29, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘My wardrobe - Tops’
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These are some examples of sound proofing panels that are used in studio and education/ work spaces. The use of sound absorbing materials in these areas is extensive as acoustics is particularly impactful when working with sound or working in spaces with many people. Unfortunately many of these solutions can tend to be aesthetically sharp and unappealing.
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This is primarily a result of the spaces sound proofing of often used, however if it is to be brought into the home and used within residential areas, a difference in aesthetic appearance needs to occur.
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Proofing vs Absorption What is the difference? Sound proofing isn’t an easy thing to measure or do right. When sound proofing music studios it can be an incredibly intensive purpose to make the space sound right, as often this isn’t just sound proofing, rather its sound design. Choosing how sound should reverberate around the space is an involved process that requires specialists. These same principles apply to urban design, sound design within public space and within work and schooling settings. It can often be a matter of both dampening sounds, reverberations and sound transfer into other areas as well as sharpening certain sounds. An example of this is lecture halls where students need to clearly hear a teacher. Reverberant tiles and sharp, hard corners can help make sound clearer.
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However within the setting of the home, attempting to reduce sound transfer overall is incredibly important. Our current life styles, particularly for those of us living in dense urban settings, means that our baseline decibel intake is very high and this is not only distracting, but it cause health issues like high levels of stress, anxiety and cardiovascular diseases. This project is not tackling physical sound design, this project is looking at how to fundamentally improve quality of life within the home by tackling two different waste streams, Fast fashion and sound pollution. Added to this, the current covid-19 situation has made it so people have
to spend more time in close quarters with one’s family or house mates. This has only exacerbated sound levels within apartment complexes which can be a cause of tension within households. Furniture already adds a certain level of dampening to sound, however covering blank walls and gaps is incredibly important when attempting to reduce sound transfer. Unfortunately, for many people who rent, drilling or nailing into the wall is not an option. These sound proofing board will be light enough to sticky tape or tac onto the wall with the added bonus of looking less industrial than other sound proofing solutions.
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Principals and materials Resonance absorbers are usually designed to help recued the presence of echo and help dampen the sound of particularly resonant spaces (I.e. large empty halls). They are often made from layers of perforated materials to attempt to trap sound. They will have structural wholes or cavities to trap sound before it can move further. This plays into the idea of increasing the surface area of something to help improve its sound reduction and absorption qualities.
These kinds of absorbers are often seen in base absorbers and used within lecture halls. They are usually made from harder, layered materials like ply wood. However the same principles can apply to my project by designing panels with cavities, added surface area and peeks and dips in the structural form to help absorb the sound.
Examples
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Porous absorbers are a standard for helping dampen sound and improve the acoustics of a space. Foam, sound proofing boards and the echo panels from my earlier research are all examples of these kinds of sound absorbers. Porous absorbers rely on internal structure of these materials (i.e. the pores inside foam) to trap sound. Foam is often used instead of textiles as it has become the industry standard, however through research I have found that theoretically, textile should also be effective for this job. Clothing is made from thread which is made by weaving many fibres together. This creates incredibly porous materials which should suit this job well. Natural fibres are usually used over synthetic fibres when used in sound absorption as natural
fibres are more irregular and therefore more likely to have extra cavities and be more effective when absorbing sound. For my project I will use three different fibre types, natural, synthetic, blend of natural and synthetic in three different structure patterns in response to this information. One will rely on the porousness of the fabric alone, one will use circular cavities and one will use cuts and layering to help trap and reduce noise transfer.
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Natural Fibers Natural fibres are classified as any fibres that are naturally occurring. This includes anything that comes from animals, such as wool and silk, and anything from a plant (cellulose material) i.e. cotton and hemp. These materials are not necessarily more environmentally friendly because they are natural, cotton is one of the most water consuming materials in the world and the process of harvesting silk kills the worms who’s cocoon the silk is made from. These fabrics also tend to need more energy and water to be maintained - though washing and ironing. They however have a different fibre structure to synthetic fibres, this would make them an ideal candidate for sound proofing boards. The irregularity of the fibres may help to trap and dampen more sound.
Synthetic Fibers Synthetic fibres such as spandex, lycra and polyester have been used since the 1930’s for all different kinds of clothing and purposes. They have useful qualities for clothing and soft goods i.e. less wrinkles, better water repellence and they can be made to imitate materials such as fur and leather. Synthetic fibres are often mixed in with natural fibres to gain the benefits from both i.e. breathability or stretchiness from the synthetic and breathability or water wicking properties from the natural materials. However synthetic materials also require mass amounts of water to produce and can leech plastic particles into water systems as they are washed. I am unsure at how the uniform structure of this material will perform, however as much fast fashion waste is made from synthetic materials I want to see how it will behave. 39
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Figure 56, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of crepe silk’
Figure 57, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of thin woven cotton’
Figure 58, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of woven polyester lining material’
Figure 59, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of cotton, elastine (synthetic) knitted material’
Figure 60, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of knitted synthetic soft mesh fabric’
Figure 61, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Off-cut of cotton, synthetic (pollycotton), elastine (synthetic) knitted material’
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Working sketches and samples Working sketch of the flat, plain sound absorbing panel
Working sketch of the layered, checkered sound absorbing panel.
Working image of the structured sound absorbing panel.
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Equipment used Figure 62, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Decibel meter’
Figure 63, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Speaker’
Wonderboom speaker used for tests
Bluetooth speaker I used by Wonder boom Bluetooth speaker to play the sounds within the cupboard where I conducted the tests. The speaker is good quality and was playing at about 80% to prevent any possible distortion. The different sound did play at different volumes, however I did not change the speaker volume at all during the tests. Phone screen showing decibel reader and general house sounds.
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DB meter
Tone generator
I used a DB meter on my phone to measure the decibels of each sound and how much the different panels absorbed. It had a history and included an average and maximum DB reading so I could measure the sound output without having to see my phone. When measuring the DB’s I made sure to take an initial baseline test of the general sound (rumble) within my own home so I could make an informed comparison between the different panels. I made sure every reading was done when the house noise was stable, which was difficult as we live on a main road.
I used a tone generator on my computer which fed directly into the Bluetooth speaker. I chose the levels 200Hz, 500Hz and 1000Hz for the tests. 200Hz is lower than normal speaking or music, however as bass and rumble is some of the hardest frequencies to block out I wanted to look at how effective the panels were at handling these noises. Between 500 and 1000hz classifies most speaking and music. This was particularly important to check as these would be the most obvious frequencies one would want to cut out in the home or urban environment.
Figure 64, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘tone generator’
Online tone generator used with the Bluetooth speaker. 43
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Prototyping and Research Detailed process on how I made the sound proofing panel trials
Figure 65, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Fabric’
To make the panels I cut the fabric into approximately 300 x 300mm squares. I organised them into piles which included 3 layers of fabric (this would equal one panel) and made sure that each panel had one of each type of material I was using. For the natural materials this was 2 layers of cotton and one layer of silk, for the synthetic materials this was one layer of polyester lining, fleece and tight mesh. The panels were all sewn using the same method on a Bernina 1008 mechanical machine.
Cutting cotton and silk into 300x300mm (approx) squares. Figure 67, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Fabric’
Final pile of material for the natural fiber tests.
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S A F F PA N E L S Figure 68, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Gathered fabric’
Sorted piles of all the different materials to be used for the natural fiber tests, these will be divided into groups of 2 cotton and 1 silk pieces for the panels. Figure 68, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Stitching around the outside of each panel to hold all three pieces of fabric together. Figure 69, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
The panels naturally gathered due to the use of woven and knitted and stretch fabrics I used. This was useful to increase the space between each layer and create texture which should in theory help trap sound.
Stitching through the panels. This version of fabric panel is used for the plain panels and the backings for the checkered and structural panels. 45
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A version of a finished panel (natural fiber)
I used rolled seams to finish the panels, I however didn’t do this for all the panels as the thickness of fabric with rolled seams caused machine needle breaks.
Grouped pieces of fabric that would be used to create the panels during production.
Figure 70, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’ Figure 71, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’ Figure 72, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
All the plain panels finished and ready to be assembled into sound absorbing panels. 46
Figure 73, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
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I left a whole in the plain panels and structural panels so I could fill them with offcuts of fabric.
I kept all the offcuts from neatening the edges of the panels. These were used as stuffing for the tests.
The synthetic textiles in piles indicating each panel.
A close up of how the natural fathering of the materials looked when being sewn up.
Unfinished synthetic fiber panels.
Sewn edges for slit to be cut out. 47
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Finished slit for checkered panels.
Finished natural and synthetic checkered panels
All three types of synthetic panel (2 per version, 6 in total).
All three types of natural fiber panel (2 per version, 6 in total).
Natural fiber structural.
Natural fiber plain. 48
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Natural fiber checkered.
Synthetic fiber structural.
Synthetic fiber checkered.
Synthetic fiber plain.
Figure 74, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 78, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 82, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 86, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 75, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 79, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 83, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 87, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 76, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 80, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 84, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 88, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 77, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 81, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 85, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
Figure 89, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Sewing’
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Testing Figure 90, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘testing setup inside’
I used a small cupboard in my living room that would allow the panels to be more to scale of how large a sound proofing panel would be. This was a great way of testing the sound reduction properties as I could control the environment as much as possible. It also meant that the sound level I was using to test it was going to be safe for my hearing and speakers, as loud constant sounds can be incredibly damaging. I had the speaker in the same place through each test and the phone was placed the same distance away from the cupboard (500mm) for each test. I consulted my mum who is a sound engineer on how to distribute the panels so they would be most effective and as close to real life sound absorption panels, which are not placed on every wall of a room. The decibel reading was taken from the history on the app so I could close the covering, this generally made the internal sound louder.
Phone (decibel meter) and speaker position in cupboard for baseline tests. Figure 91, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘testing setup outside’
Phone position outside cupboard for baseline tests (general rumble - approximately 43DB)
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S A F F PA N E L S Figure 92, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘cover’
I used a layer of foam core and gaffa tape as the front covering for the door. This was the closest in thickness to the rest of the cupboard and worked well. There was a good amount of sound reduction from the foam core layer. Foam core covering for cupboard Figure 93, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fiber plain panel’
Internal set up for natural fiber, plain panel test. Figure 94, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural fiber checked panel’
Internal set up for natural fiber, checkered panel test. 51
S A F F PA N E L S Figure 95, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Natural structural panels’
Internal set up for natural fiber, structural panel test. Figure 96, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Synthetic plain panels’
Internal set up for synthetic fiber, plain panel test. Figure 97, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Synthetic checked panels’
Internal set up for synthetic fiber, checkered panel test. 52
S A F F PA N E L S Figure 98, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Synthetic structural panels’
Internal set up for synthetic fiber, structural panel test.
Testing experience The testing was particularly interesting and there were certain results I was not anticipating which will be covered on the next page. The baseline tests of the general rumble in my home were very useful as noise fluctuated a lot (outside noise, fridge noise and neighbour noise). I would like to note that speakers can be biased toward certain frequencies and only very particular equipment would get a definite and reliable reading. However the information gathered from this has helped me make an informed decision of what can be accomplished in the home.
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Outcomes 200Hz
The best performing materials were generally the natural fibre materials. The best for 200 hz frequencies were the plain natural panels and this was the case for when the sound was being tested inside and outside the cupboard 84 DB and 65.5 DB respectively. This showed about a 3Hz reduction inside the cupboard and a 1Hz reduction outside of the cupboard. Although this doesn’t seem like a huge difference, reducing the overall level of bass frequencies is very challenging and for the size of the test, it performed better than I anticipated it would, particularly for the levels measured internally. For 200hz, the best performers were the plain natural panel (inside) 84Db, Plain natural (outside) 65.5 Db and the structural natural panel (outside) 65.4 Db.
500Hz
Overall the best preforming panel was the natural fibre checked panel which registered at 65Db internally and 43Db externally, this equates to a 10Db reduction inside and approximately an 18Db decrease externally from the initial baseline tests. This was a particularly drastic decrease that was perhaps caused by other factors, however the general room rumble was stable at the time and this was taken from an average sound reading over the course of a short period of time. Talking to my mother who is an audio engineer, this particular frequency is particularly easy to absorb. The 500 – 1000Hz tones are generally considered levels that speaking and music range from, for this reason the this test was particularly useful to conduct. The remainder of the tests
generally saw about a 10DB reduction which was noticeable anecdotally.
1000Hz
This was the most surprising test that I conducted. My main motivation for testing the difference between the natural and synthetic fibres was to see if their absorption properties in a home setting were at least on par with one another, to check there wasn’t a huge difference and to see if I could justify suggesting both natural and synthetic fibres for sound absorption panels. However for the higher frequencies, the two best performing panels were made from synthetic materials. Inside the cupboard registered at 70Db for the checked synthetic panel, a 3Db reduction and outside registered at 41.2 Db for the plain synthetic panel, a 10Db reduction. This would indicate that using a combination of synthetic and natural fibres with texture would be ideal for sound absorption.
Note Higher frequencies have shorter wave lengths which is the causation of the difference in reduction between the inside and outside overall reduction levels. This is also why the average reduction between the different frequencies varies, this however could also be attributed to other factors. Overall there was a noticeable difference between the levels taken with the natural and synthetic materials that was consistent through most of the tests. Ideally these tests could have been taken in a quieter environment.
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200 Hz
500 Hz
1000 Hz
Base Inside
87
85
73.3
Plain Natural
84
67
72
Plain Synthetic
87
76
75.5
Checked Natural
88
65
72
Checked Synthetic
87
65
70
Structural natural
88
77
74
Structural Synthetic
85
77
74
Base Outside
66.5
61.3
51
Plain Natural
65.5
44.1
43.9
Plain Synthetic
66.6
43
41.2
Checked Natural
66
43
44
Checked Synthetic
69
50
44
Structural natural
65.4
44
48
Structural Synthetic
66.5
49
47
Record of the decibel rage of the different tests
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Contribution to field Low quality and unethically made textiles are a huge issue in the world at the moment. Ideally there needs to be a social shift in viewing clothing as a luxury item and promoting people to pay attention to ethically made and sourced clothes, fair labour and well made textiles. Unfortunately even higher end brands use incredibly low quality materials that can’t be reused and constant 24 hour production makes it more economic to produce more items than will be sold in the end. However we still need solutions to the vast amounts of textile waste that are being produced every day that hopefully prevent these materials from entering into donation systems which eventually leads to land fill, which I have witnessed first hand from working in vintage stores and op-shops.
production or lighting.
From my work here, I want all designers to think about how they could use these resources to their advantage and hopefully help raise awareness of how damaging cheap and poorly made textiles are. There are many applications for textiles to be useful in all different kinds of products, not just clothing and soft goods. i.e. fillers in material
This research has helped me better understand how we can incorporate the ideas of reusing and repurposing into all different kinds of design, and how we must do this. I aim to incorporate these ideas into my own practice and look at how I can design to aid in peoples and the planets health and wellbeing.
Also I want to stress the severity of current noise pollution on humans and animals. This is most present in urban environments and requires designers to think how their products and practices may impact this waste stream. There is room for more development and smart design to help mitigate noise pollution in city environments and it is a form of waste that needs to be tackled by looking at how we can design quieter products and systems that prevent build up’s of rumble and sound in domestic and public environments. i.e. integrating more sound absorbing qualities into furniture, decorative features or creating products that directly deal with sound pollution like sound absorbing panels.
Figure 99, A. MacFarlane, 2020, ‘Fabric offcuts’
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Bibliography • Romina Del Rey,. Jesús Alba Fernandez,. Jorge P. Arenas,. V. Sanchis. (2014). Sound absorbing materials made of recycled polyurethane foam. This article looks at the effectiveness of different soundproofing tests when evaluating how effective different materials are for sound reduction. The article is written in the context of how can we start to create soundproofing materials from recycled materials, particularly recycled polyurethane. The article outlines different components of how the materials are evaluated, particularly focusing on density, porousness and thickness. These are all aspects of the material that need to be assessed to determine their soundproofing effectiveness. They conclude that current effectiveness tests are not always accurate and therefore different materials may be more or less effective than first assumed. They also conclude that recycled polyurethane may be a promising new material for sound proofing and the current demand for recycled sound proofing is growing among consumers. This article will help me design ways to test and evaluate the materials I create and test. It will also help inform design choices to create a material that is as absorbent as possi-
ble. - Cinzia Buratti,. Elisa Belloni,. Elisa Lascaro,. Giovanna Anna Lopez,. Paola Ricciardi. (2016). Sustainable Panels with Recycled Materials for Building Applications: Environmental and Acoustic Characterization. 972-979 Virgin sound proofing panels are incredibly resource intensive. They are predominately made from porous synthetics and therefore use immense quantities of energy and water to create them and often they are not able to be recycled at the end of their lifetime. For this reason, researchers were looking into ways to recycle pre-existing materials into sound proofing panels. They looked at the acoustic absorption properties of panels made from recycled paper and other scrap materials such as wool and nonwoven polyester fabric. Tests were conducted in a university lecture theatre and the researchers concluded that these recycled materials are effective for acoustic corrections within buildings. They specified that the paper and wool test was particularly effective out of the different test materials. This is a great precedent for using recycled natural and synthetic textile fibres to create sound proofing solutions.
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- Claudia A. Echeverriaa., Farshid Pahlevania., Wilson Handokoa., Chaoyang Jiangb., Con Doolanb., Veena Sahajwallaa. (2019). Cascading use of textile waste for the advancement of fibre reinforced composites for building applications. Volume 208. 1524-1536.
cycled soundproofing that has become mainstream and widely implemented in universities and office spaces. The company creates custom wall installations, tiles and sound proofing furniture. Using this as an example of creating furniture and other products from sound proofing material, they are a good comThis report looked at the use of differ- pany to look at for installation methent fabric fibres as a feedstock for load ods. They have created their own set baring and non-load bearing building of brackets and installation methods to materials. The materials used thermo- allow people to use the soundproofing plastics (i.e. polyester, acrylic), lingo-cel- in almost any indoor space. lulosic (i.e. cotton), and protein poly mers (i.e. wool) mixed into the building Case study materials in aim to study there moisture absorption, fire resistance and sound Claudia A. Echeverriaa., Farshid absorption. The study indicated that Pahlevania., Wilson Handokoa., Chthe use of these materials were useful aoyang Jiangb., Con Doolanb., Veein creating better, lighter materials by na Sahajwallaa. (2019). Engineered these standards. This study has helped hybrid fibre reinforced composites indicate which properties of different fi- for sound absorption building apbres I should look at and how they may plications. 1-11. https://www.scieffect sound proofing panels i.e. weight. encedirect.com/science/article/pii/ It has also opened up the potential to S0921344918304701?casa_token=ocexplore heat compression on the panels jh3yGglVkAAAAA:dt3w9K8FqG7Hif this were ever to be upscaled. pXelpPJFtZ4M2BGNRUx06oshpVPwyqR2hX3Bcj1UMjbIxClCtCKOSgit- Lucy Wang. (2015). Beautis65tihe4 ful sound-absorbing EchoPanels are made from recycled plastic bottles by green interiors. https://inhabitat.com/ beautiful-sound-absorbing-echopanels-are-made-from-recycled-plastic-bottles/ Echo Panels is a company that produces sound proofing equipment made from a blend of recycled and virgin PET. The boards are an example of re59
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3 designers
ing-using-porous-absorbers
Figure 10, Panagiotis . B, 2012, ‘trojan These are some examples of sound horse’ proofing panels that are used in studio Figure 11, Panagiotis . B, 2012, ‘trojan and education/work spaces. The use horse’ of sound absorbing materials in these Figure 12, Panagiotis . B, 2012, ‘trojan areas is extensive as acoustics is parhorse’ ticularly impactful when working with Figure 13, Gintalaitė . A, 2017, ‘E-wase sound or working in spaces with many mandalas’ people. Unfortunately many of these Figure 14, Gintalaitė . A, 2017, ‘E-wase solutions can tend to be aesthetically mandalas’ sharp and unappealing. This is primar- Figure 15, Gintalaitė . A, 2017, ‘E-wase ily a result of the spaces sound proofmandalas’ ing of often used, however if it is to be Figure 20, Cubbin . N, 2019, ‘Veena brought into the home and used within Sahajwalla’ residential areas, a difference in aesthet- Figure 21, Eco panels, 2008, ‘Eco panic appearance needs to occur. els’ Figure 22, Beekeeper parade, 2018, ‘beekeeper parade Melbourne central’ Vice. Holmes . K. (2017). https:// Figure 23, Duff . A, 2018, ‘Adelaide www.vice.com/en_au/article/8xfashion week’ 95m4/e-waste-floral-mandalas-lithua- Figure 24, Cubbin . N, 2019, ‘Veena nia Sahajwalla’ Babis Panagiotis’s. (2012). Trojian Figure 25, Adobe stock, 2008, ‘Landfill’ horse. http://www.babiscloud.de/ Figure 26, Neito . A, 2019, ‘Fast fashAdam Hayes. (2020). Fast fashion, ion’ https://www.investopedia.com/ Figure 27, Helen, 2018, ‘Fashion waste’ terms/f/fast-fashion.asp Figure 30, Milk design, 2018, ‘Sound Nicola K S Davis. (2020). Fast fashion absorbing forms’ speeding towards environmental disas- Figure 31, soundtec, 2010, ‘Wave’ ter, report warns’. Figure 32, Rebel sky acoustics, 2016, ‘Acoustics panel’ The engineering tool box. (2014). Figure 33, Ikea, 2020, ‘ODDLAUG’ https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ Figure 34, Elegant embellishment, accoustic-sound-absorption-d_68.html 2013, ‘Acoustics panel’ Figure 35, Jordaan . R, 2018, ‘3D felt Trevor Cox. (2015). Choosing and flowers’ using porous absorbers). https://www. soundonsound.com/reviews/choos60
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Figure 36, Turf, 2020, ‘ceiling baffles’ Figure 37, Carved, 2018, ‘Bookcase’ Figure 38, Hegg . E, 2018, ‘Sound absorption foam’ Figure 39, Acoustics super store, 2017, ‘OELEX O-X200’ Figure 40, Jali design, 2017, ‘Architecture ideas’ Figure 41, Arrow zoom, 2016, ‘Insulation bar acoustics panel’ Figure 42, Milk design, 2018, ‘Baux acoustic panels’ Figure 43, Innovasia, 2020, ‘Cello’ Figure 44, Rose . S, 2010, ‘Bespoke scale acoustic wall panels’ Figure 45, Darya, 2018, ‘wood wall art’ Figure 46, Gordon . W, 2017, ‘London Chic’ Figure 47, Estes . A, 2014, ‘Ginkgo’
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