Jacquard Weaving is simply an automated method of raising and lowering yarn on a loom to produce designs. Named after its inventor Joseph Marie Jacquard, a silk weaver from Lyons, the principle has remained virtually unchanged since 1790. Nowadays, technology enables us to offer logos to any size required – to add borders, backgrounds and additional features. In any two-colour towel where the background is one colour and the logo a second colour, everything is possible. Multi-colour work is more complex. There are no restrictions on the number of colours used – but there are restrictions on where they can be placed.

Towels are woven in strips or layers of interlocking colour. On any one strip only two colours may appear. These two colours are raised or lowered to produce the design. For example, if the required towel colour is blue with a red logo, either red or blue will be selected as the raised colour in the strip. Additional colours can only be added as illustrated (i.e. a third colour cannot be introduced into a strip).

The way in which Jacquard towels are constructed places certain design constraints on the number and positions of multi-colour weaving.

The Double Jacquard process enables an area of flat fabric to be inserted into the face of the towel as an integral part of the construction. Into this strip can be woven designs and logos which would not be possible in a standard Terry, enabling us to more faithfully re-create complicated corporate logos. The towels are available in widths of 50, 70 and 100 cms, and in over 80 colours.

The process is already widely used in the industry, but by incorporating it with low-quantity piece dyeing, Hatton are able to provide yet another high-quality, cost-sensitive product for the corporate promotions market.

Velour towels are simply Terry towels that have one side of the Terry loop "sheared" to produce a velvety texture. Because the pile is cropped, they also visually sharpen the brand or logo, and for this reason prove a popular choice for promotional use.

Terry towels can be found in most bathrooms. Because they are not sheared, they tend to be more absorbent than Velours, and so are used with practicality in mind.

Hatton products are manufactured to some of the most stringent quality guidelines in the industry. By utilising the very latest loom technology, we are able to produce a consistent high quality across the entire range of products.

Reducing the number of seconds, and more accurately predicting over-runs, means fulfilling our customers' quality and budgetary requirements.

Hatton have a total of 39 looms currently in operation:

• 16 new Swiss-built Sulzer looms with Grosse electronic jacquards.
• 11 Sulzer looms with Grosse mechanical jacquards.
• 12 Sulzer looms with Stuabli dobby.

Loom Widths are as follows:

• 50 cm
• 70 cm
• 75 cm
• 90 cm
• 100 cm
• 140 cm
• 170 cm

All custom-woven orders may vary in quantity by plus or minus 10%.