Sorbet

What it does

Sorbet acoustic panels are made from shredded textile waste with a starch-based glue. The acoustic panels intersect the issue of household textile waste, a material with the second lowest recovery rate in Australia after plastics.

Your inspiration

The increase of household textile wastes that ends up in landfill are attributed to the accessibility of fast fashion especially among its' growing younger consumers. Companies such as Temu, Shein and the Iconic exploits the demand for fast fashion with cheap and low quality clothing items that pollutes Australia's landfills. The ephemerality of fast fashion is detrimental to the sustainable culture that is nurtured within Australia where the lifespan of clothing items are prioritised. Sorbet acoustic panels aligns with Australia's growing culture for sustainability through its durable and easily recyclable material that encourages reuse.

How it works

Acoustic panels are integral within both domestic and commercial spaces, and protects both the mental and physical health of users from noise pollution. Efficient acoustic controls are known to improve the performance of workers in environments exposed to high noise pollution levels. A Sorbet acoustic panel is (18-28) x 450 x 450mm each. The textile based substrate demonstrated a density that is equal to PVA when dried/cured. A humidity test was performed on a Sorbet's acoustic sample over 5 days in a laundry room. A key observation was that the sample was soft after being sprayed with water but regained it's toughness overnight. This is attributed to the high salt content of the starch-based glue that was used to bind the textile-waste based material. An acoustic performance test was performed in a sound controlled environment, and found a 24mm textile waste based material outperforms an equally thick EchoPanel by 10.5% and acoustic foam by 23.9%.

Design process

I began my inquiry on paper, organic, and textile waste within my household. The feedback from my supervisors and peers pushed me to identify access to large amounts of waste to improve the sustainability significance of my project. Through this inquiry I identified obstacles in sourcing bulk paper and organic waste outside of household contexts. Paper wastes contains sensitive information in both academic and commercial industries, and organic waste from commercial sectors requires me to compete with established sustainability infrastructures such as Coles "together to zero waste, hunger, and emissions" programs. Through these insights, I identified the opportunity to upcycle and aestheticize household's textile waste. Mould-making and casting methods were used as they are accessible and compatible with the experimented substrates. Through experimental materials exploration, 3 key features of a successful cast are identified. Firstly, a starch-based glue substrate creates dense and recoverable textile panels. Second, a 3 part mould design made from form-ply that includes a press component and separable parts improves surface consistency and eases demoulding and dehydration processes.

How it is different

The key features of Sorbet acoustic panels are its acoustic performance, its aesthetic language that reimagines textile-waste as a desirable source of material, and its mission to combat household textile waste. Sorbet acoustic panels are available in three aesthetic options to fully make use of the colours of household textile-waste. They are Blueberry Lemonade, Red Velvet, and Hundreds and Thousands. Sorbet acoustic panels are more sustainable than common acoustic panels which are made from open cell polyurethane foam and are difficult to recycle. Sorbet outperforms contemporary acoustic panels manufacturers such as EchoPanels and Mogu Mogu as close to 100% of the materials are sourced from household textile-waste, and 100% of the textile-waste based material can be energy efficiently retrieved, and uncontaminated for reuse. EchoPanels are made from 60% recycled PET whilst Mogu Mogu acoustic panels are made from textile fibers bonded together with mycelium.

Future plans

I am exploring installation methods for Sorbet acoustic panels. The outcomes of this project expanded my understanding of sustainable materials and I am looking to develop new sustainable materials as an extension from this project. I am currently enrolled in a Fine Arts (Honours) course with RMIT, and hope to utilize the materials I've developed into my Fine Arts studies.

Awards

Sorbet acoustic panels are nominated as a finalist of Vivid Emerging Designer Awards.