
Dempstah is a collaboration between Sydney design duo Guy Dempster and Otis Ng, and the Billie System– an innovative new textile recycling mill in Hong Kong.Combining automated technology and resource–lite design, the system reconstitutes textile waste fibres to be spun into new yarn– all without the use of any water, dye, bleach, detergent or liquid chemicals. |
1 COLLECTFirst, Dempstah collects recyclable textile waste from businesses and charities around NSW. ![]() ![]() |
2 SANITISEUpon being received by The Billie, recyclables are sterilised in an Ozone gas sanitisation system. ![]() ![]() |
3 SORTNext, recyclables are sorted by colour using an automated optical hue detection machine. ![]() ![]() |
![]() 4 GARNETTRecyclables are stripped of all rigid hardware and then fed into a garnetting machine. ![]() |
![]() 5 COMBThe garnetted fibres pass through a fine combing machine before being slivered. ![]() |
![]() 6 SPINLastly, slivered fibres are relayed to a spinning mill to be blended, spun and plied into yarn. ![]() |
1 COLLECTFirst, Dempstah collects recyclable textile waste from businesses and charities around NSW. ![]() |
2 SANITISEUpon being received by The Billie, recyclables are sterilised in an Ozone gas sanitisation system. ![]() |
3 SORTNext, recyclables are sorted by colour using an automated optical hue detection machine. ![]() |
4 GARNETTRecyclables are stripped of all rigid hardware and then fed into a garnetting machine. ![]() |
5 COMBThe garnetted fibres pass through a fine combing machine before being slivered. ![]() |
6 SPINLastly, slivered fibres are relayed to a spinning mill to be blended, spun and plied into yarn. ![]() |
![]() This may all sound very modern, but the practice of fibre recycling can actually be traced back millennia.First recorded around the time of the invention of paper in Han dynasty China (202 BC–220 AD), the practice wasn’t industrialised until the 19th Century, when a widespread shortage of virgin wool during the Napoleonic Wars prompted European mills to start garnetting old clothes and using the salvaged fibres to make new military uniforms. |
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We currently sell our yarns by the cake and kit– for modern makers and crafters– and by the cone, for boutique manufacturers.We’re also developing our own range of readymade knitwear, knitted accessories and homewares– so stay tuned! |
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