Spirit Displays, the London-based manufacturer of banner tensioning systems, has announced the latest addition to its range. Spirit-TEX has been developed in response to market demand for sturdy, easy-to-use frame solutions for lightweight textiles, and is designed to address challenging sizing and finishing issues.

The innovative textile tensioning system, which has a patent pending, is the only system to offer a choice of three finishing options for the printed fabric, allowing users to reduce or even eliminate the need for finishing. Available in a number of profiles, including wall-mounting, free-standing and back-lit, Spirit-TEX has also been successfully tested for compatibility with dye-sublimation, UV-curable and latex printing systems, making it one of the most flexible fabric display options on the market.

Of the several mounting options, a combination of industry-standard silicone strip application across the top edge of a printed graphic and Spirit Displays's innovative Spirit-TEX Gripper along the sides and bottom edges offers the best of both worlds. Allowing for easy alignment with a limited amount of finishing to the textile, this method also ensures optimal tension coupled with the maximum tolerance for size variation.

With Spirit-TEX Gripper on all edges of the frame, fabric can be printed with a bleed area and the edges tucked into the frame using the Spirit-TEX tool without any further finishing being necessary. This not only removes the issue of precise sizing of the printed fabric – a complex area made more complicated by the typical shrinkage of these substrates after washing – but also allows much larger textile graphics to be tensioned. An 18 x 3m (59 x 9'10") frame has already been successfully installed at exclusive London department store Selfridges, and there is potential to go larger still.

Alternatively, TEX-TAPE from Spirit Displays can be affixed to the perimeter of the printed textile to reinforce the edge. The double-sided tape with textile adhesive does not require any special tools or training to use, and can be used in place of silicone strip. The Spirit-TEX system is also compatible with industry-standard 14 x 3mm silicone keder.

In addition to being simple to assemble and enormously flexible, the Spirit-TEX profiles are completely recyclable, making them a truly green solution for fabric display mounting, and are manufactured in the UK. The full range of profiles comprises options for front- or back-lighting and single- or double-sided display, and the frames can hang, or be wall-mounted or freestanding. Spirit-TEX and the popular Spirit-FLEX systems from Spirit Displays are available to the trade only in stock profiles and flat-pack kits, or fully fabricated with LED lighting in the case of light boxes.

Hadley Weight, director at Spirit Displays, says: "The industry has been crying out for a simple, flexible display solution for lightweight fabrics, and we have listened. We are proud to be the first to respond to the demand with Spirit-TEX and we are confident that it will become the most popular product of its kind on the market."