New Ford Focus Comes with Recycled Jeans

I'm just surprised that they would have some one just pick out the jeans from all the articles of clothing. Many of the companies that collect used clothing sell bales of those articles they feel are not worth reselling. They go to companies to make felt. Felt has been used in cars for years under the carpeting to deaden sound.

Not really new...or "news", either...other than that somebody needs / wants to fill up column space.

Recycled fibers have been used to produce the headliners, rear decks, door panel and under-dash panels for decades. The producers of these panels use recycled fibers and prepare the "shoddy" by feeding rags / remnants / offcuts into a shredder with two drums rotating in opposite directions...spikes on the drums snag the fabrics and shred them. The batts of "shoddy" are mixed / impregnated with dry chemical binder resins, which when activated help to bind the highly compressed laminate into a much thinner, more rigid panel.

Compression molds (heated by either steam or hot oil, and capable of exerting significant tonnage...) are lined first with the "cosmetic" fabric (commonly referred-to as "mouse fur"), then with the binder-laden batts of the shoddy. These batts may be 200 - 250mm thick, but are loosely-packed and "just" rigid enough to hold their own shape. Think of batts of fiberglass insulation...without the pink panther or the itchiness.

The mold is closed, compressing the shoddy / mouse fur under very high tonnage. The two sides of the mold are charged with the oil and / or steam, activating the phenolic binders, creating a densely packed and dimensionally stable panel. Panels when compressed may be only 3 - 5mm in thickness...panel thickness can vary, depending on the design of the panel / compression mold, to provide acoustive dampening, thermo shielding, molded-in routings/paths for mating HVAC ducting or wire harnesses, etc...

Panels are removed from the mold, and trimmed to their final shape / configuration...often by use of either a "trim die" which shears the perimeter coupled a multi-axis CNC water jet cutter or router. These panels have enough dimensional stability / rigidity to retain their shape until they are installed in the vehicle.

Exposed edges in a particular installation are typically covered with an extruded or molded trim panel to prevent customer objections to the exposed cut edges. Often you will find A/C , convenience lighting, wiring harnesses, and audio components mounted to these headliners instead of to the roof panel itself.

Like I said...not a new process.

I find nothing strange about FoMoCo using denim, that is to say jeans for their cars: if big shot Bimmers can use banana fibers for their cars' inner parts, why not jeans? In a way I think denim is of a more "decent" quality, but banana fiber?? Oh, please...