Thirty States, Dozens of Rules, One Production Line: Why Your Curing Process Is the Missing Piece in Your PFAS Compliance Plan

If you manufacture or finish technical textiles and sell into the US market, you’ve probably spent the last year trying to figure out which PFAS regulations apply to you — and the honest answer is: it depends on which state your customers are in.

Unlike the EU’s coordinated phase-out, which sets clear sector-wide deadlines, the US has taken a different path. Federal rollbacks under the current EPA administration have loosened some Biden-era requirements. But at the state level, the picture is moving fast in the opposite direction — and for manufacturers selling nationally, that patchwork is where the real compliance pressure lies.

California and New York banned intentionally added PFAS in textiles and apparel from January 2025. Maine, Vermont, Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington have all implemented or are implementing their own restrictions, each with different thresholds, timelines, and reporting requirements. New Jersey enacted its “Protecting Against Forever Chemicals Act” in early 2026. Nearly 100 new PFAS bills were introduced across 17 states in the 2026 legislative session alone, with another 280 carried over from 2025.

For a national brand or a supplier to one, that’s not a future problem. It’s a current one.

PFAS-free textile coatings: why your drying and curing process matters as much as the chemistry

When the industry talks about PFAS alternatives, the focus falls almost entirely on formulation: which non-fluorinated coating performs closest to what came before, which silicone or hydrocarbon or polyurethane chemistry can replicate the oil repellency and wash durability that PFAS-based DWR finishes deliver.

That’s an important conversation. But it’s not the only one.

What gets far less attention is the role that drying and curing technology plays in making those alternative chemistries perform to their potential. Switch the coating without optimizing the process, and you’re likely to find your new PFAS-free finish underperforming — not because the chemistry is wrong, but because the curing step wasn’t built for it.

Most PFAS-free DWR alternatives are water-borne formulations. They behave differently from the fluorinated finishes that conventional hot-air stenter ovens were optimized for. Getting a complete, consistent cure on a water-based coating — without overexposing heat-sensitive fabrics — is a process challenge as much as a chemistry one.

That’s where we’d like to reframe the conversation.

What infrared brings to a PFAS-free line

Infrared drying targets the coating and substrate directly, rather than heating the surrounding air. This matters enormously for water-borne chemistries: IR delivers controlled, penetrating energy exactly where it’s needed, driving moisture out of the coating uniformly without the uneven results that cost you yield and consistency.

Unlike continuous hot-air systems, IR only heats the component or coating — not the entire oven chamber. That means faster start-up times, significantly lower energy losses, and the ability to fine-tune drying depth and intensity to suit your specific fabric and coating combination.

We offer short-wave, medium-wave, and fast-response IR variations, each suited to different substrate sensitivities and production speeds. The right wavelength selection makes a measurable difference to cure quality — and it’s one of the most straightforward process upgrades available to lines transitioning away from PFAS chemistry.

What UV curing adds

UV curing works differently. Rather than applying heat, UV light initiates a photochemical reaction that cross-links the coating almost instantaneously — in fractions of a second, producing surfaces that are immediately resilient, scratch-resistant, and consistent in gloss and texture.

For textile finishers working with reactive PFAS-free chemistries, UV curing offers something conventional stenter ovens simply can’t: rapid, controlled cross-linking at lower overall energy input. UV-curable non-fluorinated coatings are an active and fast-moving area of development, and lines without UV capability may be closing themselves off from some of the most promising alternatives already coming to market.

Our mercury, gallium-doped, and LED UV options provide high-intensity output across the wavelengths that matter for reactive coating systems. UV LED in particular offers precision targeting of specific photoinitiators — making curing faster, cooler, and more energy-efficient than traditional UV sources.

Combining infrared and UV for PFAS-free textile production: the full process solution

The most compelling process upgrade isn’t IR or UV in isolation — it’s both working in sequence. Use IR to uniformly drive off moisture and activate the coating across the full width of the fabric, then UV to achieve a fast, durable cure. Even complex material and coating structures can be reliably processed this way — energy-efficiently, at speed, and with the consistency that quality-sensitive applications demand.

For a production line transitioning away from PFAS-based chemistry, this combination is a genuine path to matching — and in some cases exceeding — the performance properties your customers depend on.

Is your curing process ready for PFAS-free chemistry? Key questions for US textile manufacturers

If you’re working through PFAS compliance in your finishing operation, here are the process questions that often get overlooked:

Is your current curing method optimized for water-borne chemistry? Most PFAS-free DWR alternatives are water-based. Conventional hot-air systems can struggle with even, consistent cure — particularly on more sensitive substrates.

What wavelength are you working with? Not all IR is equal. Short, medium, and long-wave IR penetrate differently. Getting the wavelength right for your coating and fabric combination makes a measurable difference to cure quality and throughput.

Have you evaluated UV-reactive PFAS-free formulations? UV-curable non-fluorinated coatings are advancing quickly. If your line doesn’t have UV capability, you may be limiting your options before the chemistry conversation has even started.

What’s the energy cost of your current curing step? IR and UV systems are typically more energy-efficient than continuous oven processes. With energy costs remaining high and compliance costs rising, modelling the full picture makes sense.

Victory North America: infrared and UV lamps for industrial textile processing

We’re Victory North America — a manufacturer and supplier of lamps and fittings for lighting, heating, and industrial processing. Our range covers the full spectrum, and infrared and UV technology are at the heart of what we do.

Through our Infrared and Ultraviolet sub-brands, we supply the industrial emitters, lamps, and systems that sit inside the drying and curing equipment used across manufacturing. We understand that the lamp isn’t the end product — the performance of your finished textile is.

The manufacturers who come out strongest from the PFAS transition won’t just be those who found the best alternative coating. They’ll be the ones who optimized every part of the process — including the curing step. That’s where we come in.

Talk to us about IR and UV for your textile finishing line

Every production line is different—different substrates, different coating chemistries, different speeds and sensitivities. The right IR or UV specification depends on your specific process, and getting it wrong means your PFAS-free coating underperforms before it even reaches your customer.

Our team works with textile finishers, coatings formulators and equipment manufacturers across the US. If you're working through your PFAS transition and want to understand what infrared drying and UV curing can bring to your process, we're ready to have that conversation.

Request a technical consultation

Or explore our full infrared and UV ranges at victorylightingusa.com

The manufacturers who come out strongest from this transition won't just be the ones who found the best alternative coating. They'll be the ones who optimised every part of the process, including the curing step. That's where we come in.