Thermal Regulation & Moisture Management

Manufacturers serving the outdoor industry have for years tried to make fabrics that will regulate body produced heat and body produced moisture. In reality the fabrics that have been produced to this end have successfully never succeeded in regulating the heat or moisture created by the human body! IT CANNOT BE DONE!

Each and every one of us is a heating factory, and producer of moisture. What we take in i.e. food is our fuel and we metabolize the food i.e. burn it and through our pores and skin we give off both heat and moisture i.e. and that is how we exhaust the heat and moisture. The slower we move the slower the rate of the process and the faster we move the faster the rate of the process. That is how the body keeps our temperature equilibrium or regulates heat and moisture leaving our body.

The fact that no fabric has ever been made that can control these bodily functions has never stopped someone or anyone in the employ of these fabric companies from trying to produce such a fabric. The reason that I believe this is because the manufacturers of garments ask for fabrics that can do the task. Of course in a laboratory the fabric makers can simulate something that they show to the garment manufacturers and the garment manufacturers listen and make garments that may very well be given to the fabric manufacturer to authenticate (they just love to authenticate) in their laboratory and give approval. Now the manufacturers are ready to go to market but first the manufacturers need to see how much money the fabric supplier is prepared to put into an advertising campaign (this may have been discussed to begin with). What you have is a mutual admiration situation. In reality, neither the fabric makers nor the garment manufacturers care if the products actually work so long as the consumer thinks it works and buys the garment. When it becomes obvious it doesn’t work they come out with “a new and improved product” that now works, or so they say”. This attitude of “we can fix it” is so prevalent in the industry it is pathetic.

I recently investigated a product that has been on the market since either 2001 or 2008 that is trade named “drirelease”. It is supposed to wick moisture and “push” the moisture out of the fabric so you stay dry while involved in a vigorous activity. The advertisement that I read states the following “With inherent moisture management, everlasting wicking and quick drying capabilities, it’s no wonder the best brands chose drirelease patented technology”. I called the company and inquired as to what was being added to the fabrics to accomplish this action. After much questioning on my part the person that I was speaking with told me they were blending either cotton, wool, silk, or other fibers in certain percentage’s to accomplish the mission. As an example they have a cotton polyester blend of 15% cotton and 85% polyester with no additives that will wick moisture (the cotton part does absorb the moisture via wicking action) and the polyester I guess is the vehicle that pushes the moisture out of the garment. I find the wording most interesting, the moisture is being “pushed” out of the garment as if the polyester fiber had little hands to do this. I asked what was different about their cotton poly blend versus me going to any yarn spinner to do the same blend and I was told that it wouldn’t be drirelease unless it was one of their approved spinners of yarn. I further asked if it would work differently and the answer was it wouldn’t be drirelease. Not being produced at their yarn spinner even though it was exactly the same somehow made it different. I am at a loss to understand what the difference is and I doubt the person I was speaking with could tell me, because he didn’t tell me, all he said was it wouldn’t be drirelease.

Did you ever hear of “CLIMASENSE™” here I quote “is a multi-level product line consisting of uniquely engineered garments that are either heat generating and/or thermal regulating. (Italics mine) Each garment is designed to provide comfort and optimal moisture and temperature management”. This product is a product of Terramar. They have a variety of materials that they use to make garments that have this remarkable characteristic to include some of the drirelease blends.

Textile World Magazine has a news category titled The Rupp Report. The report deals with fabrics in general. The most recent issue has an article all about PCM’s which is short for Phase Change Materials. According to the article “the idea was developed for the aerospace industry. The astronauts in their protective suits were facing a lot of temperature differences while they were working in outer space”. The remainder of the article does not mention the astronauts and the space program again. I believe NASA was involved with the development of the PCM’s but it was never used for or in the space suits. Further in the article the following appears; “The basic idea was to find away on the one hand to balance the body temperature, and on the other hand to store body heat. This was achieved using microcapsules of paraffin—also known as petroleum and petroleum jelly, and a byproduct of gasoline production”. The paraffin is encapsulated in very small beads. What the exterior material is that is used to encapsulate the beads is a mystery to me not that it matters. The beads of paraffin are supposed to absorb and I quote; ‘excess body heat, manages moisture, reduces overheating, reduces chilling, reduces perspiration, and continuously adapts to thermal changes”. If what I have written so far about the PCM’s sounds amazing, there is more and I quote; “Barbara Fendt, Outlasts marketing manager for Europe. She said that the Outlast technology does not work with wicking technology, which pulls body moisture from the skin to the outer layer of the garment. Outlast technology proactively manages heat while controlling the production of moisture before it starts”. Outlast Company is the leading marketer of PCM’s. imagine that, if you are wearing a garment that contains these beads of paraffin and you are active such as playing basketball or skiing in some unexplained manner the moisture that should be coming out of your pores will not, and these beads of paraffin will also in some unexplained manner manage the heat that is coming off of your skin surface.

One more product that claims it can manage heat production and moisture production produced by the human body. This notion is tantamount to me saying elephants can fly. I also think that they are in total all companies that make these outrageous claims are spinning a yarn.

NEW INSULATION

I last wrote about new fiberfills that are claiming to be synthetic replacements for down. Well now there is a new entry into the market place from Italy, Thermore Company. They say and I quote; “the new blend (of fibers) effectively imitates down insulation in terms of performance”. What I do not understand is why these companies didn’t make these claims 30 or 40 years ago because the moment polyester fiber was used for insulation purposes does imitate down and if used correctly does make the down obsolete. However, what this company has is still a chopped staple fiberfill which is made obsolete by continuous filament fiberfill.