bad chemicals

IT JUST DOES NOT WORK

Saturday’s mail brought me an envelope from HEIQ with lots of information and two T-shirts. The sales rep I guess is trying to convince me that their “smart temp” formula applied to the surface of fabric, in the case of the two sent to me which I am sure are made from polyester, will work as they claim.

If what they claim is true I can’t attest to it. They feel and perform no differently than the polyester T-shirts I used to sell. What they claim in their literature is as follows; “Specifically designed for next to skin textiles, HeiQ Smart Temp brings a new level of thermal confort to sportswear, workwear, underwear, and hosiery. It also brings a special comfort to home textiles as bed linen and mattress ticking”. As I knew when I read about it and heard from the rep, this chemical DOES NOT WORK.

In the envelope was a triple folder that cost a fortune to make with 8x10 cards showing several other chemicals that they pedal to the textile industry.“NO FUZZ” which stop visible piling of fabrics. “ECO DRY” a durable water repellent made without fluorine. Big deal with or without fluorine it still doesn’t work. “FRESH TECH” that delivers market –leading odor control. When you bath and clean your skin you do not have body odor but their chemical somehow hides it. “SUN BBLOCK” added to your clothing will make it into a sun blocking garment. Really, and I though from years of wearing clothing on sunny days I was somehow subjected to UV rays. “REAL SILK” reproduces the luxurious feel of silk on any fabric. “BUG GUARD” this chemical keeps mosquitos and other vectors away from your textiles. It “reduces” the risk of mosquito and bug bites. This last one I really liked, “GLIDE” is a durable low-friction textile technology which provides the wearer which provides the wearer with improved comfort and “ease” of movement.

HEIQ Materials is a Swiss chemical company and they must be incredibly profitable to be able to produce a brochure of the magnitude that was sent to me.

It is my opinion that all of the products they are offering to textile companies do not perform as glowingly as they claim nor do I believe they perform as they claim period.

The tragedy as I see it for the consumer is the fact that there are a number of chemical companies out there that produce products that are supposed to do the same things as this company. As I have pointed out in previous articles I believe the addition of these chemicals to fabrics that are made into garments that will leach into your skin when you sweat are a cause of developing chemical sensitivities. When you buy any garment that contains these chemicals you are paying the cost associated with applying the chemical as well as the chemical to the fabric.

One final observation, since the chemicals are supposed to repel water, make fabric slicker, etc. I wonder if there are different chemicals at all or are there different names for the same chemical. Of course there are also different prices.   

I was looking at the word consumer as I reread the article so I looked up its origin.

Word Origin and History for consumer Expand

n.

early 15c., "one who squanders or wastes," agent noun from consume. In economic sense, "one who uses up goods or articles" (opposite of producer) from 1745.

All of the chemical companies cause the “consumer” to squander their moneys on the products currently available.

The only way that this can be stopped is if the consumers voice their concern to the retail stores that offer these chemically impregnated fabrics that are used to make clothing these days. Also, keep in mind that many of the containers that arrive at our ports are sprayed with poisons to kill unwanted travelers to the USA.