buyer beware

WATER REPELLENCY

In recent years water repellent chemicals that are applied to fabrics to protect against stains, grease and water made from PFC’s (Perfluorinated Chemicals) has become a “hot” issue in the outdoor industry. I believe that it is being generated by the fact that PFC chemicals are poisonous. Yes they are if you happen to ingest them. If they are applied to fabric they cannot poison you. How long the water repellency otherwise referred to as DWR (durable water repellency) lasts on a garment is unknown to me. It will breakdown in laundering or from being exposed to rain. But it will not hurt you or the environment as it wears away.

There is an internet web site that sends me there newsletter almost daily with articles about what is going on in the outdoor industry. The most recent one had a very interesting article titled ‘W.L. Gore to Launch non-PFC DWR Technologies”. Here is the first paragraph, and I quote; “W.L. Gore &Associates (Gore) announces plans to offer non-PFC-based DWR (Durable Water Repellency) technologies just six months after publishing research suggesting such technologies may release more toxins into the environment than its existing PFC-based treatments”. Imagine this was a $15 million dollar investment that they made to find a chemical combination that was toxin free. The upshot of all of their efforts is to make both products giving advice to the potential buyer of these DWR products that they are designated for different purposes depending upon the use you give the jacket. I quote; “Such as mountaineering, motor cycling or mountain rescue teams where performance and durable comfort and protection is essential”.

The rest of the article in my opinion is gibberish.

What I keep coming back to is why if the Gore Company is still very actively promoting that it has a process whereby their PTFE film when laminated to nylon fabric renders a finished fabric product that a manufacturer like myself can make a garment with not one but two distinct characteristics 1- water-proof and 2- vapor permeability (or as they say breathability). If this were the case why would they need to apply durable water repellent to the fabric they have created? Allow me to answer the question; they do not now nor have they or any other company for that matter made a combination of fabrics that will function in the manner describes.

I think they actually know this and as a result want to sell a water repellent treatment chemical to one and all that happen to now own a garment that was originally designated to perform in this manner but have found out differently. So they believe they can capitalize on this need. Reminds me of how the government works. Create something and when it proves not to work as desired create a fix but do it in such a way that the intent is subverted by saying you have a product that is good for the environment.

If I were interested in applying a water repellent to one of my garments I would go to a hardware store and buy Scotch guard or Zepel if available or any other brand on the shelf. You would probably save a decent amount of money number one, get a tried and proven product number two. And you will not be polluting the planet.

I manufacture outerwear garments that utilize Supplex fabric. They are treated with a durable water repellent chemical, a generic I believe and over the past 25 years I have noted that water runs off of the fabric almost like water running down a ducks back. In addition the fabric is not laminated to any film of any sort so it is vapor permeable. That said I have made inquiry with my supplier about the technical aspects of the material which I will follow up with shortly. It is my opinion that the way the yarn is made and woven has something to do with why it performs as it does. How long the water repellent treatment lasts is an open ended question that I cannot answer.

CHUTZPAH

A Yiddish word meaning as follows; utter nerve, effrontery, shameless, audacity, and impudence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is what exists at the Primaloft Company. An article that I read in SNEWS online publication that deals with the outdoor industry states the following, I quote; Primaloft the world leader in comfort solutions and high-performance insulation sand fabrics.” This company is a marketing company that does not make one inch let-a-long a yard of batting. What is made for them may contain fiber they have purchased but it is still chopped staple fiber.

They further state that their product is “bluesign” approved insulation. When you investigate who bluesign is it is a company based in Europe that suggests they know all there is to know about making polyester battings and thus approve the Primaloft product being good for consumers.

Primaloft claims that their insulation regulates, imagine that it regulates and I quote; “the comfort level during intense aerobic activity, while providing performance without compromise in a wide range of conditions”.

The rest of the article is equal gibberish to the Gore article.

They have successfully convinced several companies to have garments made with this 1960 vintage fiberfill construction; bonded chopped staple fiber. The bonding could be resin or low-melt bonding process. Regardless the end result is the same.They are Bean, Browning, Marmot, Merrill, Under Armour, Filson and Scott USA. At this writing I do not know what these companies are showing as finished garments, but I am quite sure the published information which will have originated from Primaloft will state marvelous things about the garments.

All italics are mine.