chemicals, chemicals and more chemicals

DOUBLE SIDED KNITTED FABRIC KEEPS SKIN DRY

A large textile chemical company has developed at their research and development facility in China this new material described as a “double sided knit’ fabric which will somehow keep skin dry. How can that be?

I just don’t get it; this company obviously wants to provide fabric to garment manufacturers that make athleisure apparel that will allow the sweat one produces to move away from skin surfaces so the skin stays dry. Since the article was not available on the web site unless you paid to read it I could only get the basic.

As I understand it athleisure apparel has two functions; it can be worn while participating in a sport or while sitting at the pub. I am sure the fabric will perform quite well while the garment is worn for social activities; sitting at the pub. But I am also sure the mass of material will not keep your skin dry if you are sweating.

What I do not get is why these companies ignore the simple fact that covering the skin with fabric stymies and stifles the movement of moisture away from the source, the pores of the body.

If you wear a shirt made from this fabric and you jump into a swimming pool and then come out of the water how long will it take for the moisture against your skin to dry while still wearing the shirt? If you jump into the water without the shirt on how long will it take for your skin to dry once you exit the water? Obviously considerably faster because there is nothing covering your skin to restrict the moisture from evaporating.

What is so difficult for all of these people who think (or don’t think) that a fabric covering the skin surface is capable of causing the skin surface to stay dry as it does when you wear nothing over your skin surface.

This company as many others are looking for the elusive silver bullet that has magical powers. At this time I have no knowledge of the fiber being used, but I guess it is polyester and probably coated or adulterated with chemicals that represent the silver bullet power.

What these people who work at these multinational companies do not recognize is the physical nature of man and how man deals with the world (nature) that he lives in. They are trying as hard as possible to make man believe they are capable of changing things that will make man more comfortable in his world. They create a problem and then try to solve it. (This method reminds me of how governments work, don’t you think!)

I do not know when this product will enter the market place, but rest assured it will be supported by many thousands of dollars in advertising revenues.

I grew up in an era when we wore cotton tee shirts and shorts when we played ball. We played basketball in a park that had a black top pavement. During the summer the temperature could easily get to the 90’s. After maybe 15 minutes of playing the sweat was pouring out of your body and the shirts were drenched as if you had jumped in the water. Not a single person I knew or didn’t know ever gave it a second thought. When you left the park to go home you were dry and believe it or not I have no recollection of anyone with objectionable body odor.

Today we are being told indirectly that we must have dry skin and no odor. Back when I was playing ball we had clothing that was not treated to being covered with chemicals. Chemical companies would not have anything to do if they couldn’t develop chemicals to combat these nasty bodily functions. Of course the addition of chemicals in the clothing might have something to do with the cause of odor.

For the past 15 or 20 years I have noted the number of people asking if the products I make contain chemicals because they tell me they are chemically sensitive. I believe the reason for the increase in the numbers of chemically sensitive people is directly related to the array of chemicals that are added to clothing.

I also believe that people acquire chemical sensitivity by being exposed to these chemicals; we are not born with chemical sensitivities. I knew a woman who was not chemically sensitive, but worked at a company that stripped the paint off of airplanes and then repainted them. After about 6 months she started to have problems and was told by her doctor she was reacting to the chemicals she was exposed to and should leave the job which she eventually did. The chemical sensitivities never left her as far as I know.

Add to the chemicals added to fabrics made into garments made in Asia is the fact that the packaging is further dowsed with chemicals when the containers are removed from the ships. This is done to kill off the creepy crawlers that may have hitched a ride from who knows where. A good reason to want to buy American made clothing made with American made fabrics.

Each and every day I receive online textile magazines that contain articles of “new” discoveries of chemical treatments that do something wonderful to the fabrics that will allow the garments to do something wonderful for the person wearing the garments. The end results are not what the treatment is cracked up to be or do, but the companies that were bought into using the materials with these treatments do not care.

All of the companies that offer these products are looking for an edge and in doing so they will latch on to whatever sounds good, versus works well.

As I see it in the long run if the consuming public chooses not to stop buying these chemically adulterated garments the numbers of chemically sensitive people will continue to increase.