more foolishness from gore and primaloft

THE NEWEST OLD PRODUCTS MARKETED

I am never surprised to read about the Gore Company and the Primaloft Company offering what they believe is new non-functioning products for consumers to waste their money on.

Primaloft is now offering a “stretch insulation” as if it is new. When polyester fiberfill came on the market in 1960/61 it already was capable of being a stretch insulation. Go to any fabric store and look at their rolls of fiberfill and pull a layer and you will find that the fiberfill stretches in all directions. You will also note that it gets thinner. Based upon this characteristic they say the insulation is more versatile. That way if you are wearing a jacket made with this fiberfill product you will not have to layer as much. What they obviously do not understand when you stretch the fiberfill batting you break the bond of many of the fibers making the structure of the fiberfill weaker. The weaker it is the faster it flattens so whatever insulation it offered in the first place which in my educated opinion is very little is even less.

It is obvious to me that they are continuing to grasp at straws in their quest to make an insulation that actually works. The only reason that they can get manufacturers to use their hocus pokes material in garments is because of advertising. What they originally presented to the market place “a synthetic alternative to down” i.e. polyester fiberfill already existed since 1960/61 was not new. That product did not work so they have tried to conjure more products that are the same with different names. These new named products don’t work either.

Keep in mind that continuous filament fiberfill came on the market in 1968 and has demonstrated since that it is the true “synthetic alternative to down”. Actually it is far superior to down!!That said since its inception into the market place it has been improved in a number of ways. The fiber finish has been improved so it will spread more efficiently on the machine that forms it into a web for companies like Wiggy’s to use, so you the customer can get the best product available used by me in my cold weather products. Sometimes longevity does have its advantages. Actually I am of the opinion that continuous filament fiber for use as an insulating medium will not be approved upon for a very long time to come if ever.

Gore has a new to them concept that they are applying to fabric that will cause water to bead on the surface of the fabric when rain water hits it. Many years ago when I was selling colorful African printed fabric one customer made rainwear from it. He sent the material to a laminating plant in Peacedale R.I. called Peacedale Processing. They were as far as I am concerned the best laminating plant in the world. What they did for my customer was to laminate a clear film so the print would show trough like looking through a clean window. It was “water-proof”. I bought one for my sister but I never did ask her if she sweated in it. You see Gore did not exist at that time. But I can assure you if she did sweat it would never have come through the fabric just like sweat not going through any of the Gore fabrics that have a film applied to them.

In the news release that I have read Gore states and I quote; “According to the company, Gore Tex Active with Permanent Beading Surface (yes, that’s the real name) is the lightest, most breathable Gore-Tex material to date and the only version that is permanently waterproof without needing a durable water repellent (DWR) coating”. I agree that when you coat a fabric to make it waterproof there is no need for a water repellent treatment. As you read in the same sentence that I have quoted this material is “most breathable Gore-Tex material to date”. Gore too has one material with a multitude of names. Amazing that they contradict themselves in the same sentence.

Gore is doing something that Primaloft is not doing, and that is starting their own brand of clothing products probably because most of the outerwear marketing companies has their own brand of waterproof/ breathable material. These companies have discovered that it is not necessary to laminate PTFE film to fabric to have a non-performing product and the cost is significantly less.

Unfortunately those who buy these products and find out that they do not work as advertised apparently choose not to take the garments back to the stores and complain. If enough people did do just that the store owners would go back to the suppliers and complain to them. Retailers do not want to take products back.

So each of these companies has resurrected old technology and shows it as new. Just like all of the flat quilted jackets that are available today. Quilted jackets were huge in the 1960’s because it was new. People got away from the quilted look because eliminating the quilting made for warmer jackets and now we have designers (?), who think they have created a new fashion.

This is the old philosopher wishing one and all a Merry Christmas.