Fall - InsideOutdoor Magazine

”Many synthetic fabrics in the market claim to
have the ability to move moisture away from the body
to the outside of the fabric,” says David Earley, Cotton
Incorporated’s director of supply chain marketing. “But
most do nothing more than absorb perspiration into
the fabric, staying as wet on the inside of the garment
as they are on the outside.”
According to Earley, Cotton Incorporated spent
the past year conducting moisture management
testing to gauge the performance advantage of
TransDRY technology, utilizing testing equipment,
called the MMT Tester, from SDL Atlas in the United
Kingdom. Originally developed by Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, the MMT Tester has the ability
to measure the differential wetness of both sides of a
performance fabric and calculate a one-way moisture
transfer index.
“Fabrics engineered to have one-way transfer
performance beat any synthetic product we’ve tested
in head-to-head comparisons – it’s not even close,” says
Earley. “We think this is an incredible breakthrough for
cotton in the world of performance apparel that will
help us compete head-to-head with synthetics.”
Longworth Industries, an American manufacturer
of high-tech performance apparel and base layer
garments, will be the first to bring a TransDRY product
to market under its new PolarMax Naturals brand.
Longworth has been field testing prototype garments
with branches of the military to gauge performance
and acceptability of the TransDRY technology. The
consumer market will be next up, says Trey Harris,
Longworth’s senior director of business development
“At the end of the day, people just like wearing
cotton, and with the moisture-management factor of
TransDRY, there’s a real advantage,” he says, pointing
to the company’s cotton double-knit. “With untreated
cotton on the outside of the fabric and treated cotton
against the skin, moisture finds its way through better
than our synthetics.”
The concept of TransDRY and cotton “is
phenomenal for Longworth,” Harris says. “The cotton
is sustainably grown in the U.S., and it addresses
a core consciousness among consumers against
petroleum-based products.”
“We think this is an incredible
breakthrough for cotton in the
world of performance apparel
that will help us compete
head-to-head with synthetics.”
At the same time, instead of applying chemistry
to the entire fabric, Cotton Incorporated uses it
selectively in lower amounts on certain areas of fabrics
to engineer to the right level of performance. The
result is responsible and more sustainable production,
says Cotton Incorporated, a program funded by U.S.
growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton
and cotton textile products designed and operated to
improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.
Spectrum Yarns, Inc., and Buhler Quality Yarns Corp.
initially will be the providers in the Western hemisphere
of cotton yarn treated with the TransDRY technology.
Spectrum and Buhler have aligned themselves with
several knitting mills and full-package garment makers
to provide performance fabrics and yarns.
“TransDRY will forever change the way consumers
view cotton,” says Mike Carter, director of business
development for Spectrum Yarns. “The superior
wicking performance of TransDRY will further launch
the fiber into fabrics for performance apparel.”
From the surface to the interior, this summer
PrimaLoft added to its yarn offerings with the announcement
of PrimaLoft Cotton Blend, a combination of 50
percent PrimaLoft fiber and 50 percent cotton.
The end result is a yarn that offers high abrasion
resistance and dries faster and absorbs less moisture
than standard cotton, making it a solid choice for
outdoor garments such as socks, hats, sweaters, base
layers and linings.
“Since last year’s introduction of PrimaLoft yarn,
we’ve been developing new yarns with different
blends,” says Ronald L. Comer, director of international
sales, PrimaLoft Yarn Division. “By blending PrimaLoft
fibers with cotton, we were able to create a yarn that
provides softness, comfort, durability and a faster
drying rate than an all-cotton product.”
The PrimaLoft Cotton Blend yarn also is easy to
care for, as it is machine washable and dryable, and
dries faster than 100 percent cotton, says Comer.
Elsewhere, there’s also development in the world
of washable waxed cotton. Historic U.K. supplier British
Milleran is on top of a trend toward light waxed cotton
fabrics and easy care finishes. The company’s new
Driden is made with special synthetic wax that has the
look, feel and function of the original waxed cotton but
is fully washable. Typically, waxes must be re-applied
to the finished garment from time to time in order to
maintain its look and weather resistance. Cleaning is
done by wiping the surface with a damp cloth.
The Driden finish, on the other hand, is permanently
infused into the fabric, not only making it washable but
also applicable to lighter weight fabrics and even to
synthetics, lending itself to a wider array of product
categories that require water and wind resistance but
need a traditional look.
44 | InsideOutdoor | Fall 2008