ANDOVER, Mass. — November 2, 2021 — Polartec®, a Milliken & Company brand, and creator of innovative and sustainable textile solutions, announced a switch to peppermint for metal-free odor resistance treatment across its line of performance fabrics. The bluesign®-certified peppermint oil odor resist treatment is an easily renewable, highly sustainable and biodegradable solution for inhibiting odor at the source. The more environmentally friendly push to use peppermint oil is just the latest in Polartec’s ever growing Eco-Engineering initiative.
Performance fabrics have long included anti-odor additives to improve product quality, lifespan, and reduce energy usage through washing. Under Polartec’s Eco-Engineering initiative, the company is constantly exploring better solutions for technical fabrics that meet and exceed the highest possible standards of quality, performance and sustainability.
Knowing that body odor occurs when bacteria metabolize fatty acids and proteins in sweat, and secrete waste, Polartec turned to peppermint oil, which effectively inhibits the growth of odor-causing microbes in the fabric.
The odorless peppermint oil-based treatment was proven in R&D trials to achieve a 99-percent microbial reduction, even after 50 wash cycles (per industry standard testing JIS L1902). According to those results, the treatment is effectively permanent. In garment use trials, where it really counts, Polartec’s “sniff judges” rated the odor control as better than or equal to the protection offered by past metal containing treatments. A bellwether of peppermint oil-based treatment, all Polartec Power Dry®, Polartec Power Grid™, and Polartec Delta™ fabrics will have permanent odor resistance. Production in Italy and China will begin in the late fall, with the United States to follow in 12 months.
“This new odor-resist treatment using responsibly sourced, all natural peppermint oil aligns with our overarching Polartec Eco-Engineering™ mission, which is to develop performance materials based in sustainable science,” said Karen Beattie, Senior Polartec Product marketing manager.
Sustainably harvested using an eco-friendly steam extraction process, peppermint oil is a naturally derived solution to an age-old problem.
Posted November 2, 2021
Source: Polartec®, a Milliken & Company brand
