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New odour resistant fabric: Polygiene

It’s the latest wave in outdoor clothing – odour resistant fabrics that prevent the growth of odour causing bacteria. It keeps you from washing your clothes too often, extends the life of the clothing, and keeps your clothes from getting smelly.

Washing and drying counts for about two thirds of the environmental impact of a product (source: Polygiene.com). Outdoor companies are now coming up with new fibres that you have to wash less, that don’t retain odour to save water, electricity, energy and keeps things out of landfill, and also improves the lifespan of your outdoor clothing. These new developments mean you can wear your garment longer and wash it less often.

The latest from Patagonia

This is the latest news from large brands, such as Patagonia, that are using these fibres to offer a new line of clothing with this built in odour protection. Many of us are well acquainted with merino wool, and why it’s better than synthetic (read our article on the benefits of merino here).

Personally, I don’t use polypropylene for my outdoor clothing anymore, with the exception of mountain bike jerseys. For climbing, hiking, skiing and mountaineering, it’s merino wool all the way. Polypro is made of plastic, and doesn’t feel soft on the skin. After sweating in it, however brief, the fabric takes on a pretty serious stench, and this is because bacteria grows on the surface. This odour causing bacteria doesn’t wash clean with every wear, so over time, the fabric will become so stinky you won’t want to wear it anymore.

Why odour control?

We’ve all thrown out old polypro clothing because after awhile it just smells so bad. Lots of perfectly good base layers are thrown away each year, and this is bad for the environment. Hence, companies are aiming to change this by developing new fibres that can fight smell off longer, replacing the need to constantly wash your garments to get rid of smells.

Specific compounds, usually silver chloride are being employed that prevent the growth of odour causing bacteria and fungi coming from sweat being trapped in the fibres of the garment.

The current leader in this technology is Polygiene. It’s a Swedish company, and you’ll see their label on brands such as Patagonia, Adidas, Polartec, La Sportiva, Arc’teryx and dozens more. In fact, they have over 100 partners according to their website.

Prevents growth of odour-causing bacteria

The latest innovation increases the plethora of options on outdoor gear and will hopefully spark more products like this being developed. A longer lasting product is a good thing, and encouraging fewer washings is great for business. The only way to do that is by preventing the build up of body odour.

Patagonia has already done this with it’s latest version of the Capilene collection. This collection highlights longer wearability between washings, and also includes the use of silver chloride in the fibre. The silver used in Polygiene goes a step further, with silver harvested from reclaimed electronics that would have been buried in a landfill. Now that’s great for environmental sustainability.

Other odour fighting brands include Sciessent are becoming more prevalent in outdoor gear, travel clothing and casual wear, hunting clothing and even clothing such as denim. So far the price of items containing the fibres hasn’t gone up, so there really is no reason not to try them. Stay tuned for more garments like this coming out in the future.

How it works

The fibres prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus that causes odours. Small concentrations of silver chloride – known as silver salt – are used to treat the fabric. Silver salt has microbial properties and is naturally present in water and soil, and is a natural deterrent to prevent bacteria and fungi growth. The treatment is added at the final stage of production. Laboratory and field tests show a high level of odour control beyond normal lifespan of the garment. The best part is the silver chloride is inherent and bound into the fabric, meaning it won’t wash out. The odour repelling properties will last the life of the garment.