ARE COOLING FABRICS THE NEXT HOT THING IN APPAREL? - GUEST ARTICLE FROM CARY SHERBURNE
“As Earth continues to heat up, brands, retailers and consumers alike are looking for innovate cooling technologies for textiles and apparel, and there are a number of them already on the market. As we note in this article, however, this is very much a “buyer beware” market, as not all cooling fabrics appear to operate as promised. Read on to learn more…” - Writes Cary Sherburne - WhatTheyThink
GUEST ARTICLE WRITTEN BY CARY SHERBURNE OF WHATTHEYTHINK
As Earth continues to heat up, brands, retailers and consumers alike are looking for innovate cooling technologies for textiles and apparel, and there are a number of them already on the market.
As we note in this article, however, this is very much a “buyer beware” market, as not all cooling fabrics appear to operate as promised. Read on to learn more.
There is no question that we are in the midst of a climate crisis. Earth continues to heat up, largely due to human-caused CO2 emissions, according to climate experts. In fact, it has been reported that July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth—in at least 120,000 years, anyway. Among other things, this is driving demand for apparel that is more breathable and even cooling, helping consumers beat the heat.
According to a recent Reuters article, a number of brands and retailers, including Macy’s, Columbia Sportswear, VF Corp, and Permira-owned Reformation “are also touting warm-weather styles made with Tencel, a lyocell fibre that textile manufacturer Lenzing says is more absorbent than cotton.”
Brands and retailers see this as one way to boost lagging sales, which drooped during the inflationary crisis that caused consumers to cut back on spending. The Reuters article continues, “Apparel manufacturers and sellers are banking on lightweight materials and performance fabrics aimed at offering more relief than traditional cotton and polyester knits, as well as high-tech fibers they say offer wearers ‘active’ cooling.”
Another material that is gaining in popularity in terms of thermal control for apparel, including both heating and cooling—and one of our favourite topics—is graphene.
An article posted on ScienceDirect notes: “Graphene, because of its outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, has been regarded as one of the promising materials for heat dissipation and electromagnetic shielding.” Eysan Fabrics is one company that is taking advantage of these characteristics with a graphene thermal temperature control fabric comprised of 100% polyester reinforced with graphene. As we have noted in the past, it takes very little graphene additive to release the power of the material to affect fabric performance. In this case, the base fabric is a double knit that not only offers thermal control, but also is water repellent and anti-bacterial. It is laminated with a polyurethane film and printed with graphene material, suitable for construction of a light jacket or an inner layer.
Graphene, often called a miracle material because of its many unique characteristics, was discovered at the University of Manchester in the UK in 2004.
Additional research on graphene use in clothing is ongoing at the University of Manchester, where this miracle material was discovered less than a decade ago.
An article in Materials Today notes that the university’s National Graphene Institute “has created a prototype garment to demonstrate dynamic thermal radiation control within a piece of clothing by utilizing the remarkable thermal properties and flexibility of graphene. This development also opens the door to various new applications on textiles, such as interactive infrared displays and covert infrared communication.”
The lead researcher, Coskun Kocabas, stated, “Ability to control the thermal radiation is a key necessity for several critical applications such as temperature management of the body in excessive temperature climates. Thermal blankets are a common example used for this purpose. However, maintaining these functionalities as the surroundings heat up or cool down has been an outstanding challenge.…We believe that our results are timely showing the possibility of turning the exceptional optical properties of graphene into novel enabling technologies. The demonstrated capabilities cannot be achieved with conventional materials.”
Another approach comes from Lycra with its Coolmax Fabric.
The fabric was reviewed in a State of Matter article which calls the fabric revolutionary, noting, “Coolmax is a high-performance fabric that keeps you cool and dry in warm weather or during physical activity. It is made from specially engineered polyester fibers designed to wick moisture away from the skin and onto the fabric surface, where it quickly evaporates.
This process helps regulate your body temperature and keep you comfortable, even in hot and humid conditions. What sets Coolmax fabric apart is its unique four-channel fibre design, which allows for even faster moisture-wicking and evaporation than traditional moisture-wicking fabrics. This means you can stay dry and comfortable for longer periods, even during intense physical activity.”
Another brand leveraging the desire for cooling fabrics is Cool-jams, offering sleepwear.
According to the company, its sleepwear fabric is a polyester microfiber that “mimics the light and soft feel of cotton while outperforming other materials in terms of moisture-wicking and drying speed. Our ground-breaking technology ensures a comfortable and odour-free experience with long-lasting durability, surpassing traditional cotton fabric by six times.”
I personally acquired a set of these, but I can’t say that it felt any cooler than other sleepwear. A downside, at least for me, is the warning that using fabric softener can negate any cooling functionality, which, for me, anyway, meant hand washing them separately. Perhaps others have had a different experience.
Needless to say, these are only a few examples of so-called cooling fabrics available in the market.
Our assumption is that some work well and others probably don’t. As we have seen in the sustainability arena, there are companies out there that claim “green” credentials when they really don’t have them—commonly called greenwashing. Are we now entering into an era of “cool-washing”?
Let’s hope not. As the planet heats up—and it doesn’t appear we are moving quickly enough to mitigate this—cooling fabrics that work will be essential to human survival, especially in hotter, more humid climate conditions. Promoting cooling fabrics that don’t work can be harmful to human health, so the message here is buyer beware. Consumers should be sure to check the actual cooling credentials of the offered fabrics, and look, for example, for tagging such as CoolMax or graphene on cooling apparel and accessories they are looking to buy.
Reviews from other customers are also helpful here—although again, buyer beware…we hear that generative AI is being used in the book market, according to an Axios article, with “AI-generated pseudo-books spamming Amazon and other online bookstores, sometimes borrowing real authors’ names to squat on their virtual real estate.…Searches on Amazon—estimated to control at least half of all U.S. book sales, and an even bigger share of the growing e-book market—are increasingly turning up mediocre AI-generated titles filled with unreliable information and soggy prose.”
One wonders how long it will take for this unfortunate AI-based spamming approach to enter other markets, such as textiles and apparel. Axios also notes that review columns are also beginning to fill up with AI-generated posts intended to skew the ratings.
That being said, the valid work being done to develop new and innovative cooling solutions, including cooling fabrics, is increasingly important as Earth continues to heat up. We’ll continue to follow developments, but also ask for your feedback:
Do you have a favourite cooling fabric or garment that actually works? Can you provide reviews to us? No AI spamming, please.
About Cary Sherburne: Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.
Cary Sherburne is available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. To get more information contact us. Please offer your feedback to Cary. She can be reached at cary@whattheythink.com.
