OR Summer ’22

USA-Based Cool Comfort Technologies

By Kathlyn Swantko

The movement of heat, moisture, and air through a fabric are key factors impacting the comfort of clothing.  Through various technologies, fabrics can keep the body cool, warm, or thermoregulate in response to changes in environmental conditions including the wearers body temperature and perspiration rate. 

At Outdoor Retailer Summer 2022, the FabricLink Network visited with several leaders in keeping us comfortable using innovative technologies with sustainability in mind.

brrr°: Technology that Powers the Performance for Everyday Life

brrr° is a pioneer in fabric innovation. From button-down shirts to car seat covers and yoga pants, the brrr° team focuses on developing new custom fabric technologies that continue to improve function for keeping consumers more comfortable.  Harnessing the power of natural cooling minerals, active wicking, and rapid drying technologies, brrr° features a library of more than 500 fabrics that can be customized for exact specifications in business clothing, casual wear, denim, athletic apparel, athleisure, undergarments, uniforms, bedding, and many other textiles.

In 2020, following three years of research, the company introduced its most advanced product yet, brrr° Pro. Powered by enhanced cooling minerals, hyper wicking, and performance drying, brrr° Pro delivers superior comfort. In independent third-party testing, brrr° Pro consistently outperformed other finished products on the market.  brrr°’s sustainability line includes brrr° recycled nylon and brrr° recycled polyester, both of which have Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification.

drirelease®/OPTIMER Technologies showcased two new “comfort is our promise” technologies to its family of comfort products:  DRICOMFORT® GEO and drirelease® E.C.O. at Outdoor Retailer Summer 2022.

DRICOMFORT® GEO, for comfort all year around, uses the body’s energy to enhance comfort all-day, every-day, through hydrophilic active particles, which have thermal conductivity 3,000% greater than that of polyester polymer.  GEO can be added to filament polyester fabrics or yarns, and infused with the fiber structure to provide permanent performance for the life of the garment. 

Moisture management (wicking and fast-drying) is inherent to GEO as the active hydrophilic particles effectively transport moisture through the fabric.  Its highly conductive nature provides energy to drive the moisture out by using the skin‘s heat to make sweat evaporate faster.  GEO is a unique and adaptable technology that provides thermoregulation through efficient heat management and moisture transfer in the fabric, enhancing comfort, and permanent performance in filament polyester fabrics.

drirelease® E.C.O. - drirelease® e.c.o. fabrics combine the
wicking/fast-drying properties of drirelease®, while
incorporating Unifi’s Repreve® recycled polyester fibers.

TurboDry® - Patented moisture transport technology that mimics nature and
moves moisture for faster evaporation.

TurboDry® by NexTex Innovations featured patent-pending technology that leverages non-chemical capillary forces to transport moisture away from the skin.  This positive one-way transport capacity creates a fabric that is dryer on the inside than on the outside, resulting in sustained comfort. TurboDry® fabrics biomimic the moisture movement method that trees use to move water from their roots to their leaves.