More Miracle Fabrics

Recently I wrote an article titled “Miracle fabrics” but this article is about a miracle fabric; a single material that is now being used by Colombia Sportswear to make rainwear. They are calling the fabric “OutDry Extreme”.

What precisely is this material? It is a combination of three layers of material. The exposed layer is and I quote “a thin waterproof membrane that is applied to a fabric ( I suspect a nylon fabric) and then it is I believe laminated to a fabric they refer to as a “wicking fabric” which will be next to your skin.

The exterior membrane that they initially in their literature is waterproof however, further in the literature they state that the membrane is and I quote; “ultra-breathable thanks to microscopic perforations in the membrane that allows the moisture to escape while keeping rain at bay”. This is the first contradiction about their material. It is not possible to have a waterproof material that is also vapor permeable, they like to say “breathable”. Maybe someday they will finally learn that inanimate objects do not have lungs so they do not breathe. On the other side of the nylon, the side that the wicking fabric is located looks to me like a woven or open knit fabric in their picture. They state the following; “The interior lining is a wicking textile that enables even more breathability and next-to-skin comfort, as opposed to a plastic-feel next to skin”. They further state the following; ‘This patent-pending technology is an enormous jump forward in keeping dry and comfortable no matter what Mother Nature throws at you”. (Emphasis mine). If the fabric is either cotton, wool, silk or rayon it will definitely absorb the sweat which is liquid and that sweat will move (wick) in the fabric, however it will not move through the perforations in the membrane as they suggest will take place.

The concept of either laminating the film to the nylon or applying it in a process called “knife over roller” which means that the material the membrane is made from is in a liquid state that is basically poured on to the fabric and then the fabric travels under the knife reducing the thickness to as thin as one mil. Since they say the membrane has perforations maybe they are applying the membrane to the fabric as yard goods and it is laminated. In my research I believe they are using a monolithic film for the membrane.

The end result of their machinations is a product that does not work, and will not work as they claim.

They show 10 rain jackets and 2 rain pants in the product mix. These items will be available in the spring of 2016. They will be retailing for $150.00 to $400.00.

My opinion anyone who buys these items is wasting their money unless they buy them because they like the style. But do not believe for one moment that these jackets will perform any better than all of the other garments that have been on the market for years labeled “waterproof and breathable” which they are not.

You can do as I did, go to a search engine and type in outdry extreme and you too can read about the product. You might want to have hip waders on and a shovel by your side.

As far as I am concerned this is just one more example of a large company using a significant advertising campaign to hoodwink people into buying a promise of performance, kind of like the expression; “the check is in the mail”.

Being educated is you best weapon against being taken.