Wine, beer, soda—you name it—these often-spilled liquids have no chance when landing on the market’s newest stain-resistant fabric. Meet fashion start-up Dropel Fabrics, which first introduced its stain-resistant and water-resistant fabric back in 2015.
By utilizing nanotechnology, the company has created what it deems a “completely unstainable” fabric that can be used in shirts, jackets, and now—sweatshirts. Now, nanotechnology in the apparel industry is nothing new.
The Age of “Silver Nanoparticles”
Back in the mid-2000s, many clothing companies began incorporating “silver nanoparticles” into their products. Silver nanoparticles are antimicrobial, which means they kill the bacteria that cause bad odors. Essentially, incorporating these nanoparticles in fabric, allows for the clothes to be washed less frequently.
As we just ended a decade, stepping into the ‘Roaring 20s,’ it’s time to think about the place for futuristic clothing on our shelves—and not necessarily the sci-fi visualization we have of such apparel—e.g. metallics, holographic accents, and textures.
Taking nanotechnology and incorporating it with other desirable characteristics such as self-cleaning fabrics, water-repelling textiles, and clothing that can reduce odors by chemically changing the compounds that are causing that foul stench.
You may think that other start-ups which claim to have similarly “unstainable” fabrics are no different, but Dropel has one key difference that actually yields the results you’re looking for — taking organically grown cotton and giving it all of the functionality and characteristics of polyester.
Hence the rise of Dropel Fabrics. The company’s team is comprised of scientists, engineers, textile enthusiasts, and creatives with expertise in apparel and a deep passion for the environment.
The company’s CTO, Kwaku Temeng was even the former Head of Innovation at Under Armour, so you know there’s something at work here.
“We live in a world full of stains, but we don’t have to,” Sim Gulati, co-founder and CEO of Dropel Fabrics, said back in June 2015 to Time Magazine at the second annual New York Fashion Tech Lab (NYFTL) Demo Day, hosted by Time Inc.
“Unlike other treatments, our fabrics maintain the plush softness of cotton we love to wear. Wine, beer, soda — not even soy sauce stands a chance.”
This concept, known as the “lotus effect,” of harnessing nanotechnology to produce water-repelling, or hydrophobic materials comes from nature itself. Many plants have hydrophobic foliage, such as the lotus leaf, where you can literally observe water droplets balling up into spheres, rather than absorbing into the surface of the leaf.
Same idea, but instead of a leaf, it’s your clothing. The hydrophobic clothes, according to Dropel’s co-founder and President Bradley Feinstein, “also promote sustainability by cutting down on water and energy used in the washing process.”
But now we stand here five years later and where are we? Through affiliate marketing, Grit Daily has provided an overview of the company’s latest 2020 product line utilizing nanotechnology.
First and foremost, the care and cleaning process is extremely unique:
CottonShield: The World’s Softest High-Performance Jackets
In November 2018, the team came out with its newest prototype—a liquid, stain, & odor repellent sweatshirt and jacket line, following up with its second prototype in July 2019.
Now, Dropel is turning the washer all the way up, taking to Kickstarter to help make this next-gen wearable a reality.
The cotton fabric the company has made, grown organically in the United States, with no hard chemicals and 100% Fluorocarbon free, also contains the functional properties of polyester, reducing the everyday wear and tear deterioration that cotton brings.
Its technology is even Bluesign Certified—the highest standard in the apparel industry.
Dropel Vest
Dropel Sweatshirt
Tech Jacket
ZipUp Hoodie
You can be one of the first to receive the company’s 2020 lineup of hydrophobic winter gear by clicking the Kickstarter link here.
This article contains affiliate links to Dropel Fabric’s products. Grit Daily may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
