3M will showcase its new specified water repellent greige yarn at the NW Material Show and Premiere Vision Sport, which takes place in Portland, Oregon, from August 10-11.

As the latest addition to 3M’s ever-evolving product mix of textile solutions, the new yarn, pretreated with Scotchgard to be inherently repellent, is specially crafted for the development of durable, moisture-managing fabrics, which allows apparel manufacturers to create dual-action water-repellent/moisture-wicking activewear and shoe uppers that can perform in demanding outdoor settings.

“We’re really excited to bring this yarn to the market,” said Robert Polik, 3M senior application engineer. “It will not only open new doors for mills to develop new textiles, but also enable global brands to create activewear and outdoor gear with robust, repellent performance.”

In-house testing indicates that using the inherently repellent yarn can bring efficiency to fabric manufacturing and dyeing processes,  save production time and cost, increase throughput, minimise water and chemical waste on fabric, reduce chalk mark complaints, eliminate the need for wet finishes on fabric and deliver easy, uniform colour treatment.

When held to the testing standards of the AATCC and ISO, the yarn received the highest possible ratings for spray testing, anti-wicking and flex-durability.

“With this new yarn, we’re helping mills overcome common challenges they face with inconsistent treatment, namely investing extensive time and money to find the right recipes for formulas for each fabric,” said Polik. “Mills typically obtain unstable outputs from batch to batch due to varying production conditions. 3M’s treated yarn solves this problem by simplifying the process for improved fabric manufacturing efficiency.”

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