It is the struggle of all fabric manufacturers: how to make comfortable, attractive uniforms at a fair price that are resilient enough to last many washings, but also minimize stains. In the restaurant industry, given its high stain environment, this challenge is of paramount concern. Unlike other vocations such as industrial repair, food service apparel, with the likelihood of spillage and stains, cannot afford to appear to the ever-demanding public to be anything short of perfectly clean.In May, 2000, the 3M Company, which has been a leader in stain release and repellency in uniform apparel, announced they would phase out manufacturing the chemistry used to produce some ScotchgardTM products.
According to Dr. Charles Reich, executive vice president of Specialty Market Materials, "Our decision anticipates increasing attention to the appropriate use and management of persistent materials. While this chemistry has been used effectively for more than 40 years and our products are safe, our decision to phase out production is based on our principles of responsible environmental management."
Since the announcement, the research labs at 3M have been hard at work to meet the needs of the textile and apparel markets. Industry reaction to the news was emphatic; 3M has been urged to accelerate the development of new protective products.
In light of this change in the market, MADE TO MEASURE decided to have a look at the present options for keeping uniforms clean. Many manufacturers have had to find alternate avenues to continue offering quality fabrications with comparable protection. Rather than concentrating on soil repellency, which utilized fluorocarbons, the industry has turned to soil release, the next best thing, according to many.
Aaron Johnson, Quality Control Supervisor for Russell Fabrics, explains the difference between the two forms of protection. "Soil release is a short-chain polymer chemistry which covers the fiber, attracts surfactants and improves washing effectiveness--whereas soil repellency performs a crosslink with itself, creating a protective shield that repels stains and soils."
Soil will react or adhere to the short-chain polymers that have already surface-coated the material. Then, when the garment is laundered, these reactive groups shear from the fiber and simply disperse themselves into the water and go down the drain. Given that laundering is necessary for the release, this explains why soil release materials are not as durable as those that are soil repellent.
"Our product coats every fiber and actually creates a water-loving agent that attracts detergent and helps the stains release more easily in the wash," states Penny Landro, apparel manager for Du Pont Teflon¨ fabric protector. When asked about durability, Landro says that their product lasts through constant washings, and that Teflon¨ doesn't affect the hand or breathability of the fabric. Furthermore, she says, durability really depends upon the fabric being treated and types of products being used. "We have a minimum specification that must be met in order to use the Teflon¨ hang tag."
Avondale Mills uses Teflon¨ for its uniforms, according to Vice-President George Lansdowne. "We find that Du Pont Teflon¨ is a formidable product, and that's what we are using now." Commenting on the growth of the hospitality market, particularly restaurants, Lansdowne notes, "I live in Augusta, Ga., and there has been an incredible growth in the number of chain eating establishments. These restaurants direct their employees to buy a pair of black or khaki pants or they will supply them a pair and charge the employees for it--or an apron or shirt--which employees care for at home. Soil release is important in improving the appearance, performance and longevity of those products."
Given that it becomes the employees' responsibility to wash their uniforms, as opposed to industrial laundering, Landsdowne points out, soil release makes laundering easier for the employees to consistently maintain an unblemished appearance.
Other manufacturers are taking a different approach in the wake of the discontinuation of fluorocarbons. For example, Dan River, Inc. has its own product for soil release appropriately named SoilOutTM. As Linwood Wright, vice-president of R&D notes, "It is a finish applied to polyester and cotton blends to produce hydrophilic properties and to modify the surface energy of the fabric in such a fashion that conventional laundering will remove oil-borne stains."
Dan River, Inc. introduced the product in October 2000. The company had been working over the years on finishes that would make the cleaning process easier. "Some of the basic work had been done," says Wright, "but the final stages of development for that market were completed quickly in response to the removal of ScotchgardTM from the market."
According to Vince Trotta, senior vice-president of marketing for Dan River, the company is working on licensing SoilOutTM to other companies.
Crest Uniforms, which uses Teflon¨ for their knitwear, also features other soil release chemistries. "We are a big customer of Milliken," explains Bill Heather, executive vice president of Crest. "And they use their own trademarked product, Visa¨ Prestige, for bottom weights such as pants, skirts and shorts. Our primary business is in the quick-servicerestaurantmarket, where appearance is important to our customers because it is important to their customers. We have always recommended the use of a soil release product."
Russell Fabrics has introduced several versions of soil release chemistry, depending upon the fabric blend and end use. The technical team at Russell Fabrics recognizes that performance factors change as the blends vary in content of polyester and cotton. Fabric blends of polyester and cotton at Russell Fabrics contain Wickable SR chemistry. Fabrics containing 100 percent polyester, which are normally hydrophobic, contain Russell Fabrics Softique finish. Both Softique and Wickable SR finishes accentuate a wickable, hydrophilic soil release property and are durable under laundering.
A general consensus for some restaurant apparel is that hand is not as high a priority--which means there can be more of a focus on wickability and soil release. They also need to be able to wash these garments repeatedly and have them come out as bright as they were before. This request may change the types of fibers used and the method of dyeing. Thisis another application that could lead to alternative soil release chemistries.
While today's uniforms are being treated for soil release, research continues in pursuit of a better uniform for tomorrow. Soil repellent uniforms will return eventually. This is a very innovative time for the textile industry, and it is inevitable someone will pioneer a new way to keep restaurant uniforms clean.
Not all fluorocarbons have been discontinued. Only Scotchgard'sª PFOS (perfluorooctanyl sulfonate) has been discontinued. Other fluorocarbons, including Teflon's¨ TFE (tetrafluroethylene) telomerization, are currently used for soil repellency and soil release and are considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. "Release What You Can't Repel" from Spring Summer 2001 mistakenly reported that all fluorocarbons had been discontinued. MADE TO MEASURE apologizes for this miscommunication.
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