Nano-porous material halts body odour
10/06/2010
The new clothing tag uses nano technology to harness and store the molecules responsible for body odour (BO) and Odegon Technologies is preparing to launch the product in the industrial workwear and general apparel markets.
Each tag is seven centimetres by four and houses a three-dimensional mesh of activated carbon material. The tag can either be designed into the armpit area of the garment by clothing manufacturers, or used as a patch ironed on easily by consumers at home.
The company says the tags are soft, chemical-free, odourless, inert, non-allergenic and environmentally-friendly and will function for the lifetime of the garment regardless of the number of washes.
The surface area of the active inner material comprises multiple peaks and troughs; if stretched out, Odegon Technologies says there would be enough material in this section of the tag to fill a full-size tennis court. Polarised molecules from body odour are absorbed and permanently trapped within the material’s nano structures until the garment is cleaned, either by hand or machine washing or by dry cleaning, when the molecules are flushed out.
The controlled material was patented in 1942 by the UK's Ministry of Defence for use in gas masks to absorb harmful nerve gas and has been used in the production of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) suits and gas masks ever since.
Odegon tags are the brainchild of father-and-son team, Steve and Tom Rawlings. On announcing the breakthrough, managing director, Tom Rawlings, commented: "We were right to assume that if the material met CBRN suit requirements, it would be able to tackle BO. We are just starting to realise the potential of Odegon to diverse markets and applications and have received significant interest from corporate and retail clothing companies, particularly in Asian and European markets.”
The tags are on sale at a retail price of £11.95 for three pairs.
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