Debates about durable water repellency (DWR) will not die down. It is no surprise that it featured on the Textile Discovery Summit that the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) organized in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the start of October. Dr Kiarash Arangdad, the director of emerging chemistries at Elevate Textiles, spoke at…

The shift to nonfluorinated durable water repellents (DWRs) is gaining momentum. Top outdoor, sportswear and apparel brands—from Patagonia and The North Face to adidas, H&M, Levi’s and Zara—have been moving away from the use of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in DWR finishes for weather protection and stain resistance for several years. In parallel, PFCs…