About Sustaining Voices
Sourcing Journal’s Sustaining Voices celebrates the efforts the apparel industry is making toward securing a more environmentally responsible future through creative innovations, scalable solutions and forward-thinking initiatives that are spinning intent into action.
Overview
HeiQ and DuPont have linked arms to offer a first-of-its-kind durable water repellent for leather sans fluorinated chemicals.
Deep Dive
Balancing durability and effectiveness with lack of environmental impact has long been a challenge for the companies behind textile treatments. When Wolverine World Wide Leathers approached HeiQ Materials AG and DuPont Consumer Solutions, a business unit of DuPont Specialty Products, the leather company was looking for a durable water repellent (DWR). HeiQ had already developed the HeiQ Eco Dry line of products free of perfluorinated chemicals, better known as PFCs. Seeing a need for leather-safe, water-repelling treatments, DuPont and HeiQ collaborated to create ECO-LED, a DWR specifically for leather. Wolverine will be the first supplier to offer ECO-LED-treated leather to major brand partners. “The formulation HeiQ created is the first of its kind and a pioneering innovation for outdoor apparel,” a spokesperson said.
According to the team at HeiQ, the standard DWR previously used was a long-chain fluorocarbon-based treatment, which was both highly effective and durable. Unfortunately, those treatments’ byproducts are toxic enough to warrant global bans on the technology. Many outdoor companies have switched to a shorter-chain fluorocarbon-based treatment, but these produce byproducts that are still harmful to the environment, albeit to a smaller degree. HeiQ Eco Dry is fluorine-free, and unlike many other treatments, works the same on both textiles and leathers. It’s also wash-durable, has high abrasion resistance, contains no PFOA or PFOS and is Bluesign-approved and Oeko-Tex-certified.
According to HeiQ, the technology is inspired by the natural water repellency of duck feathers. Just as duck feathers achieve natural water repellency through their surface structure, HeiQ Eco Dry uses surface structure modification to roll water droplets from the surface. For this reason, the fluorine-free product HeiQ and DuPont created is targeted for outdoor use, and not intended to protect against oil stains the way DWRs containing fluorine are. But demand for fluorine-free DWR finishing is growing, and now the company is developing a broader range of DWR products for different substrates.
HeiQ specifically formulates its treatments to be easy to apply at the mill level, and plans to continue to engineer its treatments with this in mind. In addition, HeiQ will continue to offer education to mill partners to ensure all mill employees know how to apply the technology properly and make certain it lasts. The company also seeks to expand compatibility between products, creating multiple functionalities that can be combined into one product, such as thermoregulation, water repellence, odor control and friction reduction.
Consumers are more engaged than ever with the supply chain, and HeiQ says it is eager to bring its newest technologies to the market for feedback. HeiQ Eco Dry will be available on footwear starting Fall 2019.
In what areas has the fashion industry made the biggest strides in sustainability in the last five years?
"Consumer awareness of the environmental impact of apparel production has led to brands responding to these allegations and improving their environmental footprint. Cheap production drives fast fashion, and unfortunately, this type of production leads to pollution and poor work environments, as well as waste problems.
Brands have been sourcing more sustainable materials and designing longer-lasting products. Brands have also been encouraging their customers to fix their apparel instead of replace it, or return unwanted items for the brands to facilitate resale or reuse."