US launch of chitosan-soaked Tencel C fiber at upcoming Los Angeles Textile Show & Texworld USA

Posted On: March 16, 2011

Textile World: Lenzing of Austria recently launched Tencel C,  comprising Tencel fiber soaked with chitosan, made of chitin extracted from crab shells.  Lenzing reports it adds skin-soothing cosmetic benefits to Tencel, and in a scientific wear study, stockings made with Tencel C were shown to protect the skin, allow it to retain more moisture, improve skin elasticity and stimulate skin cell regeneration. Lenzing is promoting the fiber for use in apparel worn next to the skin and in home furnishings such as bed sheets. There also are potential wound-healing applications.

“Our research team worked on Tencel C for almost ten years,” said Alexandra Steger, project manager marketing apparel, Textile Fibers, Lenzing AG. “We have attached the chitosan so that it can’t wash off or be stripped off. The fiber is spun, and the chitosan solution penetrates into its porous structure. The fiber is then finished. Cellulose and chitosan are very similar, so we can combine the botanic and oceanic stories,” she said, pointing out cellulose’s botanic source and chitosan’s oceanic source. “The molecules differ only at one point where chitosan has an amino group.

Lenzing will launch Tencel C in the United States at the upcoming Los Angeles International Textile Show and Texworld USA.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, chitin, chitosan, commercialize, functional ingredients, marine biopolymer, marine ingredient, marine ingredients, market launch, seafood byproducts, Tencel C, textile • No Comments

Seaweed fabric releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture

Posted On: May 11, 2009

Lululemon Athletica has been a standout performer on Wall Street since it went public in July, thanks to the popularity of its costly yoga and other workout clothes, which are made with unusual materials, including bamboo, silver, charcoal, coconut and soybeans.

The label on a shirt at Lululemon says it contains seaweed.

One of its lines is called VitaSea, and the company says it is made with seaweed. The fabric, according to product tags, “releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture.” Lululemon, which has received positive media coverage for its fabrics, also says the VitaSea clothing, made from seaweed fiber supplied by a company called SeaCell, reduces stress and provides anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits.

There is one problem with its VitaSea claims, however. Some of them may not be true.

The New York Times commissioned a laboratory test of a Lululemon shirt made of VitaSea, and reviewed a similar test performed at another lab, and both came to the same conclusion: there was no significant difference in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts.

In other words, the labs found no evidence of seaweed in the Lululemon clothing.

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From Issue 3 • Categories: Tags: antimicrobial, marine ingredients, seafood byproducts, seaweed, textile • No Comments