Get the gear that’s ready for every adventure, every time.
Polartec® fabric technologies are performance features that can be designed into or applied to existing fabrics. By using unique silver yarns in Polartec® Power Dry® fabrics, we can add permanent odor resistance. With yarn selection and different construction techniques, we can create more wind resistant or sun protective fabric. And with an advanced surface fusion polymer, we can make the material more durable and highly water repellent.
Many of these technologies can be added to a number of different fabric styles to meet the exact performance needs of clothing manufacturers and consumers. Vests, pants, hats, blankets, jackets—the latest Polartec® technologies help us push the limit of what fabrics and finished garments can accomplish.
- Hardface®
Adding durability and water resistance to your outerwear.
Polartec® Hardface® Technology is a revolutionary new “surface-fusion polymer application”. This proprietary application, which can be added to almost any fabric, provides the following results:
- Dramatically increases abrasion and snag/pick resistance
- Enhances durable water repellency
- Creates a smooth surface for easy layering
- Maintains a uniform afterwash appearance
Fabrics featuring this technology have greater outerwear performance than traditional fleece (or other traditional fabrications) without sacrificing breathability, versatility or comfort.
- Durable Water Repellency
All-weather adventure wear that bounces back, no matter what Mother Nature does.
Rain and snow bead up and roll off the surface of the fabric. Offers protection from surprise changes in the weather and enhances dry time.
- Sheds rain and snow
- Quick-drying
- Odor Resistance
Give your gear a workout—it’ll stay fresh and clean.
Provides permanent odor protection by inhibiting the growth of odor-causing bacteria in the fabric using silver fiber yarn.
- Safe and natural. Pure silver is the active ingredient in Odor Resistant Technology
- Silver fibers inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria in the fabric
- Provides permanent odor protection for the life of the garment. Garments stay fresher longer between washes
- Flame Resistance
Merging Performance Fabric with FR Capabilities.
The reference standard for flame resistance that keeps you safe, warm, and comfortable in a wide range of conditions.
Polartec® FR fabrics are designed to work together creating a layering system that has less bulk, better mobility, greater comfort and more breathability.
Next-to-Skin
Polartec® Power Dry® FR
- Permanent flame resistance
- Does not melt or drip on skin when exposed to extreme heat or flame
- Superior wicking action
- Patented bi-component construction
- Highly breathable and quick drying
- Soft surface next to skin provides all day comfort
- Machine washable
To learn more, download the Polartec® Power Dry® FR PDF
Polartec® Power Stretch® FR
- Permanent flame resistance
- Will not melt or drip on the skin
- 4-way stretch
- Highly breathable and quick drying
- Keeps your skin dry when you sweat
- Comfortable next-to-skin
- Warmth without weight
- Machine washable
To learn more, download the Polartec® Power Stretch® FR PDF
Insulation
Polartec® Thermal FR®
- Permanent flame resistance
- Will not melt or drip on the skin
- Superior wicking action
- Warmth without weight
- Breathable
- Dries quickly
- Durable, machine washable
To learn more, download the Polartec® Thermal FR® PDF
Weather Protection
Polartec® Wind Pro® FR
- Permanent flame resistance
- Will not melt or drip on the skin
- 4 times more wind-resistant than traditional fleece
- Warmth without weight
- Highly breathable
- Water-repellent surface sheds rain and snow
- Durable, machine washable
To learn more, download the Polartec® Wind Pro® FR PDF
- Sun Protection Technology
Go to extreme heights in fabric that prevents sun damage.
Certified protection from the sun's damaging ultraviolet rays.
- UPF (15, 20, 40)
- Blocks (93%, 96%, 97%) of UV
- (Good, Very Good, Excellent) UV Protection
- Certified according to national standards for testing and labeling: AATC 183, ASTM
Ultraviolet protection factors (UPF) ranging from 15-40.
- Insect Repellent
Making your outings a lot more pleasurable.
Polartec® Insect Repellent Technology with Skintex® MR III is a proprietary application of microencapsulated permethrin durably bound into the fabric. Permethrin is a man made version of a natural insect repellent derived from the Chrysanthemum plant. It repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges, making your outings a lot more pleasurable and potentially safer. Repellency remains effective for 25 washings. It is odorless, colorless and does not change the hand feel of the fabric.
- Provides protection from biting insects. Repels mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and/or midges.
- Provides reassurance. Repels mosquitoes that may carry West Nile Virus and ticks that may carry Lyme Disease.
- Long lasting. Repellency remains effective for 25 washings.
- Safe. EPA registered and approved.
- Comfortable. Odor free. Does not change the hand feel of fabrics.
- Eco-Engineering™ Recycled
Waste Nothing.
The reasons to recycle? Obviously, the impact to the environment tops the list. Recycling saves energy, reducing our reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels. It significantly reduces the amount of waste we put into landfills, as well as harmful emissions deposited into the atmosphere. The technology behind recycled materials is growing all the time. New recycled yarns no longer have trade-offs in product performance or aesthetics. There’s also a business benefit, both in the economic return it’s capable of yielding, as well as a competitive marketing advantage over companies not viewed as environmentally friendly. There’s never been a better time to do the right thing.
Continuing our quest to reduce our overall footprint, Polartec, LLC and Unifi have announced a new partnership introducing performance fabrics made with REPREVE 100. REPREVE 100 is made from 100% post-consumer waste (clear plastic water bottles). Click on News and Events below to learn more.
Eco-Challenge Quiz
The Recycling Process
Post-Consumer and Post-Industrial waste is turned into first quality polyester yarn for Polartec® fabric.
The Polartec® Recycled Product Line
We’ve been offering recycled Polartec® Classic fabrics since 1993. With recent yarn technology breakthroughs, the possibilities to improve and expand are endless. We now offer recycled content fabrics in every category ranging from super soft next-to-skin Polartec® Power Dry® to high loft Polartec® Thermal Pro® insulation to Polartec® Power Shield® performance soft shell fabrics. Though the actual recycled content of each style varies, we have made a corporate commitment to having a minimum of 50% recycled content in order to promote a style as recycled.
- Eco-Engineering™ Renewable Wool
Keep it green.
Simply put, renewable resources are resources replaced by nature faster than we can use them. From food, to energy, to everyday items, renewable resources are rapidly becoming crucial to the sustainability of our way of life. One such resource that offers unique performance benefits is wool.
- Wool/recycled polyester blend
- Promotes warmth, wicking and quick drying
- Naturally odor resistant
Polartec® Pure Wool™
Merino sheep produce a particularly fine quality wool that is soft and comfortable next to skin, while offering the seemingly disparate performance benefits of being warm in the cold, but remaining comfortable during heated pursuits.
Wool Structure
Wool has a very complex structure making it one of nature’s greatest defenders from cold, heat, and wetness. Microscopic scales cover the surface of a wool fiber, similar to roof shingles. The scales are hydrophobic, and their stacking gives the fiber water repellency. Yet, moisture vapor can penetrate under the scales where the cortex, or inner structure, is hydrophilic. This gives the fiber breathability. Wool can be processed to give a garment water repellency or water absorbency (wicking), depending on how much of the scales are left on or removed. In addition, the chemical make-up of the cortex causes wool to release and absorb heat as moisture is attracted to and released by the fiber.
On a more macro level, wool is a crimped fiber, meaning it has little curls. This creates pockets between the fibers for air entrapment, which promotes insulation against both hot and cold temperatures.
- Eco-Engineering™ Cocona
Made from Coconuts.
Cocona® performance technology is based on activated carbon derived from coconut shells, a renewable resource. Each year more than 20 billion coconuts are produced to support the food, cosmetic, medical and filtration industries. Cocona® technology uses coconut husk waste — waste that would otherwise have gone off to a landfill — to make activated carbon.
Aids evaporative cooling and speeds dry times
The vast pore structure on the surface of the activated carbon increases the surface area of Cocona® yarns. Increasing surface area creates a wicking/siphoning effect on perspiration, picking it quickly up off the skin. We use these yarns in some of our Polartec® Power Dry® fabrics to enhance their next to skin performance.
Odor Management
Activated carbon provides odor management by the process of adsorption. Adsorption is when one material adheres to the surface of another material. The activated carbon is essentially full of holes. Organic odor molecules from the air are attracted into the pores and attach to the carbon surface. These contaminants accumulate on the carbon’s interior surface, instead of finding their way into your nose. When the pores get full, they can be refreshed and the odors released from heated washing and drying.
UV Protection
Cocona® yarns also provide natural sun protection. Activated carbon absorbs harmful UVA and UVB rays, increasing the sun protection factor of Polartec® fabrics.
Washable and Permanent
Unlike topical treatments, Cocona® technology is contained inside the fibers. This will help retain or even improve fabric performance over the life of the garment.
Natural and Sustainable
Cocona® technology provides a natural, sustainable solution for fabric performance needs.
