Thursday, August 7, 2014

‘Hydrophobic’ T-Shirt That Repels Water and Dirt

Hey! Hey! Great to see you today. Coffee's hot and the virtual treats are just out of the oven in their usual array of splendidness so help yourself!  I'm sure you will agree that everybody loves t-shirts. I have drawers full of them.  I hate it when I get a stain on one of my favourites and can no longer wear it other than around the house. I have at least one that is approaching 30 years old...I kid you not! Well here's a company in Oz that has come up with a unique t-shirt material and all I can say, in the Oz vernacular, is, "Good on you, mate!"

Threadsmiths, a Melbourne-based clothing and technology company, has created a special t-shirt that could very well revolutionize the garment industry. Their new line of 100 percent cotton t-shirts , called ‘The Cavalier’, are made of a material that repels both water and dirt. The highly resilient garments have been put through a range of tests, and miraculously, they’ve passed every single one.

Pour a cup of water on these babies and they’ll remain dry as a bone. Splash Cola or Gatorade directly on to them and all that colored liquid simply beads up and rolls off the fabric. Hose them down with a high pressure stream and they still won’t hold a drop of water. It sounds like magic, but it’s all pure science.

The technology used to create these shirts is an extreme form of water-proofing that involves modifying the fundamental nature of surfaces, making them super-hydrophobic. The company website states: “Our shirts emulate the natural hydrophobic properties of the lotus leaf.” Instead of getting absorbed by the fabric, liquids just form into droplets that slide off of it.

Boy, could I use a doz-ee of those! Put them on my Christmas list, will ya, mate?

Hold on a dang minute there... a rational thought just occurred to me. If the shirt repels water, it could spell the end of wet t-shirt contests and that would not only be an unfortunate side effect, it might also get the inventors lynched!

See ya, eh!

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