Cognis to introduce skincare fabrics in India

Mumbai, Apr 23: Clothes over the years have served variety of purpose, they have protected us, supported us and given us warmth, but what, if they could energise our body, moisturise our skin and even repel the mosquitoes! Well, not a bad idea after the green peace objected to the chemical substance - Trichlosan, present in the anti-microbial treated fabrics. Anti-microbial treated products were in vogue in Europe and US, however with the recent objection, governments have issued a word of caution to the companies to be more socially conscious in their product development.

In order to meet the environmental conditions and also to make consumers feel comfortable many companies have shrugged off the anti-microbial treated fabrics from their product baskets. The buzz-word now is finish treatment through extracts derived from plants, roots, barks and flower oils which are embbeded into the fabrics as micro capsules.

A Germany based speciality chemicals company Cognis Ahura, has recently launched Skintex, a technoogy based on the formula of treating the fabrics through micro capsules. This treatment helps in removing the bad odour from the skin by absorbing the organic bacteria and releasing a fragrance to elevate the mood. Also, once outdoor, the fabric can help to keep the mosquitoes at bay through its active repellant properties.

These micro-capsules can be embbeded in either the natural fibres like cotton or into synthetic textiles like polyester, without changing the shape or the size of the fabric as they are microscopic and cannot be seen or felt.

Chitosan an enzyme derived from shrimp shell assists the capsule to protect losing its ingredients. They are activated in two ways first through friction as the person wears the cloth and secondly as the shell wears off after some time helping the enzyme of the skin to react with the ingredients of the capsule.

India has a strong business potential for such technology.

Company, business development manager, Oliver Bogatu, while talking to UNI said ''such products have huge demand in Europe and US and we see a great potential in the Indian market as the capacity to expend has increased three fold. And also since people have become very fashion and image conscious.'' ''Cognis is at various stages of talk with companies in India who would like to use the technology at their plants,'' he added.

UNI