Three popular antimicrobial treatments were compared by treating a similar piece of fabric and then measuring the antimicrobial function after various numbers of washes.
The fabric used was polyester 85%; cotton 15% with a weight of approximately 120 gsm.
The three treatments were as follows.
Company-N
Company-P
FUZE
Zinc based antimicrobial treatment
Ionic silver based antimicrobial treatment
Elemental silver based antimicrobial and mold-preventive treatment
The fabrics were measured with an ICP machine to determine the amount of active agent on the fabric and submitted for third-party antimicrobial testing to confirm the antimicrobial function. This was done before washing and then several times after repeatedly washing the fabric samples.
The results were as shown in the tables below.
Observations from the test results.
Observation
Conclusion
Company-N
The fabric started with 844 mg/kg of zinc. This dropped to 22 mg after just 5 washes.
This means that more than 860 mg of zinc was released into the wastewater along with the chemical binders that were necessary for the application.
Antibacterial performance dropped to 41% after 5 washes and to 0% after 25 washes.
This high amount of zinc (860 mg) in wastewater can have toxic effects on plant and animal life and is generally regarding as an environmental hazard.
The antimicrobial function is reduced to less than 50% after just 5 washes which could be as little as one month of normal wear.
Company-P
The fabric started with 42.3 mg/kg of silver. This dropped to less than 1 mg after just 5 washes.
This means that more than 40 mg of ionic silver was released into the wastewater along with the chemical binders that were necessary for the application.
There was zero antibacterial performance after just 5 washes.
Such a large amount of ionic silver (41 mg) being released into the wastewater is widely understood to have a negative impact on the environment.
After just 5 washes, there was more than 200 times the amount of silver released to pollute the environment than that remaining on the fabric.
After washing the fabric just 5 times, there was absolutely no antimicrobial function.
FUZE
Only 1.12 mg/kg of silver was on the sample. About 60% of this was lost during the first 5 washes.
The 60% of FUZE that was lost during the initial washes is probably die to the Fuze being attached to dyestuffs and softeners, etc. which are washed away in the first washes.
Although the 0.6 mg of silver was released into the wastewater, this is non-ionic elemental (safe) silver, and there are no additional chemical binders released with it.
However, even with the reduced amount of about 0.5 mg/kg after the 5 washes, the antibacterial performance was still 99%.
Even after 50 washes, over 20% of the Fuze remained on the fabric with an antibacterial performance of 90%.
* Chemical amounts (mg) are per kg of fabric.
Only 0.66 mg of silver was released to the wastewater after 5 washes.
No danger to the environment.
After 5 washes, the less than 0.5 mg of Fuze on the fabric still has an unaffected 99% antimicrobial function.
Fuze continues to function after even 50 washes. In some cases, Fuze has been shown to continue working up to 200 washes.
Summary
Fuze uses very low amounts of chemicals.
Fuze permanently adheres to the fabric.
Fuze doesn’t leach out into the environment.
Fuze remains effective even after 50 washes.