Dri-release with FreshGuard keeps odour away

01 Jul '08

3 min read

Performance fibers, yarns and textiles originally developed for active and outdoor sports are increasingly showing up in other products. Moisture management (meaning sweat removal and/or quick dry benefits), breathability, odor elimination, microbe control and other features not only provide great comfort they promote cleanliness and good health.

Now, Dri-release with FreshGuard, a popular technology by Optimer Performance Fibers well known among athletes and outdoor aficionados since 2000, is being used by medical and wellness brands.

Dri-release whisks moisture away from the skin and dries four times faster than cotton, while its companion technology, FreshGuard, eliminates odors and controls the growth of bacteria. It is this co1mbination of hygienic and comfort attributes of Dri-release with FreshGuard that got the attention of medical and health care brands.

Comfort in Healthcare Uniforms
A brand new company launched this May is using Dri-release with FreshGuard exclusively in their line of U.S. made scrubs designed by and for women working in the healthcare professions. Based in Southern California, medelita is aimed at improving both the comfort and appearance of over eight million women in the U.S. alone who wear scrubs and lab coats on the job.

To date, these often unisex products are made of stiff fabrics in boxy, shapeless cuts with little if any fit or scale to the female body. “They feel like sandpaper and no matter how much you fold over the waist or roll up the sleeves, they just don't fit,” says Lara Manchik, founder of medelita. “No one has mastered the uniform that must be worn by female clinicians.”

Manchik, herself an eight-year veteran in medicine, has worked as a physician assistant in ER and trauma centers from the New York inner city to Orange County. “No matter where you go, women [in healthcare] relate to the need for better uniforms. All of us want to be comfortable and feel good about how we look. I just knew there must be something better. I want medelita to reinvent the way women present themselves at work by offering the highest quality, best fitting and most comfortable scrubs available.”

Better Fabric, Better Fit
Manchik decided to use Dri-release partly because of its comfort, freshness and quick-dry features that won't wash out, but also because it clearly set medelita apart from the stiff cotton and cotton/polyester products on the market. The performance of the fabric is matched by the attention to detail and flattering, yet professional fit. Darts and curved seams on both tops, a shaped waist, a slight boot cut on the pant and a 'not too loose, not too tight' fit on the clinician and nursing styles, are some of the things that give medelita a distinct look and feel.

Also new is regular, ready-to-wear sizing. Pushing aside the usual unisex XXS to XXL, medelita comes in size 0-14 and is sold individually, not in sets, so thatcustomers can order a personalized size combination for the best fit. Herself, a diminutive size 2, Manchik is especially sensitive to the 'one size fits all' mistake. “Try us on for size,” she says, “and you'll never go back to boxy again!”

Optimer Performance Fibers

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