Interviews
A pair of jeans that doesn't need a wash
06 Jan '16
3 min read
If you have ever wished that you never have to wash your jeans, then your wish has just come true. A start up called Odo Denim claims to have developed the world’s first self-cleaning fabric which repels stains and doesn’t allow bacteria to accumulate, which means you don’t have to wash your jeans.
Pakistani-origin Salman Chaudry who founded Odo Denim, understood that the two main reasons why people sent their jeans to the wash were simply because of stains and sweat. But water scarcity in places like California, coupled with high costs of laundry, meant that people were urgently looking for a solution.
He figured out that if he could eliminate sweat and stains from jeans then people wouldn’t need to wash them anymore.
Salman uncovered through his research that the fabric which was most similar to the one he had envisioned – a NASA space suit.
He drew inspiration from space suits that need not be washed because silver makes that possible. So he decided to use silver in the jeans he wanted to make. “After all, 200 years ago, people used to put silver in water to make it antibacterial,” explains Salman.
He stresses that explains humans basically have no smell and that odour is formed from the bacteria that feed off the sweat. When there is no bacteria, there is no smell.
“We’re weaving silver right inside the fabric, it’s permanent. It’s not a layer or coating on top, it’s a part of the fabric itself. Even if you wash it a hundred times the silver won’t go away. It’ll last for the life of the garment.”
As for its stain repellant features, Salman says the team managed to crack that by playing around with the surface area of the fabric. In normal denim, the surface area is so wide that liquid just penetrates through.
What the start up did differently was to integrate nanoparticles, significantly lessening the surface area so that liquid just slides off. It’s survived some heavy-duty tests as well.
A pair is currently available for $95 (Rs 6,300), with early Kickstarter backers set to receive their jeans by the middle of next year. Each will have approximately 10 to 15 grams of silver embedded in them. No, they won’t sparkle.
According to videos posted on Odo’s Kickstarter page — which has blown past the company’s original goal of $10,000 nine times over with three weeks left to fundraise on the site — the jeans really do repel liquids, including such notorious stain culprits as red wine, ketchup and coffee. Odo also claims the jeans do not start to stink even after being worn for a year or more. (SH)
Pakistani-origin Salman Chaudry who founded Odo Denim, understood that the two main reasons why people sent their jeans to the wash were simply because of stains and sweat. But water scarcity in places like California, coupled with high costs of laundry, meant that people were urgently looking for a solution.
He figured out that if he could eliminate sweat and stains from jeans then people wouldn’t need to wash them anymore.
Salman uncovered through his research that the fabric which was most similar to the one he had envisioned – a NASA space suit.
He drew inspiration from space suits that need not be washed because silver makes that possible. So he decided to use silver in the jeans he wanted to make. “After all, 200 years ago, people used to put silver in water to make it antibacterial,” explains Salman.
He stresses that explains humans basically have no smell and that odour is formed from the bacteria that feed off the sweat. When there is no bacteria, there is no smell.
“We’re weaving silver right inside the fabric, it’s permanent. It’s not a layer or coating on top, it’s a part of the fabric itself. Even if you wash it a hundred times the silver won’t go away. It’ll last for the life of the garment.”
As for its stain repellant features, Salman says the team managed to crack that by playing around with the surface area of the fabric. In normal denim, the surface area is so wide that liquid just penetrates through.
What the start up did differently was to integrate nanoparticles, significantly lessening the surface area so that liquid just slides off. It’s survived some heavy-duty tests as well.
A pair is currently available for $95 (Rs 6,300), with early Kickstarter backers set to receive their jeans by the middle of next year. Each will have approximately 10 to 15 grams of silver embedded in them. No, they won’t sparkle.
According to videos posted on Odo’s Kickstarter page — which has blown past the company’s original goal of $10,000 nine times over with three weeks left to fundraise on the site — the jeans really do repel liquids, including such notorious stain culprits as red wine, ketchup and coffee. Odo also claims the jeans do not start to stink even after being worn for a year or more. (SH)
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