Polygiene ViralOff proven effective against SARS-CoV-2

"While this comes as no surprise to us, it is still of enormous value to have a confirmation that the SARS-CoV-2 behaves the same as the other standard viruses tested in commercial contexts," the Swedish company said in a press release.

"Finding a lab that handles this virus is hard, as it requires a high security level and these labs are both rare and extremely busy these days. As long as this virus is considered dangerous it will not be available for commercial testing of specific product applications. But with these tests we will be able to compare commercial tests to the results on the SARS-CoV-2 virus," the release added.

"On one hand we were convinced even before the tests were in. But now we have it on paper, and that has an enormous significance for our partners and for the end-users. After all, people all over the world discard or wash things every day out of the concern that the virus might be present in the textile. This takes a completely unnecessary toll on the environment," said Ulrika Björk, CEO of Polygiene.

The purpose of treating textiles with ViralOff is not to protect the wearer from infection or make any other health claim. It is a treatment to protect the garment. This in turn means it does not have to be cleaned or disinfected. Consumers already wash clothes where it is not really necessary, out of worry for odour and habit. Adding concerns over viruses will add to this. Beyond the environmental effects of wearing more and washing less, there are also countries that demand disinfection of products before they are sold – a ViralOff treated garment will do that by itself continually.

"There is one virus the entire world is focused on right now, and there is one method that should be used to test on textile. We are very proud to be the first in bringing these two together," said Trevor Saunders, director of Global Textile Operations.

"Commercially, it changes few things formally. We have always worked with a very serious approach that anything treated with ViralOff will pass the ISO test, and that we can predict effect on viruses that are not tested directly, through our base research. But emotionally, it of course is great to have the first ISO evidence of efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2, and of course it will translate to new opportunities for us," said Mats Georgson, CMO.

Polygiene said it will continue the tests across several materials as well as washing durability.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)