Press Room
June 2, 2005
German Version
Skintex® Reloading – prolonging the effects of functional clothing
There is increasing demand for textiles that have been treated with wellness care additives and that care for, cool or revitalize the wearer’s skin. However, products must have a noticeable, long-lasting effect if they are to be popular with the public. Cognis Textile Technology has developed Skintex®, an innovative encapsulation technology that allows clothes manufacturers to treat their products with active ingredients. Naturally derived ingredients enclosed in microcapsules are still present even after repeated washing and wearing. However, the benefits do start to decrease after a number of washes, and this is why Cognis has now developed Skintex Reloading, a tool that allows customers to recharge the level of actives in their Skintex-treated clothes, prolonging their effects.
Skintex Reloading comes in reload packs. These contain microcapsules filled with ingredients such as skin care actives, and are applied to clothes by gently rubbing them into the fabric while it is still wet. The item must then be either laid out to dry or placed in a tumble drier. Obviously, the microcapsules will only bind onto the fibers if the clothing was treated with Skintex when it was originally manufactured.
One use of reloading technology will be with clothes treated with Skintex to provide slimming effects. Here, care additives based on natural ingredients such as Shea butter, apricot kernel oil, rose hip oil and red algae extract can help to reduce the appearance of cellulite. The technology can also be used to refresh products that have been treated with Skintex to give cooling or moisturizing effects. Treating clothing that is worn next to the skin, such as jeans, T-shirts, tops, socks or underwear, in this way enables naturally derived actives with caring and moisturizing effects to be released to the skin, and ensures the wearer’s skin stays cool and comfortable.
Clothing manufacturers can provide a first reload pack with Skintex-treated products, and further packs will be available to buy in the shops. “A customer is much more likely to buy cosmetically treated textiles if they have noticeable effects, which is why we have made these further enhancements to the Skintex concept. By regularly reloading the actives, customers can now prolong the effects of Skintex for as long as they want. This means we can offer established clothes manufacturers real added value in the rapidly growing cosmeto-textiles market,“ comments Oliver-Daniel Bogatu, Director of Business Development Active Textiles, Cognis.
About Cognis:
Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients. The company employs about 8,100 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Additionally, Cognis provides solutions for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles and plastics, as well as agriculture and mining.
Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2004, Cognis recorded sales of 3.07 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and exceptional items) of 362 million euros.
Contact:
Andrea Schamp, Global Marketing Textile Technology
Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Phone: +49-2173-4995-486
E-mail: andrea.schamp@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com
Wulf Klüppelholz, Corporate Communications Manager
Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Phone: +49-2173-4995-221
E-mail: wulf.klueppelholz@cognis.com
Internet: www.cognis.com