Carrington Textiles has successfully obtained the ISO 18184:2019 “Determination of antiviral activity of textile product” certification for its new Antiviral and Antibacterial Finish for fabrics, a strategic move of the company’s R&D efforts to respond to the market’s needs in a new Covid-19 world where employees of all sectors including healthcare, construction, hospitality, armed forces and heavy industry need to be more protected than ever.

The textile manufacturer ran trials on its main scrub suit poly-cotton fabric, Alba 2, using the Sanitized branded treatment that harnesses the natural antiviral and antibacterial properties of silver.

After weeks of testing at an independent laboratory in the UK by using an enveloped virus, the results show an effectiveness rating of over 99% of the antiviral properties of the fabric which deactivates viruses in two hours. Even after 50 washes at 60 °C 98 percent of viruses have shown to be deactivated, meaning the protective properties of the textile will last the lifetime of the garment.

This newly tested finish delivers an antiviral fabric that is not only safe for use on face coverings, medical wear, and a wide range of workwear, but also environmentally friendly garments that -due to its best-in-class launderability and long-lasting properties- will help reduce the amount of disposable PPE that ends up in landfill.

How does it work

The porous nature of textiles means that viruses and bacteria can be trapped within the fabric structure, which possibly lowers the risk of the viruses being transferred. However, they will still remain viable and bacteria may also replicate within the fabric leading to unpleasant odours, amongst other things.

This Antiviral and Antibacterial Finish by Carrington Textiles is suitable to use on any woven fabric and works as a coating that is pressed then ‘baked’ into the fabric using specialised machines at the end of the manufacturing process.

• This Antiviral Finish works as a barrier and any viruses which get trapped in the fabric structure will be deactivated and rendered harmless before they get chance to infect a host cell.
• This treatment kills bacteria the same way, with the added benefit to working as a ‘built-in deodorant’ as due to its advanced technology protects against unwanted bacteria that causes unpleasant odour.

Sales Director Paul Farrell:

“Our R&D efforts to innovate and respond to the market’s needs has allowed us to have a finish available that is able to deactivate enveloped viruses and kill bacteria using technologies that are not only safe and comfortable to wear, but also offer excellent launderability benefits without compromising performance.”