– The PFAS-free solutions naturally are not as effective as those containing PFAS. The perceived water-repellent function of the fabric will therefore not be as strong and visible. For example, you will not see that the water beads up and runs off the fabric in the same way. The PFAS-free impregnation is also not as durable and therefore weakens more quickly. Previously, the treatment was called DWR, which is an abbreviation for Durable Water Repellent, now the "D" for "durable" is no longer sufficient to use, Centmayer explains.
More frequent re-impregnation
Bergans has collaborated with both competitors and other specialist communities in the search for an effective prescription, including in the POPFREE Project, which is run by the Swedish research institute RISE.
– We have been involved in several development projects aiming to speed up the research in the industry to find an adequate replacement. This has given us very good insight, but we still haven’t found a good solution when it comes to duration. The PFAS-free impregnations perform differently on different materials, which makes it an extensive task to test and map them. But we'll continue the development work together with our suppliers to ensure a good function, says Centmayer optimistically.
He says consumers will have to re-impregnating their shell garments more often than they have been used to.
This is how Bergans want you to re-impregnate.
– It obviously depends on how water-repellent you want the garment to be, you may not set equally high demands on all garments. If you want the garment to provide good protection against water, you must be prepared to re-impregnate far more often than before, he says and quickly adds; just remember to use a PFAS-free impregnation
