Textile major Arvind Limited on Wednesday announced the launch of an anti-viral textile technology for its fabric and garment products. The company has launched the product under its existing fabric brand, Intellifabrix, and will be made available across 8,000 retail stores across India in a couple of quarters.
The company has partnered with Swiss textile innovation major HeiQ Materials AG in association with Taiwanese specialty chemicals major Jintex Corporation to introduce the product with a special combination of advanced silver and vesicle technology that eliminates viruses, including coronavirus from the surface of the garment within 30 minutes.
“This is a landmark innovation at a time when everywhere there is a lot of the anxiety and worry among the people about the presence and spread of the coronavirus through clothing. HeiQ’s viroblock technology is scientifically proven and a one-of-its kind technology to fight against the coronavirus. They have clinically tried and tested and found that this technology helps in eliminating coronavirus on the fabric. We are going to launch this product on a large scale under our B2C fabric segment Intellifabrix in over 8,000 stores across India,” said Kulin Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind Ltd.
Speaking to
Initially, the company plans to launch the viroblock technology for shirting and face mask products, while it will eventually launch bottom wear also under the same technology.
HeiQ Viroblock is one of the most advanced global antiviral products created by HeiQ, which significantly enhances the antiviral log reduction and reduces viral infectivity by 99.99 per cent. It is one of the first textile technologies in the world to claim such efficacy on SARS-CoV2, the company claims.
The technology is applied through a chemical process on the fabric at the end of the manufacturing process. Giving details about the technology, Lalbhai said that HeiQ Viroblock has been designed to stay active on treated garments for 30 gentle domestic washes, ensuring safety for the customers for a good part of the garment’s life.
According to Lalbhai, research shows that viruses and bacteria can remain active on textile surfaces for up to two days. Garments treated with HeiQ Viroblock actively inhibit viruses and kill them upon contact, helping to minimise the potential re-transmission of pathogens through clothing.
“In this unprecedented time of Covid-19, we have launched this product to keep our customers safe. In a very short period of time, we will introduce into the Indian market fabrics that will provide best-in-class viral protection and are fashionable at the same time,” he added.
In a statement, Carlo Centonze, CEO, HeiQ Group, said, “HeiQ Viroblock is a special combination of our advanced silver and vesicle technology that has been proven effective against the human coronavirus 229E & SARS-CoV2, causing Covid-19, which (results in) 99.99 per cent reduction of virus in 30 minutes.”
It is a safe, hypoallergenic and patent-pending technology, he added.