Current Pedorthics | November-December 2018 | Vol.50, Issue 6 | Page 20

Ever Evolving Waterproofing Technology it creates a lot of stress and tension between the fabric and coating. Experimenting with different fabrics, he discovered that his coated fabric did not hold air at all. Although not suited for hot air balloons, the encapsulated fabric he was testing did not allow water to penetrate at all but did remained air permeable. One of the differences between “encapsulated” permeable waterproofing and laminated waterproof technology lies in the definition of “breathable.” The laboratory test conducted on laminated fabrics claiming breathability is the MVTR (Moisture Vapor Transfer Rate) demonstration showing how many milligrams of water in vapor state*will diffuse through 1 square meter of laminated fabric over a 24-hour period. The makers of the encapsulated technology claim that this test does not reflect natural conditions at all, as humans do not sweat water vapor even at extreme bodily temperatures. We are too cold to make that possible. And, even if we were warm enough, the vapor would not stay in vapor state over 24 hours without condensing into liquid that would reside inside the water proof fabric. Although acknowledging that laminated fabrics may not leak, the manufacturers claim they do not breathe, either. Encapsulated fabrics, in contrast, do not claim to achieve the same degree of waterproof as demonstrated by the 1500 mm water column test. By closing the natural gaps and cavities within the fabric, rain water cannot penetrate into or pass through the fabric. This is achieved with silicon polymer that does not react with the fabric fibers, so it is not melted, glued or laminated to the finished fabric. The idea of 18 Pedorthic Footcare Association | www.pedorthics.org encapsulating the fiber bundles of fabrics is that the specific silicone polymers ultimately form an ultra thin barrier layer within the fabric making it highly water resistant and totally windproof, yet the treated fabric retains the natural breathing qualities, comfort and softness of the original fabric. Waterproofing is measured on the Bandusmann rain tester by the manufacturers of encapsulated fabrics. A cup is covered by the treated fabric with the surface tilted 10 degrees from the horizontal position (as the shoulder slopes.) A crossbar constantly runs under the fabric during the test to simulate body friction with rain falling on the fabric from a height of 1.8 meters, to ensure a maximum velocity of rainfall. Water repellency, absorbency and pass through are measured. The fabric is considered waterproof if it measures zero rain penetration through the fabric and absorbency does not exceed 20% on natural cotton and 10% on man–made fabrics. In comparison, laminates also have a zero pass through but will absorb a lot of water as the fabric itself is unprotected, which means a laminated waterproof/breathable garment can be wet outside and inside from condensed perspiration. The Ion Mask – Plasma Technology A scientifically based company in the UK has approached waterproofing from a completely new perspective. Not only is their patented plasma technology different because of its unique properties at the molecular level, but the process has been found to work on textiles, leather, metals and ceramics as well. Furthermore, nanocoating ion-masking treatment can be applied to the