Germany-based Rudolf Group, which has been making chemicals for the global fashion industry for the past 100 years, enrolled its 85 scientists in nature’s classroom to seek such answers. The result has been fluorine-free Durable Water Repellent (DRW) technologies for both fashion and high-performance textiles.
Timing is everything. “We actually launched the RUCO-DRY product line of fluorine-free DWR technologies back in 2003, but the industry wasn’t ready for it. Now, we return to it with better-enhanced applications that focus even more on performance,” said Alberto De Conti, Rudolf Group’s head of fashion division, who is based in Italy. “Some petrochemicals might’ve given chemistry a bad name, but we’ve always been showing that chemistry can be responsible.”