Anti-Bacterial

Photomontage: Front left image This 2009 photograph captured a sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets as they are expelled in a large cone-shaped array from this mans open mouth, thereby, dramatically illustrating the reason one needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or sneezing, in order to protect others from germ exposure. 2009 Brian Judd source: James Gathany / CDC Public Health Image library ID 11162 / public domain Front right image This is a
Germs flying around in a crowd. Happy to have an anti-bacterial Buff®

You are in a crowd and people are coughing and sneezing around you. Didn’t used to be a big thing.

Now

  • Drug-resistant germs are on the rise
  • International travel is spreading infectious diseases worldwide really fast
  • There are more people around. Crowds are getting bigger.

Great to have instant protection if want to avoid the latest bug. Or what-ever the person next to you carries around.

The Buff® fabric kills germs on impact. It lasts for a lifetime of the fabric. It’s a side effect of the anti-odour technology Polygiene®.

Graphic shows germs touching the fabric and dying. credit - 2007 copyright Polygiene A/B
Polygiene® destroys germs on contact. Permanently.

Where it comes in handy

Travel

Airport delay: a crowded airport terminal busy with delayed travellers after an air traffic control problem in Cyprus. credit - 2008 Mark Hodson / Flikr / ccby 2.0 www.101holidays.co.uk
The perfect place for infectious diseases to spread. A crowded airport terminal busy with travellers (www.101holidays.co.uk)

You’re in an airport, a plane, a bus,… All areas with lots of people close to you. Sanitation naturally takes a step back too.  Germs can survive for 2 hours or more on surfaces.

The anti-bacterial Buff® fabric can help here

  • as a makeshift glove for opening doors
  • as a quick face mask if people close to you are coughing

Here is a nice guide on how to stay safe whilst travelling.

Adventure

Cyclist on an adventure. Wearing a Original Buff® as balaclava. Eating something. (buff.eu)
Somewhere remote on an adventure with no medical support around. Go for an antibacterial tube

You’re far away from any hospital. Water is limited and personal hygiene takes a big step back. You definitely don’t want to get sick.

With a Buff®, you have at least one layer of defence with you. It also doubles as an emergency, germ-free, tourniquet.

Every tube should have Polygiene® Technology. Here's why.

 This youtube video shows you how fast germs grow in ideal conditions.

Any face mask or scarf around your nose/mouth will create this.

Photoshop added layer to studio photo. Man wearing a Original Buff® as face mask. The red ellipse in front of nose and mouth symbolises the danger from breeding germs credit - 2016 Edward Omagbemi / copyright Original Buff S.A

Without Polygiene®

Without anti-bacterial function. The fabric is a breeding ground for germs. The red oval illustrates the spread of germs around your mouth after just 1 hour.

Cropped studio image. Man wearing a face mask. credit - 2011 copyright Original Buff S.A

With Polygiene®

Germs don't grow as long as the fabric stays clean.

That’s where Polygiene® does the perfect job. It makes the micro-fibre deadly for germs.

So why not just go for some cheap solutions like bleach or disinfectant. Why take the best technology money can buy?

Effortless – No action required on your site

Bleach and other liquids need to be re-applied all the time to do their job. Polygiene® is part of the fabric. It stays in the material for a lifetime for peace of mind.

Non-Irritating & Non-toxic

Imagine having disinfectants or bleach touching your skin all the time. Can you feel your skin itching?

Polygiene® is 100 % itch-free and free of harmful substances. It passes the most stringent test—the Oekotex™ 100 for babies.

Limitations

The Buff® fabric must be reasonably clean.

If germs don’t touch the fabric, they don’t get killed.

If you want to use the fabric to filter airborne particles, you have to layer it up. The more, the better. One layer is no filter.

Products with Polygiene®

We are not happy that it’s not used in every Buff®.
It turns out that people weren’t that interested in anti-bacterial.
The attention turned towards the anti-odour effect of this technology.

That’s why only the following products contain Polygiene® technology in the 2020-2021 Season:

The Coolnet UV+ Buff®

The Dry Cool Buff®

Sources

http://generalbacteriology.weebly.com/bacterial-growth.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/126073-four-conditions-bacterial-growth/

http://polygiene.com/protective-surfaces/

International travel increasing spread of new drug-resistant bacteria: Is this the end of antibiotics?

WHO – International spread of disease threatens public health security

Understand How Infectious Diseases Spread

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Only Non-Toxic and Non-Itchy Ingredients – Oekotex Certified

8 December 2018 No Comments

The most dangerous way for a toxin to enter the body is not through the digestive system, but through the skin

Andreas Schimkus, former senior industry adviser to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia's (TFIA)
A toddler wearing a Baby Buff® as a face mask. The toddler looks happy. Source: buff.eu
A Buff® passes the most stringent test for fabrics. Free of anything irritating or harmful for babies.

Did you know that fabric ingredients are grouped into toxic or safe and non-itchy?

The difference in costs is huge.

This article shows you how to spot the safe products and why Buff® headwear ticks the right boxes

What makes you itch?

There are 2 main reasons for fabrics itching.

The first is bacteria. Call it bad hygiene or simply fabrics that make you sweat and breed bacteria (cheap polyester beanie hat for example).

The second is toxic and irritating ingredients in making the fabric.

There are ingredients available that can not only make you itch but also severely impact your health.
These ingredients are on a list and banned in most 1st world countries.

How safe are we in Australia?

Not at all, unfortunately.

Australia has no tests or regulations regarding safe textile ingredients. You can import into Australia whatever you like.

This leads to Australia being the only 1st world country supplied with 3rd world quality clothing.
Whenever we mentioned in China that we are from Australia and want headwear that passes the Oekotex test, we heard something like, “Why do you want to waste money on Oekotex. You are from Australia. You do not need this …”.
We were quite shocked at first but got used to hearing it all the time.

Here is a nice article from Choice that goes into more detail
https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/everyday-shopping/clothing/articles/chemicals-in-clothing
My favourite quote is

Products that are made in China for the Australian market could not even be sent back to China, as many of them would not meet the Chinese product safety standards but are acceptable here.

Andreas Schimkus, former senior industry adviser to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia's (TFIA)

How do you find safe and non-itchy clothing in Australia?

You look for the Oekotex® certificate.

Oekotex® is a worldwide testing standard for classifying the safety of clothing.

Just look out for something like the logo below. If you spend more money to make your product safe, you will have it tested. If you can’t find it, assume the worst.
Especially if it’s our beloved “The same, just cheaper…” products.

The logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification for babies (class1). Source: buff.eu
The logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification for babies (class1)

You can always go to the AITEX website and enter the test number. That will give you all the details of the test.

So what are Buff® tested to?

The more intensive the skin contact of a product and the more sensitive the skin, the stricter the human-ecological requirements that need to be complied with.

Oekotex® 100 website

All adult products are rated to class 2. This is the class for adults close to the skin clothing (underwear, socks, headwear,…)

All baby products are rated to class 1. The most stringent class.

You can find the logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification on the back of the Original Buff® packaging. Source: buff.eu
The logo of the Oekotex® Certification on the Original Buff®

Sources

Choice – Chemicals in Clothing

Oekotex® 100 webpage

Wikipedia – Oekotex® 100

UV/Sun Protection

6 December 2018 No Comments
Photomontage: Left image Cutout of a man with a severely sunburned face. © Jonny Hunter, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnyhunter/3565036940/in/photostream/ Right image A flyfisher proudly displaying his catch. He is standing waist deep in salt water and he is wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask. © Pat Ford
Ouch. That must hurt. The Buff® fabrics protect. (Jonny Butler / Pat Ford)

Sunburns hurt. Skin cancer can kill.

The Original EcoStretch and the Coolnet UV fabric give you UPF50 excellent protection (98% UV/Sun protection).

Scan of a UPF report issued by ARPANSA
Skin Cancer aware? If it’s not rated it will not protect you.

This is an example of a UPF report. It was performed by the founders of the UPF rating ARPANSA. Nowadays both Original EcoStretch and CoolnetUV fabrics are constantly monitored for their UPF rating at the factory. The testing company is Aitext Textile Research Institute.

BUFF® Original EcoStretch and CoolnetUV multifunctional headwear comes with a label stating the standard (AS/NZS 4399:1996), the UPF Rating and the testing laboratory.

Beware of UPF Claims without reference to the test!

We see a lot of tubular headwear that advertises sun protection claims but has no labels or mention of the test standard. Those claims are bogus. Why?

A thin fabric without a UPF rating cannot protect you from skin cancer.

For example, a T-shirt is only around UPF 6. That’s because it just filters out enough UVB to stop a sunburn. It will not stop you from getting skin cancer because it doesn’t filter out UVA enough.

UVA is harder to filter, and it goes deep into your skin, so the damage is not visible.

That’s where special dyes and other ingredients that absorb UVA and UVB satisfactorily enter the game. This function can only be tested and proven in a laboratory.

That’s why sun-protective clothing is more expensive than non-protective clothing.

So, if you see a tube with a UV protection claim that doesn’t clearly state the UPF rating with the testing standard and the testing laboratory, do yourself a favour and walk away.

Most Popular Use

 
Fly fisher holding a catch in the flats. He is wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask. The cooling effect makes the face mask comfortable. © Pat Ford http://www.patfordphotos.com/. Licenced by Original Buff S.A for the promotion of the High Uv Buff®
Intense sun and heat. The BUFF® CoolnetUv fabric cools to make your sun protection comfortable (Pat Ford)

Fishing

The most popular application so far for sun protection. A face mask that you can wear in the heat.
All fishing professionals now wear the BUFF® CoolnetUV for this one reason: Replace sunscreen and still be skin cancer protected.

 

In the Snow

A man wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask in the snow. He is in a ski resort. © unknown
Forgot your sunscreen? A BUFF® Original EcoStretch helps you out.

How often did you forget your sunscreen? I have tons of times.

  • Wear it as a face mask and you’re protected
  • Not sweating – It eases the biting wind

 

Travel

Halong Bay in Vietnam as seen from a kayak. The kayaker in front is wearing a High Uv Buff® as legionnaire style cap. Submitted to us as part of a testimonial. Copyright unknown
Long sun exposure during a great adventure. Good to have a protective and cooling BUFF® CoolnetUV as legionnaire cap with you.

You’re travelling and you have this opportunity to go on a tour. No cloud in the sky, and of course, you didn’t bring some specialized headgear with you. The BUFF® CoolnetUV tube as a legionnaire-style cap will give you protection.

 

Endurance Sports

A participant of the Marathon Des Sables running through the desert. He is wearing a custom made High Uv Buff® as face mask. Copyright is unknown. Distributed by Original Buff® S.A. for the promotion of Buff® products
Sunscreen sweating out, and there is no time to replace it. The BUFF® CoolnetUV protects. The fabric cools enough to wear in a desert.

Running events in the sun are a prime example. You’re sweating throughout the day, and no sunscreen will work for long. You also don’t have any time to apply sunscreen constantly.

Events like the Marathon des Sables have their custom-made BUFF® CoolnetUV for their participants. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than burning to crisps.

 

Limitations

They are thin fabrics so stretching them too much or wearing them thin over several years reduces the protection.

Sources

ARPANSA Resource Guide for UV Protective Products

Wikipedia – Ultraviolet

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