Knitwear pioneer Eschler and Austrian company Grabher Group (a specialist for textile finishing) have teamed up to engineer a new generation of functional fabrics for sports- and workwear: The 'Plasma Technology by Eschler' employs one of the most progressive ways of textile finishing offering outstanding advantages. A technology that once more underlines Eschler's innovative power!
Eschler is a brand very much dedicated to reducing the ecological footprint: The family-owned business was one of the first knitwear companies to become a certified bluesign system partner in 2001. The independent standard meets strict requirements regarding sustainability, health and safety as well as resource efficiency. For summer 2012, Eschler has developed a new generation of functional textiles in cooperation with Austrian company Grabher Group: the innovative fabrics for sports- and outdoorwear are treated with Plasma Technology ensuring durable function that is environmentally friendly.

Plasma is also known as 'the fourth stage of aggregation'. It is created by applying electrical fields to pure gas or gas mixtures in a vacuum chamber (similar to the process in neon tubes). The right combination of gas mixture composition, frequencies and gas flow results in systematic surface modifications of fabrics (hydrophilic, hydrophobic, dirt repellent). Those effects are extremely durable!
Textile finishing are commonly wet chemical processes that often interfere with key textile properties (flexibility, strength, touch) and have limited permanency.Plasma Technology avoids all those disadvantages. Eschler works exclusively with a so-called dry process, which is extremely eco-friendly: it uses a minimum of water and chemicals, saves energy and is free of fluorocarbon compounds (PFOA or PFOS).
The new high-tech fabrics are ideal for a broad range of sports depending on the plasma treatment: cycling, triathlon, running, functional underwear, cross-country and alpine skiing etc.