Anti Pollution Clothing

[Keaniebean]

I just saw an article about this amazing technology that has been developed at the London College of Fashion.

There is an article here. http://www.disinfo.com/2011/01/concrete ... y-the-air/

The article on the news this afternoon said that they wanted to develop the technology so that it would be avaliable as a fabric softner within the next couple of years. I don't have a clue as to the science behind it, but if they can get it to work, and obviously if it is safe then I would quite happily buy something that transformed my clothes into pollution busters! Especially here in London.

[Zech]

Wow! That's amazing!

[MKG]

Sorry - but it seems a bit daft to me. It's the titanium dioxide spray which does the work, in which case it would make a million times more sense to spray it on just about anything but a dress. Spray it on walls, doors, tree trunks etc. and you'll get ten times the coverage and effectiveness of spraying it on a dress. Couldn't simply be a precursor to a large oversell campaign, could it? You know ... "Fashion with a Conscience", "The Little Black Thing That's Really Green", "Clean up and knock 'em dead" kind of thing?

Mike

[Zech]

OK, you sound like you know what you're talking about. Why is that better? Greater surface area? I think this is aimed at people who walk down streets in the centre of London, which could be an awful lot of dresses/pairs of jeans, etc.

[Keaniebean]

MKG, I hadn't thought about that, but I would have to say that this was obviously designed by students of fashion, presumably as part of some degree course so that would have to be taken into account ie they are naturally going to consider clothing rather than construction material.

It may however have future implications for the construction industry, which of course would be fantastic. Anything that could make 20 stories of flats greener is a winner in my view.

[MKG]

Ah - it's probably just the cynic in me (I know - great surprise ).

But if titanium dioxide really does do the biz, I just thought it would be better applying it to something which is exposed to the polluted atmosphere 24/7 rather than making it a feature of something which will spend most of its existence detoxing the inside of a wardrobe.

However, anything is better than nothing ...

Mike

[MuddyWitch]

My cynical streak may be even wider than Mike's!

My first thought was: 'GM-style' clothing?

Isn't this treating the symptom, not the cause? Shouldn't we reduce pollution, (like that from a titanium spray production line!!!) instead??

MW

[MKG]

Well, well ... Apparently a lot of Japanese cities and the City of Westminster agree. They use paving blocks with a coating of titanium dioxide to reduce airborne pollutants.

Wikipedia is a wonderful thing ... sometimes

Mike

[Keaniebean]

Mw really! Can you imagine the government ACTUALLY treating the cause of something rather than just puting a plaster over it.

MKG I'm not sure I want the inside of my wardrobes detoxed... where would all my spiders live

[Green Aura]

Hmmm, wouldn't it spend most of its time absorbing pollutants from inside the dress - like all these spray on deodorants/body sprays etc?