When it comes to outerwear, most golfers think of two categories: rainwear and wind wear. Sunderland of Scotland is hoping to add a third category: Nano-technology outerwear, a process in which fabric is engineered at the sub-micron level.
Nano-Tex, as it's called, was developed by Burlington Industries (Nano-Tex LLC is a privately owned unit of Burlington) as the next "super fabric" to repel stains and body odor.
"Burlington actually manipulates the molecules of the fabric to be water repellent and resistant to stains and odor," Harry Murley, Sunderland's Vice President of Sales and Marketing, told PGA.com.
"Everything that's been done until now, other than Gore-Tex, has been a coating on the garment to make it waterproof or water resistant," he added. "(Nano-Tex) becomes a permanent fixture in the garment itself as opposed to a coating."
Sunderland of Scotland is offering Nano-Tex in two different lines -- the Nano-Dry that Murley said pulls moisture and perspiration way from the body and shirt, and water-repellent Nano-Pel.
"There's a very significant bead-up and roll off of any liquid material that hits this fabric. It's pretty impressive stuff," Murley said of Nano-Pel.
The Sunderland garments featuring Nano-Tex, including jackets and pullover shirts, Murley said, carry suggested retail prices between $84 and $120.
"I have a feeling (Nano-Tex garments) will be positioned in the trade as fancy wind wear," Murley said. "But it's actually a separate product than what is currently in the marketplace.
"We're trying to take advantage of the trend, taken by a lot of shirt companies, in performance fabric. And I think in golf there is a trend where people are looking for technical benefits and looking for more fancy products. That's where we're going to try to position Nano products."
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