Membranes

Significance

Reliable protection against rain and wind.
To protect us against wind and rain, we had, up until recently, to use garments that managed to do this, but created an unfavourable body climate at the same time. Today the development of membranes like Sympatex or Gore-Tex have changed all this: they meet the most important requirements of weather-proof clothing, which are to be:

Waterproof, so that no wet penetrates the garment in rain or snow.

Windproof, to protect the body against chilling. Breathable, i.e. perspiration is channelled out as water vapour, while the skin is able to breath.

Furthermore, functional clothing today is expected to be fashionable, a requirement that is not difficult to meet however, as membranes protect invisibly from within against the weather, leaving the outer fabric to focus on fashion.

The membrane

Different systems.
Membranes vary in basic material and structure.
The hydrophilic membrane Sympatex is made of polyester and has no pores. Water-proofing against moisture from the outside is achieved by a closed surface. The perspiration is transferred outwards by moisture-absorbing molecules. The temperature difference between body and air outside ensures that the direction is correct.
Gore-Tex is a microporous membrane made from a synthetic material with a name very difficult to get your tongue around - polytetraflouroethylene. This is also used in kitchen technology under the name Teflon. Gore-Tex is microporous with around 1.4 billion microscopic openings in each single square centimetre. They prevent the moisture from outside (rain or snow) from permeating inwards, for a drop of water is 20,000 times larger than the membrane openings. Water vapour particles, however, are much smaller than these openings. Therefore, perspiration evaporating from the skin in the form of water vapour can easily permeate the pores.

Membranes can be processed in various ways:
Upper material laminate
The membrane is bound directly to the upper material as double -layer laminate.
Insert laminate
For utmost protection against the weather, the membrane is laminated on a light backing fabric and worked between upper material and lining.
Lining laminate
The inside of the lining is bound to the membrane.
Three-ply laminate
The membrane is bound to both the upper material and the lining.
To ensure clothing remains wind and water proof, leading membrane manufacturers provide the clothing manufacturers with the most detailed instructions on processing: seams, for example, must be laminated. Pockets, press studs and zips must be treated in such a way that neither wind nor water can penetrate.

Properties

Dry, warm and pleasant.

Clothing equipped with membranes provides good protection against the weather, rejecting both wind and water.

Membranes help create a pleasant body climate, as they ensure perspiration passes unhindered.

Depending on the type of protection, different methods of processing the membranes are used.

Clothing with membranes is easy to care for, provided particular attention is paid to the care instructions.

When dry-cleaned, the presence of a membrane should be pointed out, so that no damage results from attaching the tag.
Membranes are very thin and can be combined with any fashionable outer fabric.