Lab Notes

Water resistant jeans

Somedays the postie brings us a package that turns a regular day into a mighty day. She didn’t disappoint us this week, we have just got hold of a pair of our water resistant jeans! These jeans have been in the pipeline for some time, it is one of our pet projects that has taken a back seat while we have concentrated on products that pay the rent.

At first you don’t really believe what you are seeing. Tip water on the fabric and it beads up like mercury on a shiny table top. You can push the beads of water around with your finger, tip them back into your beaker and marvel at how the jeans are dry to the touch. But this is no black magic, these are our idea of the ultimate jeans.

The individual jean fibres are treated with a thin polymer. This has an enormous advantage over laminate coatings or sprays that will easily wear out due to.. well wearing the garment. The water resistance is built right into the garment, and we hope will last the lifetime of the garment.

But what about comfort? Keeping the rain out while sweat drains down your legs wouldn’t be very cool. The technologists have thought about this, perhaps they had the same problem with their white lab coats, and have created tiny holes between the fibres allowing vapour to escape while keeping wind and rain out. So will they be suitable for trekking? should we make some dungarees for the ultimate Scottish hardman climbing pants?

The jean is slightly stretchy and the style is classic boot cut. They feature button up flies with a gusseted crotch for increased flexibility, they should be ideal for climbing or just cruising on your bike.

Despite all this technology they feel just like regular jeans. We plan to give them a bashing over the coming weeks. A few classic grit chimneys should give us a good idea how they stand up to wear and tear.