F.A.Q. - Barrier by HeiQ

• Can you feel the particles on a Barrier by HeiQ treated textile? - The particles in the Barrier by HeiQ treated products are embedded in a coating on the textile fiber and builds a structure on the fabric. The size of the particles is roughly 1 micron and the structure developed on the fiber even finer. As a comparison a human hair is between 40 and 120 micron in diameter. So you will not be able to notice neither particles nor structure on your garment.
• Is Barrier by HeiQ better than Gore-Tex® or similar type of weather protection technologies? - Barrier by HeiQ is not replacing but complementing membrane type technologies such as Gore-Tex, Sympatex® etc. All membrane technologies need a water and/or oil repellency protection to the outermost fabric. With Barrier by HeiQ your membrane based garment achieves top performance.
• Can you apply Barrier by HeiQ to non-textile applications? - HeiQ focuses on textiles and has currently optimized the product for textile application use only.
• Will Barrier by HeiQ impact the breathability of my garment? - Barrier by HeiQ provides a durable coating on each fiber filament in your textile. Inbetween the fiber filaments humid air can still exit the textile (e.g. sweat from your body). There is therefore no negative impact on the breathability of your Barrier by HeiQ product.
• Can I buy a spray and apply this to any textiles? - No, the product needs to be applied at time of production in order to achieve the special 3D structure.
• Does Barrier by HeiQ provide a lotus effect. - Yes, it does. The lotus effect refers to the lotus flower which stays clean thanks to its very special surface structure on its leaves. Barrier by HeiQ is replicating this for textiles thanks to the unique particles which build up a similar surface structure thereby allowing e.g. water to bead up and roll off the textile easily.
• Why do you call your product Green as in “Dry, Clean and Green”? - Thanks to Barrier by HeiQ’s unique surface structure built-up on the fabric water or oil droplets are easily rolling off the fabric. The unique surface structure itself provides a very powerful mechanism for water repellency and therefore any additional water repellency chemistry can be reduced to a minimum.