The 15 Below jacket – a coat designed for the homeless, using newspaper as insulation against the cold. But would it work? TAXI puts it to the test. View the video.

15 BELOW JACKET FABRIC TESTING
We had a lot of requirements when looking for the ideal material for the 15 Below jacket. It had to be water resistant, wind resistant, able to wick moisture away from the body, breathable, durable, mould and mildew resistant, and easy to care for. In other words, the fabric had to keep people comfortable, warm, and dry. The material we chose, Aquamax, met all those requirements and more.

(Aquamax is non-porous with a hydrophilics membrane lamination that makes it a highly breathable, highly elastic fabric that is also windproof and waterproof. It is softer and more flexible than a coated fabric.) – Already on website

Aquamax is 100% polyester. As a synthetic fabric it is naturally resistant to stains, mould, and mildew. Polyester also dries quickly, resists wrinkling, stretching, shrinking, and retains its strength when wet.

Aquamax fabric is commonly used in the construction of skiwear, snowboard wear, sportswear, and casualwear, as well as in military and mountaineering gear.

Aquamax has been tested at the Forum for Information Technology Initiatives (FITI), an official testing institute that used two industry-standard test methods:
ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials is an open forum for the development of high-quality, market-relevant, international standards used around the globe.
AATCC – American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists is an organization devoted to the advancement of textile chemistry. They have developed test standards used worldwide to test and control the quality of textile items.

The fabric was tested for its ability to stand up to the kind of wear it is likely to get in actual use, including strength, water resistance, water vapour permeability, colour transfer, and the ability to withstand perspiration and laundering.

Aquamax received excellent scores in all the tests performed. It is waterproof and will protect the wearer from rain, snow, and wind. It is also breathable, which means it won’t trap perspiration inside against the body. The fabric is durable and will provide the wearer with the maximum amount of protection and comfort.

ACTUAL TEST PARAMETERS:

On the report, some of the findings are ranked by number:
1 = poor, 3 = average, 5 = best.

Fibre Composition
Fibre composition is determined by mechanical, chemical, and microscopical methods. Aquamax is 100% polyester.

Colourfastness to Washing
The change in colour is measured against a grey-scale standard after accelerated laundering.
The results with acetate, nylon, and polyester are 4. The results with cotton, acrylic, and wool are 4.5.
Overall, the Aquamax fabric scored 4.5 for colourfastness, which is excellent.

Colourfastness to Perspiration
After conditioning, the fabric is evaluated for colour change using a Chromatic Transference Scale, and test swatches are evaluated for colour transfer using a grey scale for staining. The results with acetate, cotton, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and wool are 4.5.

Colourfastness to Crocking
Under controlled conditions, the fabric is rubbed with a wet, white test cloth and a dry white test cloth. The colour transferred to the white test cloth is assessed by a comparison with the grey scale for staining or the chromatic transference scale, and a grade is assigned. Wet and dry, the results were 4.5, an excellent score for colourfastness to crocking.

Dimensional Stability to Washing
The fabric is washed using a variety of washing temperatures, agitation cycles, rinse temperatures, and drying procedures and then measured for dimensional change. The resulting measurements after washing showed length (0.6% shrinkage) and width (0.4% extension) distortion is minimal; the fabric structure is stable after washing.

Water Resistance Hydrostatic Pressure Test
This test measures the fabric’s resistance to the penetration of water under hydrostatic pressure. The result was a measurement over 10,000 with the water pressure of 600mm of water per minute.

Water Vapour Permeability
This test measures water vapour transfer; one side of the fabric has low humidity and the other side has high humidity. Using the inverted cup water method, the Aquamax score was 7,140. The result is excellent; the fabric can transfer moisture from an area of high humidity to an area of low humidity.

Water Resistance
This test measures the resistance of the fabric to penetration of impact water drops. Aquamax did very well in this test, as water did not penetrate the fabric when poured from two feet for two minutes.