One coffee to wear, please.

There is a constantly growing desire for eco-friendly solutions in the apparel industry. Outdoor wear faces very special challenges here. After all, functional wear is expected to withstand wind and weather. It must keep wearers warm and dry while breathing and be water-repellent and wind-breaking. On top of this, the garments should be sustainably produced and made from bio-degradable substances. These are all challenging demands made on a garment. Outdoor specialist Schöffel is therefore on a constant quest for materials that live up to these requirements. During their research they came across a renewable natural product with many positive and functional properties: coffee.

Why coffee of all materials?

As a beverage it produces a reviving effect, as a textile component it gives garments functional properties that naturally live up to the high quality demands made on utility wear. The Schöffel Active Collection was produced with coffee or rather coffee grounds. The material S.Café® is a technical compound fibre made of recycled coffee grounds and recycled PES. The coffee grounds give the fibre natural added value. It blocks odours and ensures pleasant wear on the skin even after several days of activities.

From coffee grounds to coffee yarn

The manufacturing process for the recycled coffee grounds comes care of Taiwanese textile manufacturer SINGTEX®. In this process the grounds are first dried and then subjected to an extraction process. The next step is processing the coffee extract together with polyester (PES) into pellets, the raw material that is molten into S.Café® yarn. S.Café® fabrics are made into jackets, trousers, pants or first and mid-layers in textiles.

Further development of the coffee fabric

The best fit for warm summer days is Ice-Café™ – an extension to the S.Café® line of materials. Enriched with minerals it cools down skin temperature by one to two degrees Celsius and ensures a fresh feel. The cooling material is used for both T-shirts and shorts.

Sustainable products from coffee – for the environment’s sake

Coffee yarn is multi-functional and can be used for many products. Alongside outdoor and sportswear other garments or textile household products can be made from recycled coffee. SINGTEX® has come up with a wide range of S.Café® products such as bed linen, underwear and even shoes; and other eco-friendly coffee products are likely going forward. After all, this raw material has a big advantage: coffee grounds are practically always available because coffee is loved and drunk the world over.

Photo: Athena Lam auf Unsplash