Cobalt Ridge New Zealand: Odor-Free Training Tees Built on Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn
Cobalt Ridge is a New Zealand-based activewear label whose training tees programme sells directly to consumers and through selected retail partners. The team asked us to rebuild the fabric from scratch because the range was moving into hotter markets where the same styles smelled far worse. The target was odour control that held up in high-humidity conditions.
Cobalt Ridge: odour-control swatch set for the training tees programme
The challenge
The smell built up at the underarm and the lower back, where sweat sits longest during a session. The previous fabric was a standard synthetic knit with no odour strategy, so bacteria broke the sweat down on the fabric and the smell became permanent after a few weeks. A seasonal launch into a new climate made the problem urgent: the brand needed a fix before the next bulk booking, not a new supplier search.
The fabric solution
We built the programme around Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn on a polyester filament knit base. The mechanism matters: micronised spent coffee grounds trap odour molecules and add recycled content. Keeping the base at lightweight single jersey with 8% elastane and 135 GSM meant the hand, the stretch and the cover stayed exactly where the design team wanted them, because odour control changed the chemistry and the construction rather than the silhouette.
Wear trial and fit approval of the polyester filament knit fabric
Development and implementation
- Week 1: brief agreed, sweat zone mapped, target set as odour reduction above 75% with recycled content above 3% by ISO 17299-2.
- Week 2–3: laboratory knits produced and tested; add-on level adjusted until the target was met with margin.
- Week 4–5: wear trial on finished training tees, assessed after eight hours of wear.
- Pre-production: wash durability confirmed at permanent inside the fibre, care wording written as standard laundering with mild detergent.
- Bulk: fixed recipe, consolidated dye lots, ISO 17299-2 repeated on every lot.
Specification delivered
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Product | Training Tees |
| Base construction | lightweight single jersey with 8% elastane, 135 GSM |
| Odour-control system | Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn |
| Performance target | odour reduction above 75% with recycled content above 3% |
| Test method | ISO 17299-2 |
| Service life | permanent inside the fibre |
| Added cost | a 9% yarn premium |
| Certification | OEKO-TEX Standard 100, REACH compliant inputs |
Results
The freshness claim passed the retailer's technical review first time, and no claim wording had to be softened before launch. The odour value was re-measured on bulk fabric rather than on the approval sample, so the result reflects what customers actually received. The programme is now on its third repeat with the same recipe.
“The fabric still smells clean at the end of a double training day. That is the comment we get most often now.” — Cobalt Ridge Product Team
Inline inspection and packing before the training tees shipment
Key takeaway
Care instructions are part of the product. Stating the right wash conditions on the label is what keeps the measured value alive after the garment leaves the store. For Cobalt Ridge, that turned a recurring complaint into a feature the brand could sell.
