Nordkraft Wear New Zealand: Football Academy Training Kit Field Test Report
Nordkraft Wear is a New Zealand-based brand whose football academy training kit is one of its most demanding programmes. Nordkraft Wear runs its football academy training kit across New Zealand and asked us to prove the fabric in the field rather than in a brochure. This report covers a full season of real use with silver ion antibacterial knit.
Nordkraft Wear: Silver Ion Antibacterial Knit in use during daily squad training in all weather
Evaluation background
The programme covers training shirts, shorts and warm-up tops, used for daily squad training in all weather. The environment is contact, sliding and heavy perspiration and the requirement written into the brief was tear resistance with colour consistency across a squad. Fabric was selected on that basis rather than on price alone.
Fabric under evaluation
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Fabric | Silver Ion Antibacterial Knit |
| Composition | nylon spandex with silver ion filament |
| Weight | 230 GSM |
| Width | 170 cm |
| Primary function | stops the bacteria that turn sweat into odour |
| Target | bacterial reduction above 99% |
| Test method | ISO 20743 |
| Additional note | performance retained after 30 home washes |
| Certification | OEKO-TEX Standard 100 |
Silver Ion Antibacterial Knit close-up showing the fabric surface
Test scope
Twenty garments were issued to regular participants and tracked for eight weeks. Every item was used for daily squad training in all weather and laundered under the same domestic conditions, so the only real variable was wear.
Conditions covered
The programme ran through contact, sliding and heavy perspiration. That is the environment the fabric has to survive, and it is harsher than any laboratory chamber we could have built.
Evaluation session with the Nordkraft Wear team
What we measured
Garments were inspected every two weeks for surface wear, seam condition, dimensional change and retained hand. Fabric was retested at the end of the period against ISO 20743.
What users reported
Participants logged comfort, drying behaviour and any irritation. The recurring comment was that the silver ion antibacterial knit stayed comfortable at the point where tear resistance with colour consistency across a squad would normally be lost.
Test records and inspection notes for the Football Academy Training Kit
Scorecard
| Criterion | Result |
|---|---|
| Comfort in use | 4.8 / 5 |
| Drying behaviour | 4.6 / 5 |
| Surface wear | 4.5 / 5 |
| Dimensional stability | 4.7 / 5 |
| Value | 4.4 / 5 |
“Development was transparent from the first sample and bulk matched the approval exactly.” — Nordkraft Wear Technical Team
Packed bulk rolls before shipment to New Zealand
Verdict and recommendation
Field testing confirmed the laboratory picture. The silver ion antibacterial knit held its bacterial reduction above 99% across the whole season and we recommend it for the next programme without change. For Nordkraft Wear the practical next steps are to keep the current specification for the repeat, retain the shade standard, and issue ISO 20743 results with every lot so any claim can be supported with data.
