Nordkraft Wear New Zealand: Football Academy Training Kit Durability and Abrasion Evaluation
Nordkraft Wear is a New Zealand-based brand whose football academy training kit is one of its most demanding programmes. Abrasion is the most common reason a technical garment is retired. We evaluated the silver ion antibacterial knit against the contact surfaces found in football academy training kit.
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 | 160 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
Method
Fabric was abraded to ASTM D4966 against both a standard wool abradant and the actual contact surface used in daily squad training in all weather. Seam strength was tested to ISO 13936-2 in parallel.
Results
The fabric passed the agreed cycle count with no yarn breakage and seam opening stayed inside the 6 mm limit. Pilling remained at grade 4 or above at the end of the test.
Evaluation session with the Nordkraft Wear team
Where wear appeared
Any surface change appeared first under contact, sliding and heavy perspiration, which is expected and is why we recommend panel placement rather than a single fabric across the whole garment.
Service life estimate
On this data the garment should complete a full competitive season before appearance becomes a reason to replace it, which is the commercial target Nordkraft Wear set at the start.
Test records and inspection notes for the Football Academy Training Kit
Scorecard
| Criterion | Result |
|---|---|
| Abrasion cycles | 4.9 / 5 |
| Pilling grade | 4.5 / 5 |
| Seam strength | 4.6 / 5 |
| Appearance | 4.3 / 5 |
| Estimated service life | 4.7 / 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
Durability is sufficient for the intended use. Keep the current construction and revisit only if the garment moves into a higher abrasion category. 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.
