Silver Ion Finish for Tennis Dresses: Fabric Specification
This is the specification we issue for tennis dresses when the brief calls for genuine odour control rather than a marketing claim. It is built around Silver Ion Finish.
Base construction
bonded knit with inner shorts at 180-230 GSM. The structure is chosen so the built-in short and the chest band is covered by the treated surface, because odour-control chemistry only works where sweat actually reaches it. The sweat zone for tennis dresses is the built-in short and the chest band, which is where the treatment has to sit.
Odour-control system
Silver Ion Finish: silver ions carried in a textile binder. The mechanism is simple: silver disrupts bacterial cell metabolism so odour-forming bacteria cannot multiply. This suits polyamide and polyester knits, which is what we knit this product from. Every lot is measured against ISO 20743 antibacterial test before the fabric is released for cutting.
Performance targets
The fabric must reach bacterial reduction above 99% against Staphylococcus aureus when tested to ISO 20743 antibacterial test. The same test is repeated per production lot, and results below the target are rejected rather than negotiated. Cost impact is USD 0.35-0.60 per garment, which is usually recovered through fewer returns across a season.
Comfort and other targets
Odour control must not come at the cost of comfort. Moisture management is checked to AATCC 195, dimensional change to AATCC 135, and hand is approved against a sealed reference sample. Wear trials were run under match play and club training rather than in the laboratory alone.
Care labelling
The label states avoid chlorine bleach and high-temperature drying. This wording is not decoration: it is the condition under which 20-30 home washes was measured, and ignoring it shortens the service life of the finish. The care label states avoid chlorine bleach and high-temperature drying, and that wording is the condition behind 20-30 home washes.
