Shieldex’s Pure Silver Yarn and Fabric Prevents the Reproduction of 650 Different Microbes and Bacterias

Shieldex’s Pure Silver coated yarn and fabrics are in demand in many fields from medical products, military equipment, defence industry to factories producing electronic parts. Thanks to its oligodynamic activity, Pure Silver coated products, which prevent the proliferation of 650 different types of bacteria and microbes by disintegrating their DNA, are also used in wound and burn treatment.

Founded in 1987, Teksel Tekstil A.Ş. is the Turkish representative of Europe’s leading machinery manufacturers and consumables suppliers. Teksel Tekstil, which serves with its expert staff of approximately 50 people, has an R&D department of 8 people in order to make the right investments that can provide its stakeholders with effective competitiveness in international markets. One of the companies represented by Teksel in Turkey is Shieldex (Statex).

Dursun Ferikel, General Manager of Teksel Tekstil A.Ş., which has been offering Shieldex’s Pure Silver coated (fibre, yarn and fabric) functional products to its customers for nearly 20 years, gave an interview to our ‘Yarn Technologies’ special issue. Ferikel gave information on many subjects from the usage areas of pure silver coated yarn to its benefits in the interview.

“Pure Silver Products are Used in Wound and Burn Treatment”

Can you share your acquaintance with Pure Silver, the effectiveness of the product and the areas in which it can be used?

In 2004, we met Shieldex (Statex) company at the Technical Textile exhibition in Germany, where we went with our consultants. Thanks to the technical support provided by Prof. Dr. Bülent Özipek, the founder of ITU’s Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design, we were able to better understand the importance of the product and interpret what could be done. As the representative of Shieldex in Turkey for nearly 20 years, we offer our customers functional products (fibre, yarn and fabric) coated with Pure Silver.

Thanks to its oligodynamic activity, 99.99% Pure Silver breaks down the DNA of 650 different types of bacteria and microbes and prevents them from multiplying. In this way, the product gains anti-bacterial feature. It is successfully used in many different projects by providing an advantage in terms of comfort with its effect of preventing sweat odour caused by bacteria.

Pure Silver, according to the proportions used; It provides anti-static, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal (fungal) properties. With the right usage technique, silver products can also be designed to shield against electromagnetic waves, which are considered to be today’s invisible vital danger. In addition to Defence Industry products that can be 100% shielded, products that can protect expectant mothers and especially babies from the harmful effects of mobile devices, wifi and similar wireless communication devices at 85-90% rates are also being developed.

Pure Silver coated products are in demand in many areas from the medical world to daily clothes used for different purposes (maternity and baby clothes, socks, underwear, sportswear, gloves, athletes, diabetic products, skin masks, etc.), military equipment, defence industry, factories producing electronic parts. We know that pure silver coated products are also used in the treatment of wounds and burns abroad. We are making great efforts to popularise this application in our country.

Can pure silver-coated yarns be used with other yarns?

Of course… You can also mix yarns made of different fibres into the fabrics you knit/weave using Pure Silver yarn during production. Sock or glove manufacturers can use 3% or 10% Pure Silver yarn with cotton/polyester etc. yarns depending on their purpose. The important point here is, as always, what your goal is. Which benefit you want to provide. Do you only want to produce an anti-static and anti-bacterial product? Or do you also want to have anti-fungal properties? Will this sock be produced for diabetic patients or for athletes? Our R&D department offers the optimum solution recommendation with the appropriate combination according to your target.

In addition, you do not have to use Pure Silver on the entire product. For example, you can achieve your goal by using our product only in the armpit, collar area or the net area of the underwear where sweating will be intense. Therefore, you can achieve the desired benefit not only with different yarns, but also by combining different fabrics. As can be seen, it is possible to obtain functional products at an affordable cost with various combinations in accordance with the purpose.

“Our Silverion Collagen Yarn Successfully Passed the Anti-Aging Test”

Is it possible to mix pure silver coated fibres with other fibres?

Yes, it is possible… Pure Silver coated yarns can be used in combination with other yarns made of different fibres. Taking advantage of this superiority and with the guidance of our technical consultants who have spent many years on optimum blend combinations, we have collaborated with the producer of Umorfil fibre obtained from waste fish scales. We obtained a very special yarn by blending Umorfil fibre with cotton and pure silver fibre. We have also applied for a “Utility Model” for our yarn named Silverion Collagen. Since Pure Silver increases its effectiveness by releasing higher amounts of ions in a humid environment, Umorfil’s ability to retain high humidity like wool has further increased our strength for this purpose. Thus, Pure Silver and Umorfil fibres have achieved a perfect harmony.

Umorfil fibre also looks very interesting, can you tell us more about it?

Umorfil fibre, which we use in our Silverion Collagen yarn, is produced by Camangi Corperation in Taiwan. The fibre makes an important contribution to the philosophy of sustainability with its 100% biodegradability. Because fish processing factories bury waste fish scale residues in the soil, causing acidification of the soil and causing environmental damage. Camangi has produced a bionic fibre series containing collagen peptide amino acids from waste fish scales with supramolecular technology. Thanks to Pure Silver, we benefited from this fiber to the maximum extent.

What are the properties of Silverion Collagen yarn that you obtained by blending pure Silver and Umorfil fibres? Which certificates does this yarn have?

We tested many different ratios for many years to obtain Silverion Collagen yarn. Finally, we were able to reach the optimum performance level with a blend ratio of 5% Pure Silver, 60% Umorphyl and 35% Cotton fibre.

Our yarn passed accredited tests and received Anti-Static, Anti-Bacterial and Anti-Fungal certificates from EKOTEKS institution. We have also seen that some fabrics knitted with our yarn have Anti-UV and Thermal properties. Thanks to Umorfil, our yarn is able to retain moisture at very high rates and directly supports the skin with Collagen Peptide Polymers from waste fish scales. This feature is of great importance for human health. Our yarn also successfully passed the Anti-Aging (anti-ageing effectiveness) test we had conducted in a special laboratory.

Thanks to all these features, Silverion Collagen yarn directly contributes to nature and ecological balance by reducing the washing frequency and water consumption of the product used.

“We Oppose the Use of Nanotechnology in Skin Contact Products”

Is nanotechnology used in your Silverion Collagen yarn? Or do you achieve these properties by chemical means?

We have never used nanotechnology and chemicals given with finishing in our yarn. In fact, we are against the use of nanotechnology in products that come into contact with the skin. In Europe, restrictions are gradually coming to the use of nanotechnology for products that come into contact with human skin.

Umorfil and Pure Silver fibres in our yarn have Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class-I certification. As you know, the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class-I certificate provides assurance to consumers around the world that textile products are safe and do not harm human health. This certification indicates that the products are also suitable for use such as skin contact and oral contact. The most stringent class, Class-I, indicates that textile products are suitable even for babies and young children. We blended these two unique fibres with the most valuable cotton fibre of our country and obtained our Silverion Collagen yarn. For us, health is more important than anything else…

What can be produced with your Silverion Collagen yarn that is beneficial for people?

With this useful and smart yarn; underwear, undershirts, tights, baby clothes, maternity clothes, specially designed underwear for our soldiers, finger socks, recovery abdominal corsets, sportswear, underwear, special gloves to support those undergoing skin treatment and many other useful products are made.

Finally, what are the recommendations of Teksel Tekstil A.Ş. to the manufacturers and brands in the textile sector?

“Our brands must now go beyond producing with ordinary yarns. It is not possible for us to compete with countries such as China, India, Pakistan and Egypt in the production lane and win this struggle. Therefore, we need to increase our share in world exports with value-added products…” I am sure you have heard these words hundreds of times. First of all, we need to accept this role and allocate a significant part of our budget to this work without wasting time, but we are always trying to save the day.

As you know, technology is developing in every field and this has benefits as well as harms us. Almost all household appliances have met with IOT technology and these items can be controlled even from our mobile phones. Today, we live in the comfort of these, but do we ever think about the damage they cause to those who are sensitive to electromagnetic waves and to our babies?

5G technology, which will affect us almost five times more than 4.5G, will soon be used everywhere in our country. It is stated that we will no longer have a 5G base station every 3-4km, but every 150-200mt! What will be the impact of these base stations on pregnant women and babies who are sensitive to electromagnetic waves?  Will cancer cases, Alzheimer’s, thyroid diseases and immune system disorders increase? We don’t know… Many European countries have an attitude against 5G, but it seems that we will have to accept this technology due to the targeted projects.

It is obvious that we cannot avoid the negative effects of technology while benefiting from it, but can we live together by protecting ourselves from it with textile products? We need to question all these today and develop new functional products together. Textile is the breath of Turkey, we should not forget this… As Teksel Tekstil A.Ş. expert team, we are always ready to provide technical consultancy, as long as we have manufacturers and brands that want to invest in this way.