Most of the "high-tech" in thermal underwear are promotional gimmicks

"...As we are now entering the depths of winter, thermal underwear is in high demand. Almost all manufacturers claim that their thermal underwear is made from 'high-tech' materials, yet prices range from 40-50 yuan to over a thousand yuan per set, leaving consumers utterly confused. Should they believe these claims? Are they real or false? Consumers are filled with doubts and are unsure how to choose. So, is thermal underwear really utilizing high technology?

Unveiling the 'High-Tech' Facade

Are the various types of thermal underwear truly products of high technology? In reality, among the numerous fabrics available on the market (including those sold on Taobao), some merely use product names instead of material names and do not belong to the category of high-tech or new inventions. There are 28 recognized generic names for chemical fibers used in textiles, including common ones like acrylic, polyester, spandex, and modal fiber. If the names listed on the labels exceed these 28 types, it's possible that the manufacturers are just playing with buzzwords. Based on basic chemical knowledge, we know that so-called 'high-tech' isn't as mysterious as it seems. The materials used in thermal underwear fall into three main categories: natural fibers, synthetic fibers, and man-made fibers. Terms like 'card' are often just conceptual aliases given by manufacturers to fabrics. For example, 'warm card' and 'heat card' are actually acrylic, 'magic card' refers to elastic spandex, 'Sevica' is polyester, and 'Lycra' is the registered trademark name for the man-made elastic fiber 'spandex'.

Are there really nano thermal underwear?

'Nanomaterials' have been highly promoted in recent years, but few people can accurately explain their concept and characteristics. Currently, identifying nano-products requires complex testing—not only must the material particle size be below 100 nanometers, but its optical, electrical, and mechanical properties must also exhibit nano-characteristic changes. Whether all the 'nano underwear' sold on the market has undergone such rigorous identification is questionable. Zhang Ronglong, General Manager of Suzhou Meishan Company, stated: 'Many products are labeled with terms like 'green environmental protection', 'far-infrared', 'nano antibacterial', 'beauty skincare', and even 'vitamin underwear'. These claimed functions are mostly fairy tales. It's difficult to authenticate underwear that claims to provide warmth through 'far-infrared' functionality. Any substance, including the human body, has the ability to scatter far-infrared rays, so it's hard to definitively prove whether the warmth provided by fashionable underwear comes from far-infrared functionality.'

It is understood that the cost of producing a piece of thermal underwear is only 0.5 times higher than that of ordinary underwear. However, once adorned with novel conceptual labels, the price of thermal underwear skyrockets, usually doubling or more. Thus, regarding what these 'high-tech' concepts entail, the producers themselves might also be unclear, unable to adequately explain the reasons behind them.

Currently, the main materials for thermal underwear are divided into three types: the first is natural fibers, such as cotton fiber, soybean fiber, and wool, which are processed from natural animals and plants; the second is modified fibers, such as milk protein fiber, which are synthesized by adding chemical components to natural fibers; the third is pure fibers, which are raw materials produced by reprocessing fibers extracted from petroleum."

This article is sourced from Fashion Coordination Network (http://www.daban.org.cn). Please credit the source if you republish this content.