Eco-friendly water-repellent finish for leather

Swiss textile technology innovator HeiQ and DuPont Consumer Solutions, a business unit of DuPont Speciality Products, help establish an eco-friendly water repellent for leather.

Recent consumer research shows that 49 per cent of consumers think it is important that their water-repellent product is eco-friendly PFC-free. To meet these consumer and brand demands, HeiQ developed the HeiQ Eco Dry line of PFC-free products. The collaboration with DuPont expands on this product line, with the first product being a PFC-free water-repellent finish for leather – HeiQ DuPont ECO-LED. Wolverine World Wide Leathers, Inc will be the first supplier to offer treated leather to their major brand partners.

“We see many apparel items using PFC-free products. Consumers are now looking for this technology in other water repellent finishes for leather. Combining our high-performance pig nubuck with HeiQ DuPont ECO-LED for leather gives us an avenue to meet consumer demands,” said Suzanne Johnson, VP Sales and Marketing at Wolverine. “We are eager to offer an eco-friendly water repellency on our leathers to our brand partners.” HeiQ Eco Dry is a family of innovative, eco-friendly and non-PFC based repellent textile technologies that provide protection against water and water-based stains. This product family keeps textiles ecologically dry and enables them to handle wet weather conditions.

“This exciting relationship between HeiQ and DuPont focused on collaborating to create an environmentally-friendly water repellent leather solution for Wolverine as a first project,” said Colin Lantz, VP North American Brandforce at HeiQ. He added, “This innovative non-PFC water repellent treatment achieves the industry-leading water repellency performance that Wolverine is known for with HeiQ’s hallmark environmentally sustainable formulation.”