Aspects herein are directed to an apparel item that promotes thermo-regulation through the use of engineered openings, venting, and/or stand-off structures. In exemplary aspects, 20-45% of the apparel item may comprise the engineered openings. Vents may be positioned on the apparel item in areas that experience high amounts of air flow to help channel air into the apparel item. The stand-off structures may be positioned on an inner-facing surface of the apparel item where they help to create a space between the apparel item and the wearer's body surface in which air can flow and help cool the wearer by promoting evaporative cooling.

Methods, apparatuses, and systems associated with personal protective equipment are provided. An example mask may include an exterior layer, one or more mask straps coupled to the exterior layer, and a filter layer. An example method for manufacturing a protective garment may include providing a front segment, providing a back segment, and connecting the front segment and the back segment by at least forming a front raglan seam.

A garment having one or more wipe zones for transferring away perspiration from a wearer's skin upon contact with the wearer's skin is provided herein. The wipe zones may be comprised of hydrophobic material formed from yarns having a smaller denier per filament (DPF) than adjacent non-wipe zones on the garment. In some aspects, the DPF of the wipe-zone material is within a range of 0.025 to 0.0025. The wipe zones may be positioned on an outer-facing surface of the garment or an inner-facing surface of the garment in areas that are readily accessible to remove perspiration from the wearer's hands and/or head. Methods of manufacturing a garment having wipe zones are also provided herein.

A waistband for a garment includes a bandroll having an absorption layer and a wicking layer. The wicking layer controls stretch properties of the absorption layer. The waistband comprises a second material and wherein a shrinkage of a material substrate of the bandroll substantially matches a shrinkage of the second material.

Examples of a knitted or woven fabric with moisture management function are described, comprising a face fabric layer with a durable water repellency (DWR) additives forming a fabric outer surface that is hydrophobic and a back fabric layer comprising a second yarn that is highly hydrophilic forming a moisture regain core to absorb the moisture and spread it across on an inside surface of the back fabric layer. The outer (face) layer of the fabric is hydrophobic due to the added DWR additives to the first yarn while the inner (back) layer of the fabric is highly hydrophilic that absorbs and spreads the moisture across the inner side of the back layer so that it dries faster making the outer surface of the face fabric layer dry thus reducing the occurrence of water I liquid spots on the face layer outer surface.

Aspects herein are directed to an article of headwear having a first layer of material formed from a polyester yarn, a second layer of material formed from a polyester yarn, and an absorbent layer positioned between the first layer of material and the second layer of material at a front of the article of headwear. The article of headwear is configured to temporarily store perspiration produced by a wearer's forehead area and transport the perspiration to the sides and back of the article of headwear where it can subsequently evaporate or be harmlessly released.

A nonwoven for use in a thermal liner for protective apparel includes 1-45 wt % of a first inherently heat resistant fiber excluding an aramid, and a balance of a second heat resistant fiber. The nonwoven excludes wool and has a thickness less than 3 mm and a basis weight of less than 2.9 osy (100 gsm). In another embodiment, the insulating layer for protective apparel includes a nonwoven including an inherently flame resistant fiber and fibers being inherently resistant to moisture absorption. The inherently flame resistant fiber is different from said inherently resistant to moisture absorption fiber. The nonwoven has an equivalent or better thermal protective performance (TPP) and a lower basis weight than an industry standard nonwoven consisting of a nonwoven of para-aramids or meta-aramids or a blend of both.

The present invention relates to production of textile with high rate of evaporation of moisture content. In this invention, a textile substrate is coated with Near Infrared (NIR) energy absorbing agent to increase the surface temperature of substrate and enhance the evaporation of moisture from the textile substrate.

Described herein are shields adapted for permanent attachment or removable attachment in the armpit area of a shirt. The shields are multi-layered fabrics that absorb perspiration, and in certain aspects, are used to control, reduce, or prevent perspiration from bleeding through and being shown on the outer surface of a garment. For example, these garments can include, but are not limited to, a multilayered fabric having at least a first fabric layer configured to wick moisture away from a person's body, at least a second fabric layer configured to absorb the moisture, and at least a third fabric layer that does not absorb moisture. As further described herein, various antimicrobial agents can be included in at least one fabric layer. These antimicrobial agents can be used to reduce or prevent the growth of microbes in and/or on the fabric, and these antimicrobial agents can be used to reduce or prevent odors derived from odor producing microbes.

A sportswear cooling system for enhancing physical activity for a wearer is provided which has a first compartment containing a cooling solution and a second compartment containing water. The first compartment is positioned within the second compartment and the walls of the first compartment are adapted to be ruptured so that when the cooling solution and water combine an endothermic reaction is produced calculated to cool a portion of the body upon application.