News | October 13, 2008

New, Easy Solution For Cleaning Activewear And High Performance Athletic Apparel: Prowash

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It's no secret that due to billions of dollars being spent Nationally on health and wellness initiatives, Americans are more aware than ever of the need to increase physical activity. Thanks to a heightened interest in athletics and exercise, due in part to inspiring figures such as Lance Armstrong, Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods and others, people coast-to-coast are embracing sports and activities like running, cycling, swimming, and golf. With an increase in these activities among Americans, the athletic apparel and activewear industry have experienced a boom unlike any other over the past ten years. Companies including Nike, Adidas, Columbia, and REI are responding to the demand, engineering specialized, high performance apparel for nearly every imaginable consumer need.

These new developments in athletic apparel have produced a new variety of high tech materials in the apparel industry, most of them containing a blend of spandex, polyester, Lycra and other synthetic fabrics–designed to pull sweat away from the body and retain it in the material. While this is a wonderful advantage for athletes, it presents numerous challenges for cleaning and maintaining activewear.

Designed to enhance comfort and performance during exercise, most new athletic apparel expands and retracts to retain sweat, making the material feel dry against the skin. However, when these same clothes are washed after a workout, ordinary laundry detergents are unable to remove the odors and bacteria, leaving them stuck in the nooks and crannies of high performance fabric. Additionally, most laundry detergents saturate the garments in a typical wash cycle, actually adding a coating of fragrance and softening agents inside of the fabric. In fact, a recent published study observed how detergent residue is deposited into activewear fabric with every washing, turning it into a "chemical scum," retained in the fabric.

As high performance activewear grows in popularity–both to adults and kids participating in exercise and organized athletics–the problem of odor, bacteria and detergent removal is growing, and many consumers don't know what to do about it. Trying to use bleach and other laundry products can actually harm the fabric, not just fading the color, but also quickly eroding the designed wicking properties in athletic apparel.

Fortunately, the creators of Dry Cleaner's Secret have engineered an innovative solution: ProWash activewear detergent. Now consumers have a laundry solution they can trust to quickly and easily clean and eliminate odors, bacteria and stains from activewear clothing. This product provides both–a complete substitute or a cleaning boost to a regular laundry wash. Clothes come out of the wash clean, free of odors and residue and ready to wear for the next workout.

Nearly any activewear garment that was previously washed with ordinary detergent will feel and smell significantly better after using ProWash. This innovative product is also non-toxic and safe for any washing machine. According to Dry Inc.'s president Scott Heim, "Consumer research has revealed that activewear garments are typically thrown out after only a few months of use, due to odor problems and stains. Now, consumers have a product they can confidently use regularly on their favorite, high performance athletic apparel, extending the life of their garments and eliminating odor."

Dry Incorporated also manufactures Dry Cleaner's Secret (for at home dry cleaning), and recently launched Woolite by Dry Cleaner's Secret across the U.S.

The new ProWash laundry product began shipping in August of 2008 to select Wal-Mart stores and will be available in early 2009 in a wide variety of grocery, drug and mass merchant stores across the greater United States.

[Reference on published study: American Scouting Digest, Proper Care for Performance Fabrics – pages 1 to 7, May 15, 2008]

For more information, visit http://www.prowashdetergent.com.

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