Portwest offers 1,325 garment styles, carefully selecting fabrics for performance, durability, and environmental impact. The company invests in quality and durability, rigorously testing fabrics to ensure they meet high standards. Tests include abrasion resistance, tear strength, tensile strength, pilling resistance, color fastness, and shrinkage.
Portwest conducts wash testing both in-house and through third parties, often exceeding minimum performance standards. For example, 40% of certified garments are tested to 50 washes or more, and 75% are tested to 25 washes.
Products are marked with care labels to guide users on handling, ensuring longevity. Wearer trials provide continuous feedback on product technicity and comfort before market release.
65% of our garments carry the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 label, guaranteeing that every component of this product has been tested for harmful substances.
Every component of an article must comply with the strict OEKO-TEX® test criteria; whether the coating, outer material, stitching or zipper.
These globally standardised criteria are updated at least once a year based on new scientific information or statutory requirements. The label includes a reference number that allows consumers to verify the certifications validity at my time here.
After extensive research and testing, Portwest has switched our durable water repellent (DWR) garments to a new finish, called Texpel Eco, which is free from PFAs chemicals, dubbed “forever chemicals”, due to their persistent presence in the environment.
We continue to test new PFC-free technologies for other product categories.
Tiny fibres are released from natural, synthetic and man-made cellulosic textiles throughtout the product lifecycle. These are widely referred to as microfibres, microplastics, or fibre fragments.
Microfabrics from all types of textiles can enter the environment and potentially harm ecosystems, wildlife, and humans.
Through our collaboration with The Microfibre Consortium, we are conducting research and contribution to industry knowledge with the aim of reducing microfibre shedding across our own ranges of products.
The use of recycled polyester produced from post-consumer waste, requires fewer resources than that of new fibres and generates fewer CO2 emissions. In the right conditions, recycling polyester can be recycled again, creating a closed loop system. Additionally, diverting waste from landfill reduces soil contamination, as well as air and water pollution.
