Cork Shell

Thermally insulating fabric with a laminated coating that incorporates natural cork granulate. The cork allows this textile to insulate up to 50% better than common soft shell fabrics, while still retaining high breathability. Cork’s natural properties of insulation and breathability can be utilized with incorporation into a technical textile. The bark of the cork tree has a very consistent cell structure, with around 40 million bubbles per cubic inch. These are filled with a gas, very similar to air, making the cork light weight, flexible, and highly insulating. To produce the fabric, cork waste is gathered from the manufacturing of wine corks, pulverized to a fine granulate, then coated onto a textile in a proprietary process. Two constructions area available, a two layer, with the cork on the interior, and a three layer with the cork sandwiched between two textile layers. Fabric widths vary from 55 to 57 in (1397 to 1447.8 mm). There are multiple standard colorways offered. Fabrics with both two-way and four-way stretch are suitable for application of cork coating. Custom fabric options are variable by selecting from the manufacturer’s own range of offerings, or by the customer supplying their own fabric for coating. The cork is sourced exclusively from FSC certified forests. It can be harvested throughout the life of the tree without cutting it down. The material is also bluesign® approved. Thermal insulation testing resulted in an increase in insulation properties over traditional softshell fabrics with the same construction of 0.05 Rct/m2 compared 0.03 Rct/m2. Applications include outerwear, fashion, sports apparel, accessories, and protective garments.