Material destroys body odor and may mean doing less laundry in the future

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

An anti-microbial lining that destroys body odour has been created by scientists.

It opens the door to clothes that don't have to be put in a washing machine, say scientists.

The material zaps underarm sweat that gives garments a nasty niff.

It's a cocktail of silver and plant compounds, or polyphenols, called tannins, found in tea, coffee, wine and chocolate.

Project leader Dr. Joseph Richardson, of the University of Tokyo, said: "As kids often do, my son stained his shirt with chocolate one day, and I couldn’t scrub it out.

"Professor Hirotaka Ejima and I have studied polyphenols for over a decade.

"But this chocolate incident got me thinking about using tannic acid to bind silver to fabrics.

"We think we've found two methods to apply our antimicrobial silver coating to textiles - suitable for different use cases."

The metal is a safe anti-microbial used to treat wounds. It does not interact with human skin.

Items can be washed multiple times without losing anti-microbial and odour powers.

Chemicals that cause BO build up in fibres over time and stubbornly resist flushing out, leading to a persistent pong.

The coating called AgTA is cost-effective and convenient, say the Japanese team.

It means people working from home can continue wearing the same shirt and undies - without stinking.

Dr. Richardson said: "It may be winter for half the world right now, but before too long the warm weather will return, bringing with it beach trips, ice cream, insect bites, and of course, sweat."

Commercial clothing or fabric producers can simply bathe textiles in AgTA.

Individuals may also end up spraying garments - adding the coating to existing items.

Dr. Richardson said: "What is most exciting is not the ease of application, but how effective the coating is.

"We wanted to study the effect of the antimicrobial coating not just on odour-causing bacteria, but also on fungi and pathogens like viruses.

"With so many variables to control, it was a challenge of time and complexity to test variations of compounds against variations of microorganisms.

"But through carefully optimising our testing methods, we found the coating neutralises everything we tested it on.

"So Ag/TA could be useful in hospitals and other ideally sterile environments."

The strength of AgTA, which is described in Scientific Reports, was demonstrated in a series of tests.

Cotton, polyester and even silk maintained anti-microbial and odour properties for at least ten washes.

Dr. Richardson said: "This is not just a hypothetical situation limited to the lab.

"I have I’ve tried it on my own shirts, socks, shoes - even my bathmat.

"We would like to see what other useful compounds polyphenols might help bind to fabrics. Anti-microbial silver might just be the start."

There are many kinds of products that can be worn or applied to the body which combat BO.

But they are often expensive and offer limited choice and comfort.