No Stains, Your Gain

Out of the frying pan and onto your clothes.

DuPont’s Teflon, which put the no-stick coating on cookware, is broadening its stain-free finishes for ready-to-wear. Most spills on treated clothes bead up and can be blotted off.

Last fall, Koret of California, which caters to the working woman, added Teflon fabric protector to a collection of wool separates.

Even silk can be treated to stay clean longer without losing its soft touch and bright color.

Adrianna Papell, a New York manufacturer, put the finish on its entire spring line of silk suits, dresses and blouses. The company named the treated fabric Safe Silk and is using it on labels and hangtags.

According to DuPont, Teflon was first used on fabric some 30 years ago when London Fog put it on rainwear.

Jaynee Berkman, executive vice president, claims a silk garment can be dry-cleaned from six to 10 times before the finish wears off. She also says hand-washing and ironing will not diminish the protective finish.

Silk neckties, then, would seem an ideal target.

Berkman said Papell considered selling tie silk with its trademark finish. But marketing people found it was a hard sell.

Basically, she said, the response was: “If you sell ties that don’t stain, men won’t buy more.”

Ralph Lauren, who started in business as a tie-maker 30 years ago, says he has no plans for fabric finishes on ties or anything else beyond what he already uses in active wear.

But Gerald Andersen, executive director of the Neckwear Assn. of America Inc., a trade group in New York, is confident that stainless ties will someday be the norm.