History
Expertise from experience
In the course of a co-operative project sponsored by the State of Baden- Württemberg and initiated through the Maschenverband, a new testing method was developed by the ITV and other well-known textile companies from the region. The tests determine the effect of textiles on skin through the help of living cells as biosensors.
Based on this testing method the Society for the Promotion of Skin-Tolerant Textiles in Denkendorf near Stuttgart was founded on 24.6.1998. Founding members were various German textile companies such as Falke, Kanz, Lindenfarb, Mattes & Ammann, Sanetta, Schiesser and Triumph International as well as the ITV Denkendorf Produktservice GmbH (Product service Ltd) among others. The Society developed in close cooperation with the dermatological clinic of the University of Heidelberg testing criteria for the evaluation of skin tolerance of closely worn textiles and authorized the testing institute of the ITV Denkendorf Produktservice GmbH (Product Service Ltd ) for the execution of these tests. The foundation for testing and labelling hygienically immaculate textiles with the attestation ''medically tested'' was established. By mid-2000 products were labelled with the seal of approval.
To guarantee the compliance of the statutory limits of lead substances and to determine such substances of which the potential to irritate the skin is known, in the following years the testing methods were extended. This enabled an improved support of the textile companies for the production of skin-tolerant textiles Complementary to the skin-tolerance test the limit-oriented toxin test was introduced in 2006. Through the combination of both testing methods the Society created the world's strictest skin tolerance testing standard for textiles. The proven skin tolerance today is awarded with the certificate ''Medically tested and tested for toxins''.
The number of members of at first 9 companies increased in the following years to 21. Since the introduction of the testing method in 2000 more than 7000 products have been tested.
