The textile industry rapidly transitioned to PFAS-free durable water repellent (DWR) technologies as regulatory expectations tightened and brands demanded responsible chemistry. Many challenges continue to make this transition anything but smooth and simple. The primary issues surrounding this transition are caused by PFAS-based chemistry because of the excellent waterproof performance that it provided to fabric without impacting the breathability. Most, if not all, PFAS-Free chemistry is safer, inferior in performance and durability, much more expensive, and often impacts the breathability of a fabric. These issues have caused many headaches for brands, retailers, textile mills, and chemical manufacturers. Progress in technology improvement has been a slow, and often painful, process. At AGS, we worked closely with several partners in the development and launch of PalmProof.

PalmProof is a family of DWRs that are designed to help mills and brands move beyond fluorinated finishes while maintaining practical performance that is expected by the consumer. By combining bio-based chemistry with advanced surface engineering, PalmProof creates a hydrophobic barrier that repels water while preserving comfort, breathability, and fabric integrity.

It is engineered around a palm-derived fatty acid technology that lowers surface energy on textile fibers and prevents water penetration without creating stiffness or negatively impacting the fabric’s hand feel. PalmProof products are applicable by padding and exhaust, allowing for seamless integration into existing production methods. It is designed for fabrics that contain cotton, polyester, nylon, and blends. This approach enables partners to adopt our cost-optimized solution without disrupting their established workflows.

The key benefits of PalmProof include:

• PFAS-Free: Provides durable water repellency without fluorinated chemistry, supporting evolving regulatory and brand sustainability requirements.
• Plant-Based: Built on responsibly sourced palm-derived raw materials that align with renewable and lower-impact sourcing strategies.
• Durable Performance: Maintains fabric breathability, softness, and natural hand feel while delivering reliable water resistance.
• Process Compatibility: Integrates easily into standard textile finishing workflows, including padding and exhaust applications across multiple fiber types.
• Lower Dosage Application: Engineered to maintain repellency performance through repeated wear and laundering cycles.
• Balanced Sustainability and Performance: Combines functional durability with modern environmental expectations, offering a practical alternative to legacy DWR technologies.

As fluorine-free innovation advances, the industry is redefining, and slowly returning, to the performance standards that are expected by industries and consumers. Brands now can select from solutions that combine renewable feedstocks, reliable performance, and long-term durability without compromising wearer comfort. PalmProof reflects AGS’s commitment to delivering innovative, consumer-centric technologies that support both sustainability goals and real-world performance.

Learn more about AGS, our products, and our commitment to materials science excellence. Here.

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Across the show floor at Heimtextil, a shift in home textiles towards expressive comfort, natural textures, and intentional softness were on display to define modern luxury. Softness was no longer positioned as an added attribute; but a design priority tied directly to wellbeing and long-term product value. For AGS, the event reinforced our vision for the future of home textiles, where BIOPURE® technologies help products achieve elevated performance and meet evolving consumer expectations.

This year, much of the engagement and conversations were detailed discussions about product launches, new developments, and timelines. Decision-makers were present, and meetings focused on real projects. Reliability in performance was a critical point of conversation with several new customers that stemmed from their past issues with other technologies, satisfaction with results from BIOPURE®, and a desire to work more closely with AGS. Cost remained a significant point of conversation in most meetings, as did sustainability. Though the latter has changed, sustainable materials are still very important but must have added value that delivers tangible benefits without increasing complexity.

Some innovation partners that were exhibiting included Al Rahim, Arshad Group, Gul Ahmed, Lenzing, Liberty Mills, Paul Textiles, and Trident Group that showcased outstanding displays featuring BIOPURE® treated home textiles. Their presentations communicated with clarity, confidence, and technical details. The focus on comfort and durable performance by highlighting how our plant-based finishing technologies deliver softness, smoothness, moisture management, odor control, and lasting comfort across all fiber-types. Rather than presenting sustainability as a standalone message, partners positioned functional performance as the primary driver, reinforcing that innovation must create measurable value for the consumer.

BIOPURE® HS5 (Hydro Soft) emphasized its ability to create a soft, smooth hand while improving hydrophilicity with moisture wicking performance. The technology offers a viable solution to diminish reliance and the use of silicone softeners while maintaining handle and functional performance.

BIOPURE® MM1 (Ultra Dry) was highlighted for flash wicking, quick drying, and cooling (capillary action). Customers continue to trust MM1 to deliver consistent performance.

BIOPURE® FS7 (Fresh & Soft) generated significant attention as our latest innovation that is a coconut oil-based softener engineered for exceptional penetrating softness, silk-like smoothness, moisture wicking, and odor control. Its ability to maintain performance through 40 home launderings positions it as a compelling innovation that elevates home textile products.

BIOPURE® OC6 (Max Fresh) sparked strong technical discussions focused on its odor adsorption mechanism and plant-based chemistry. Partners valued the clear explanation, sustainability profile, and ease of use.

Looking back, this year’s Heimtextil showed that the market is focused on purposeful innovation and developments built around real performance. The show marked meaningful progress with both existing customers and new opportunities, reinforcing AGS as a partner that delivers innovative, sustainable solutions with measurable value at competitive cost. It reaffirmed the strength of our direction and our commitment to moving forward with the same precision and care that got us here. We look ahead to next year’s Heimtextil with confidence as new developments continue to take shape.

Learn more about AGS, our products, and our commitment to materials science excellence.

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As we begin 2026 and AGS approaches eight years of growth, we are proud to introduce a refreshed corporate identity that closely reflects who we are today and where we are going. Our updated look aligns with our mission to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions through materials science excellence and tailored collaboration, with a target to accelerate and facilitate a sustainable future while also providing an optimal environment for our customers and partners to create consumer-centric products that ensure both market success and minimal environmental impact. Making the consumer experience better, safer, and more sustainable.

The new AGS logo is intentionally simple yet elegant, designed to communicate clarity and purpose. The incomplete circular form represents circularity, sustainability, and environmental responsibility, while also reflecting AGS’s role as an integrated component of the textile value chain. It symbolizes continuous collaboration, long-term support, and the understanding that meaningful progress is achieved through shared effort and aligned objectives.

The off-center placement of the AGS name reflects our belief that innovation comes from questioning convention. It reinforces our customer- and consumer-centric mindset, our focus on progress over perfection, and the strength that comes from adaptability. These elements align closely with our core values—Innovation & Optimization, Responsible Design, Customer Success, Integrity & Ethics, and Long-Term Thinking—clearly expressing AGS’s commitment to durable partnerships and a more sustainable future.

Learn more about AGS, our products and services, and our commitment to materials science excellence. Here.

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We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and end to this year. 2025 marked measurable progress for AGS as our portfolio of plant-based technologies continued to expand while we also gained new partners, customers, and category adoptions. Across our BIOPURE® technologies, we demonstrated clear value for mills and brands seeking reliable performance, unique value, and accessible prices. Each novel solution is designed to deliver consistent results that enable customers to confidently develop their products. The strong interest in newly launched technologies such as BIOPURE® FS7, our coconut oil-based odor control softener, reinforces our commitment to delivering excellence across every product, project, and partnership.

Strengthening our foundation was equally important in 2025. We deepened our raw material partnerships in regenerative castor and coconut oil to ensure a resilient and reliable supply of high quality raw materials. These efforts benefit and support our productivity, partners and customers, reduce long-term risks, and maintain our ability to proactively deliver dependable solutions at scale.

As we enter 2026, we recognize that economic uncertainty continues across global markets, with many partners navigating cautious demand and tighter decision-making. AGS remains committed to proven, performance-driven chemistry while proactively strengthening our portfolio and market positioning. Through continued material innovation, deeper distributor engagement, and a strong focus on customer success, we enable our partners to move forward with confidence. Allowing you to rely on sustainable technologies that are scaled, reliable, and designed to fulfill consumer needs rather than short-term trends or marketing hype.

CLICK HERE to learn more about AGS and our innovative plant-based technologies.

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In today’s textile industry, success requires more than a good idea—it demands execution, agility, and alignment across every stage of the value chain. That’s where AGS consulting comes in. We offer tailored, real-world support that connects strategy with action, helping clients move from challenge to solution with confidence and speed. Whether it’s navigating complex supply chains or launching sustainable innovations, our role is to help clients lead with clarity and impact.

Our approach is intentionally hands-on. We work closely with the client in a practical and tailored approach. We offer a variety of services through our consultants and contractors that work alongside, or a part of, your teams across product development, marketing and advertising, sales, operations, sourcing, and commercialization. By have AGS contractors report directly to our clients, they augment the client’s capabilities, help identify gaps, unlock efficiencies, and accelerate outcomes across the textile value chain. Every solution we deliver is grounded in practical experience, technical expertise, and an understanding of global industry dynamics.

The result is a streamlined path to innovation, improved customer relations, and stronger market positioning. Clients benefit from faster decision-making, enhanced collaboration, and scalable solutions that match both quality and sustainability targets. AGS consulting is more than guidance, it’s a partnership focused on real progress. Our track record reflects long-term relationships built on trust, delivery, and shared success.

Click Here to discover how our services can help you achieve your goals.

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With consumers demanding functionality throughout their daily wardrobe, the need to deliver reliable moisture management performance has quickly become a necessity for textiles. Most wicking finishes quietly tap out when faced with a challenge. BIOPURE MM1 (Ultra Dry), our advanced plant-based moisture management technology, addresses this challenge with ease. It provides exceptional results across denim, casualwear, activewear, intimates, and home textiles.

BIOPURE Ultra Dry rapidly wicks moisture within minutes. Other wicking agents can fail to meet consumer demands because they require an extensive 30 minutes to complete their wicking action. This is too much time, especially when dealing with dense cellulosic fabric. Unlike other wicking agents, BIOPURE Ultra Dry also provides effective cooling and drying performance, making it an ‘All-in-One’ technology that diminishes the formulation complexity and also offsets emissions.

As an example, our technology provides an effective solution in creating performance denim without requiring expensive specialty fibers just to provide consumer-expected features. Now, brands and mills can unlock rapid moisture wicking, cooling, and drying without the massive price tag or performance inconsistencies. Better performance, simplified processes, and serious cost savings? That’s the kind of breakthrough that the industry needs.

At AGS, we continue to provide solutions that directly respond to evolving market demands. BIOPURE MM1 (Ultra Dry) combines technical excellence with practical cost advantages, supporting the industry’s need for sustainable, high-performance, and commercially viable innovations. BIOPURE MM1 is proof that you don’t have to choose between performance and price — you can have both, and have them now.

Contact us to get started and learn how BIOPURE MM1 can empower your products.

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Demand for sustainable, plant-based technologies continues to rise steadily across the textile industry. While many anticipated a rapid shift to sustainable materials during COVID, markets don’t typically change overnight. Instead, we’re seeing a steady increase in the adoption of plant-based solutions that meet rigorous standards without compromising product quality. These solutions aren’t just price competitive; they are also designed to satisfy the strict performance and durability requirements the industry expects.

This steady adoption is driven by environmental goals and the consumer expectation for brands to deliver sustainable products without diminishing quality. Consumers want assurance that these products meet their values, and expect proof through transparency in the supply chain and responsible sourcing. To help brands navigate these priorities, AGS offers plant-based technologies that check all these boxes, supporting supply chain transparency and sourcing from regenerative farms that strengthen environmental and social outcomes.

At AGS, our plant-based technologies deliver on quality and cost competitiveness with traditional synthetic technologies, allowing brands to seamlessly switch to our sustainable solutions. As the industry moves toward sustainability, we’re proud to lead the way, providing transparent, high-performance solutions that empower brands to achieve their sustainability and performance goals.

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Regenerative agriculture is an essential starting point to build a more resilient and high-performing textile industry. By focusing on how and where raw materials are grown, regenerative practices deliver tangible benefits to both fiber production and the development of plant-based chemistry. These practices improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and support long-term agricultural productivity that lays the groundwork for more consistent, sustainable, and high-quality inputs into the textile value chain. It also provides a strong foundation for the textile industry by empowering and financially stabilizing the workers and communities that provide the raw materials.

For natural fibers, regenerative agriculture leads to stronger, cleaner, and more durable outputs. Fibers grown in regenerated soil are often more uniform, of higher quality, and higher productivity. This enhances their performance in downstream applications while reducing environmental impact. Similarly, for plant-based chemicals, regenerative farming provides renewable feedstocks such as castor and coconut that are more reliable and better aligned with the goals of sustainable innovation by providing durable, and superior, performance.

Raw material selection plays a critical role in chemical development. At AGS, we prioritize materials that not only meet high environmental standards but also provide strong functionality. Choosing plant-based ingredients that can surpass market expectations in key factors such as performance, durability, cost, and a localized supply chain allows us to develop performance chemistries that surpass industry expectations and consumer needs. Our approach improves product availability, optimizes performance, and minimizes environmental impact.

By starting with smarter raw materials, sourced from farms practicing regenerative agriculture, we are building technologies that are better for the planet and improve the textile products that use them.

At AGS, sustainability begins with raw material selection, and innovation starts by how we source.

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The apparel landscape is evolving. Gone are the days when style reigned by its lonesome. Today, consumers are demanding more – they want garments that not only look good but, more importantly, feel good and perform exceptionally, especially when it comes to their next-to-skin apparel. These changes have been driven by a blend of heightened awareness around wellness, a desire for all-day comfort, and a demand for functionality that seamlessly integrates into modern lifestyles.

Moisture management has become a non-negotiable, particularly in the activewear and athleisure sector. Nielsen data shows that over 60% of consumers in this segment prioritize moisture-wicking and quick-drying capabilities. This underscores the importance of keeping customers dry and comfortable. Similarly, breathability is paramount. McKinsey & Co. reports that around 50% of consumers are actively seeking “technical comfort”.

Beyond technical features, the tactile experience is crucial. Cotton Inc.’s CottonWorks research reveals that nearly 70% of consumers consider fabric softness a primary factor in their satisfaction with next-to-skin garments, highlighting the power of a gentle touch. And in an era of extended wear and active lifestyles, odor control is gaining traction. Euromonitor indicates that approximately 40% of consumers now prefer garments with antimicrobial or odor-controlling properties.

The push for environmentally friendly options is particularly strong, with McKinsey reporting that over half of consumers now consider sustainability in their daily purchasing decisions.

The combination of these critical consumer priorities provides additional guidance to us at AGS in developing innovative technologies that surpass these demands while keeping costs minimized. One such technology is BIOPURE MM1, our castor oil-based moisture management technology that provides superior moisture wicking, quick drying, and cooling performance. The actual cool part, the castor is sourced from farms practicing regenerative agriculture and the castor plant has additional sustainability attributes that benefit the environment and local communities, which is far more important than us being able to claim that our technology, out the door, is carbon negative.

The future of next-to-skin apparel lies in understanding and meeting the multifaceted demands of today’s knowledgeable consumer while quickly discerning their trajectory for the future. At AGS, we prioritize providing innovative products and consulting services that help you do just that.

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The path to sustainability for textile technologies demands more than replacing synthetic inputs with plant-based alternatives. While the market sees a growing number of bio-based solutions, many fall short of expectations. Retrofitting an existing technology by swapping out synthetic components with plant-based substitutes, regardless of quality, cost, or performance equivalency is not a long-term solution. This “good enough” approach stifles real innovation and risks creating technologies that fail to meet performance standards and requirements.

To achieve meaningful progress, the selection and development of raw materials for developing advanced textile technologies must go beyond simple substitutions. It requires a commitment to identifying and investing in materials that are not only environmentally responsible but also exceptionally functional. A full-scope analysis is critical and can be achieved by evaluating the environmental impact of materials (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions), their ability to deliver superior performance, and their feasibility across manufacturing and application processes.

The success of a textile technology hinges on its ability to perform consistently. Softness, quick drying, durability, and other key attributes cannot be compromised in the name of sustainability. For a plant-based raw material to be viable, it must match or surpass the quality of its synthetic counterpart in real-world applications. Durability, for example, ensures a longer lifecycle for treated textiles, reducing waste and enhancing the overall value proposition for manufacturers and consumers alike.

True innovation demands a willingness to take risks, explore new raw materials, and develop entirely new systems rather than relying on superficial substitutions. This process often involves experimenting with unconventional plant-based sources, testing novel chemical compositions, and iterating until performance goals are not just met but exceeded. It’s not the easiest route, but it’s the only way to break free from the limitations of “copycat” technologies and create solutions that set new industry standards.

A raw material’s potential isn’t defined solely by its environmental footprint or its performance in isolation. It must also align with the practicalities of manufacturing and application. Technologies need to be cost-efficient, require manageable dosages, and be adaptable to energy-saving production conditions, such as lower drying temperatures. These considerations ensure that even groundbreaking raw materials can be integrated seamlessly into existing production lines, paving the way for scalable adoption.

This approach demands patience and vision, but the rewards, i.e. technologies that drive both sustainability and performance, are worth the effort. As the industry evolves, companies that take these calculated risks will lead the charge, creating solutions that satisfy the demands of the present and the challenges of the future.

Join us in shaping the next generation of textile technologies. Contact us to learn how purposeful raw material development can redefine your approach to innovation and sustainability.

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