Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana by Tony and Lisa Clark

Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana by Tony and Lisa Clark is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Volafotsy in Famolavolana Fitaovana Toby ary Fitaovana Ivelany Competition Category.

VolafotsyFitaovana Toby· 2025

Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana

by Tony and Lisa Clark

Client: Seasonfort

A' Design Award Volafotsy Winner in Fitaovana Toby Category

37,673
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #146484

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana

Thermaltrex dia kitapo fatoriana tsy mora may natao ho an'ny fitobiana sy ny fampiasana any ivelany. Ny kitapo fatoriana dia vita amin'ny lamba polar fleece 330gsm izay tsy mora may maharitra, tsy misy fitsaboana simika na fandrakofana. Ny lamba dia azo sasana amin'ny milina, azo havaozina, tsy miova loko ary mahatohitra ny bobongolo, ary manome fiarovana amin'ny masoandro ihany koa izy. Azo atambatra ny singa roa amin'ny alalan'ny zip azo avadika mba hamoronana kitapo fatoriana ho an'olona roa, ary azo sokafana ny faran'ny tongotra mba ahafahana manao ilay kitapo rehefa mandeha tongotra. Ny fitehirizana dia omena ao anaty kitapo maina enina litatra misy tahony roa.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Volafotsy

Nandresy ny A' Design Award Volafotsy ny famolavolana Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana, fankasitrahana malaza be omena ny famolavolana ambaratonga ambony, tsara tarehy ary mahavariana. Ny mpandresy Volafotsy dia asa mamirapiratra dia mamirapiratra ary mamorona dia mamorona izay maneho ny fahaizana, ny talenta ary ny fahamaotinan-tsain'ny mpamolavola azy. Andrasana ho asa mahagaga, ohatra tsara, mahay amin'ny asa ary vaovao amin'ny halalin-tsaina ny famolavolana Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana. Ity famolavolana nandresy ny A' Design Award Volafotsy ity dia fikarohana miavaka be ary ankafizina izay mahasoa ary mampandroso ny sisintanin'ny zavakanto, ny siansa, ny famolavolana ary ny teknolojia. Ny famolavolana Thermaltrex Kitapo Fatoriana dia famoronana mahazo fitaka be izay mamaly ny faniriana, mitondra fihetseham-po tsara ary mamelona fahagagana sy fahatalanjonana.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Our new Seasonfort Sleeping Bag is permanently Fire Retardant with no chemical treatments or coatings.

To do this we designed Thermaltrex, a warm 330gsm polar fleece machine washable recyclable fabric; which meets both the Faa 4 ply Airline Blanket and en71 2 Child Safety fire standards. Natural chemical safety allows it to pass the worlds toughest European chemical safety standard Reach, and is without formaldehyde or azoic dyes. It is colourfast, mildew resistant and offers upf50 sun protection.
Dimensions & Packaging: 1kg rectangle sleeping bag is 190 x 79cm. Make a double size 190 x 159cm by zipping together 2 units. Silver reflective ropes to see in low light and pull Ykk reversible zips. Users can unzip the footend and walk around in warmth. Black nylon trim at head-end complements two woven labels, Seasonfort and ThermalTrex brands. Alongside is a green and blue ribbon denoting profits from sales assist Tony and Lisa Clark's homeless charity, Backpack Bed for Homeless. En13537 Sleeping Bag Celsius ratings, Extreme at 1C, Comfort at 15C. Stowed in multi-use 6L dry bag, one handle each end, digital logo print.
Tags: sleeping bag, fire, safety, fire retardant, Seasonfort, camping, textiles
Production Technology: Our not for profit social enterprise Seasonfort, founded by Tony & Lisa Clark, was created to help fund our life-saving Thermaltrex fire retardant polar fleece sleeping bags for homeless; 19,500 distributed to date.

To create our vision of safety - without any fire retardant chemicals - we made our new textile Thermaltrex to ensure every fibre was fire retardant, machine washable and recyclable.

Thermaltrex fabric is recyclable; shredded, de-polymerised, then repolymered again e.g. into PET plastic bottles or industrial plastic products.

In comparison to traditional polar fleece the cost difference is approximately 30 percent. A breakthrough for safety.
Design Challenge: Tony Clark initially was searching for a low cost way to make fire retardant sleeping bags for homeless people sleeping on the street.

For safety the fabric should not use chemicals.
The fabric must self extinguish a 1 inch flame for 12 seconds.
It must not use price prohibitive yarns or fibres e.g. Kevlar.
The fabric must be affordable for mass market safety.
Research: To reduce final production costs the material needed to be both synthetic and recyclable. This logically narrowed down the fibres and yarns that could be used. Next was to combine different materials and yarns at various ratios; which required a trial and error approach.

After each trial and error, materials would be tested in-house in various ways. Tests was grouped into 4 sets; fire, chemical, material and product. Upon success, all production would be tested at an independent lab test.
Inspiration: Street sleeping homeless need a fire retardant sleeping bag that could be washed.

Fire kills and injures. All campsites and outdoor fires often spit fire.

Today, sleeping bags are made of a polyester, nylon shell; which can easily ignite, spread fast and melt on the skin.

Sleeping bags are rarely washed, any sleeping bag that claims to be washable is usually damaged while washing; filling is damaged, clumps, creating uneven warmth and cold spots.
Project Duration: Product and fabric designer Tony Clark took 3 years to research, design and verify that Thermaltrex results could be repeated.

Thermaltrex polar fleece could not be made in Australia. Tony spent much time overseas. After much trial and error samples were made with various different textile mills; success finally happened.

Before independent test labs, major product testing occurred in Australia in-house lab.

With this knowledge, Tony could then apply theories into reality and final repeated success.
Operation Flow: Users of the Seasonfort Fire Retardant Sleeping Bag enjoy multiple functions.

Two units can be joined together to make a double sleeping bag.

The Ykk reversible rail zips also allows users to open the foot end of the sleeping bag and walk around wherever they are; cozy and warm.

Instead of a typical drawstring stow bag, the Seasonfort Sleeping Bag is stored in a 6L dry bag with two handles. An additional functional dry bag is handy when camping. The sleeping bag does not need to be carefully rolled to be re-packed into the dry bag; instead it can be stuffed back in quickly without hassle.
Patents: Seasonfort and Thermaltrex are registered word marks and trademarked in major jurisdictions globally.
Team Members: Textile designer of Thermaltrex: Tony Clark
Sleeping bag designers: Tony Clark and Lisa Clark
Dry bag designers: Tony Clark and Lisa Clark
Founders of not for profit social enterprise Seasonfort and Thermaltrex: Tony and Lisa Clark
Founder of homeless not for profit charity - Backpack Bed for Homeless: Tony Clark
Image Credits: Seasonfort video and photos in-house.