Across the US, more states are banning PFAS in textiles.
In the United States, PFAS restrictions are advancing one state at a time rather than through a single national ban. Nearly 350 PFAS bills were introduced across 39 states during the 2025 legislative session, with 27 enacted across 13 states. Several name textiles directly:
New Mexico: Bans PFAS in textiles starting 2028, with a near-total ban by 2032.
Vermont: Restricts PFAS across consumer goods, including textile articles.
Minnesota: Covers textile furnishings, with restrictions phasing in from 2026.
New York: Bans intentionally added PFAS in apparel.
Washington, Maine, and Connecticut: Among other states enacting PFAS restrictions.
California offers one of the clearest examples of how far this can go:
According to the text of Assembly Bill No. 1817, passed by the California State Legislature, the law prohibits, as of January 1, 2025, any person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any new, not previously owned, textile articles that contain regulated PFAS, except as specified, and requires a manufacturer to use the least toxic alternative when removing regulated PFAS in textile articles. The law also requires that a manufacturer of a textile article provide persons offering the product for sale or distribution in the state with a certificate of compliance stating that the article complies with these provisions and contains no regulated PFAS.
The specifics vary from state to state, but the direction is unmistakable. PFAS are steadily being written out of consumer textiles across the country, and the patchwork is only growing.
Global environmental efforts point to stricter PFAS regulations ahead.
The US is, in many ways, catching up.
Globally, the move against PFAS has been underway for years. The United Nations’ Stockholm Convention began restricting these substances as early as 2009, adding more to its list in 2019 and 2022. Europe is pushing further still: a 2023 proposal aims to restrict thousands of PFAS substances across nearly every industry, including textiles and apparel, with limits that could take effect by 2029.
The message to the textile industry is clear. Brands need PFAS-free alternatives that perform just as well, today.
What PFAS Bans Mean for the Textile Industry
For the waterproof breathable textile industry, PFAS regulation has real consequences. With major markets like California and New York moving to restrict PFAS, the pressure to phase out these chemicals is being felt across the supply chain. Chemical companies are developing non-PFAS alternatives, mills are tightening testing to catch contamination early, and brands are working more closely with material suppliers to deliver performance without fluorinated chemistry. Many have already brought PFAS-free membranes to market, using expanded-polyethylene and bio-based polyurethane to match the performance of traditional materials. Still, the shift comes with challenges, as PFAS-free alternatives have often struggled to fully match PFAS in water repellency and durability.
100% PFAS-Free, Without the Performance Trade-Off
The industry needs waterproof breathable textiles that perform without PFAS, yet most PFAS-free options force a trade-off: monolithic membranes maximize waterproofing at the cost of breathability, while microporous membranes do the opposite. Electrospun membranes offer a way past that trade-off. Using high-voltage electricity to draw polymer solutions into nanofibers, electrospinning forms highly porous membranes with precise control at the nanoscale.
By tuning fiber diameter, thickness, and pore structure, these membranes can be engineered to breathe more, weigh less, and perform better, with pores small enough to block water but large enough to release vapor. Because this performance comes from the structure of the material itself rather than an added chemistry, electrospun membranes can be 100% PFAS free while naturally meeting industry water protection standards.
Aside from meeting industry standards for waterproofness, these electrospun membranes surpass industry benchmarks for breathability. Read more about ultra–breathable membranes here.