Deodorant photocopies

Can a photocopying system produce clothes that banish body odour? Traptek of Longmont, Colorado, thinks so (WO 03/89526). Porous activated carbon can mop up smells, but bonding it to clothing fabrics tends to clog the carbon’s odour-absorbing pores with glue. So Traptek uses a modified photocopier that replaces conventional fine-grain toner with large particles of activated carbon. The copy drum transfers the carbon to the fabric, along with some colouring toner, in a chosen pattern. Briefly heating the fabric binds the carbon/toner mix to the fabric – without glue.