Foley company, Varigard, offering solutions in unprecedented times

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 6/21/21

FOLEY - A local company has dedicated itself to manufacturing advanced hand sanitizing gels and disinfectant sprays that “not only protect users against pathogens in the air, but also traps and …

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Foley company, Varigard, offering solutions in unprecedented times

Posted

FOLEY - A local company has dedicated itself to manufacturing advanced hand sanitizing gels and disinfectant sprays that “not only protect users against pathogens in the air, but also traps and kills those pathogens, including COVID-19.” Varigard, located in Foley, uses organic, patented polymers, in combination with alcohol, to produce a hand sanitizer that traps and kills 99.9 percent of germs and lasts for two hours. According to Thom Kaz, Varigard VP of sales and business development, other leading brands of hand sanitizer typically work for 30 seconds.

“Varigard was born out of the necessity of the pandemic,” Kaz said. “Lots of the products that came on market during the pandemic were high in alcohol content, and they weren’t very regulated, it was get anything out there you can to help with the problem … So this polymer has some flame-retardant qualities, so we challenged our scientist, maybe we could fashion a hand sanitizer that’s better than what’s out there. So our scientist took this organic algae that grows at the bottom of the ocean and fashioned it into a hand sanitizer that has changed the game completely.”

The company produces hand sanitizer gels, sprays, air purification devices (one for surfaces and one wearable to create clean air around the wearer), and plans to release a spray for masks. The sprays have been used in drones to sanitize stadiums and auditoriums prior to large events. The products create a three-level process, with the top layer producing a polarity that traps pathogens to it, the second layer, which holds the alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, killing the virus, and the bottom layer sealing the wearer’s skin so no alcohol is absorbed.

“The only reason that we have alcohol in our product is because in order to call it a hand sanitizer, the FDA required it,” said Kaz. “But because our polymer has a polarity to it and attracts pathogens into it and traps them like quicksand, we could have just as easily done it without the alcohol. For our particular product, you don’t need a high alcohol content. Now, it does work to kill the virus when it’s trapped in the center layer, but from a functional standpoint, we don’t really need it, so that’s why we use a lower alcohol percentage.”

Lab test results have been published online at Varigard’s website. You can also find product and team information here: www.varigard.com.

“As a company we’re really trying to rally this community, Mobile and Baldwin counties, to show what this area can do if we think a little bit outside of the box with our schools, with our businesses, with our churches, with our restaurants, with our hospitality, with all of the people that we see from around the world that come in to see Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, and pass through this community,” Kaz said. “And that’s going to start with us working with you and the businesses right here.”

Kaz recently made a presentation during the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Series, where he presented Varigard products to those in attendance. To learn more about the South Baldwin Chamber and upcoming events, visit www.southbaldwinchamber.com.