Direct answer
PVC gives you the lowest cost and a completely waterproof barrier, at the price of weight, cold stiffness and increasing regulatory friction. PU gives you a lighter, softer, more flexible garment that survives cold and can be engineered to breathe — at a higher unit cost.
Specify PU for anything worn while moving, in the cold, or for long periods: commuting, motorcycle, industrial workwear. Specify PVC when the garment is heavy-duty, short-duration, warm-climate or genuinely disposable, and when the unit cost dominates. TPU sits above both on flexibility and low-temperature performance but is the most expensive of the three.
The decision is not about which coating is better. It is about which failure mode you can afford.
Coating choice is the single decision in rainwear specification that most constrains everything downstream: what climate the garment works in, how long the wearer tolerates it, what it weighs, how it folds, what it costs, and increasingly what regulations it can be sold under.
Buyers often arrive thinking the question is waterproofing. It is not — all three coatings can be made waterproof past the point where it matters. The question is everything else.
What each coating actually is
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a coating applied as a paste and fused onto a base fabric, usually polyester. It forms a thick, continuous film. It is mechanically simple, cheap, and extremely effective as a water barrier. The same properties that make it effective also make it heavy and non-breathable.
PU (polyurethane) is a thinner, more elastic coating. Applied to nylon or polyester, it forms a flexible hydrophilic film that can be engineered to transmit moisture vapour. It survives flexing and low temperatures far better than PVC, and it feels like fabric rather than like plastic.
TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) is a film — usually laminated rather than coated — with the best combination of flexibility, cold performance and abrasion resistance of the three. It is also the most expensive.
The comparison that matters
| Property | PVC | PU | TPU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterproofing ceiling | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
| Weight | Heaviest | Light | Light |
| Cold flexibility | Poor — stiffens below freezing | Good | Best |
| Flex fatigue resistance | Lower | Good | Best |
| Breathability | Not achievable | Engineered option | Engineered option |
| Hand feel | Plastic, boardy | Soft, fabric-like | Soft, rubbery |
| Abrasion resistance | Good on heavy weights | Moderate | High |
| Unit cost | Lowest | Mid | Highest |
| Regulatory direction | Increasingly restricted | Favourable | Favourable |
Cold performance is where PVC is disqualified
This is the check buyers skip, and it is the one that generates returns.
At low temperatures a PVC coating stiffens. A jacket that folds comfortably at 25°C becomes rigid at 0°C and can crack at the fold lines after repeated flexing. For a garment used in warm rain this never surfaces. For anything used in winter, at altitude or in a cold-store environment, it is a warranty problem waiting for the right cold snap.
Our own range is specified to −20°C cold flex, which is the threshold that matters for the markets we build for. A coating that passes at −20°C will not surprise you in an unheated warehouse in July or a winter delivery shift.
Breathability, and why it is not a synonym for waterproof
Waterproof and breathable are separate properties and buyers conflate them constantly.
Waterproofing stops liquid water from the outside getting in. It is measured as hydrostatic head in mmH₂O.
Breathability — more precisely, moisture vapour transmission — allows sweat vapour to escape from the inside. It is measured in grams per square metre per 24 hours (g/m²/24h).
A PVC garment is fully waterproof and transmits essentially no vapour. The wearer gets wet from the inside. For a ten-minute walk that is irrelevant. For a shift of physical work or a long ride, it is the dominant comfort failure.
Where breathability is engineered in, values in the low thousands of g/m²/24h are meaningful for outerwear. Our SN-117 is specified at 3,000 g/m²/24h with a 10,000 mmH₂O rating — a deliberate trade of maximum waterproofing for vapour transmission, because it is built for long hours in the saddle where trapped sweat is the limiting factor.
The regulatory direction of travel
This is the part of the specification that is changing fastest, and it is changing against PVC.
PFAS restrictions. From 2025, several jurisdictions have moved to prohibit intentionally added PFAS in certain textile applications, which is the main driver behind the shift to PFC-free durable water repellent (DWR) finishes (source: state legislation and industry reports, 2025). DWR is the finish that makes water bead on the surface; without it, a garment still blocks water but feels wet and heavy.
Chlorine-based materials under scrutiny. PVC's chlorine content makes it a target for disposal and recycling regulation in several markets. The direction is not a ban today, but it is a rising cost of compliance and a rising risk of a restricted-market surprise for a product designed to be sold for years.
The practical consequence for a specification written in 2026 is that PU on a recyclable polyester or nylon base is the safer long-term platform, and PVC should be chosen with a specific reason rather than as the default.
Choosing by use case
| Use case | Recommended coating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle and touring | PU on nylon, or TPU | Cold flex, abrasion, breathability for long rides |
| Cycling and commuting | PU on nylon | Light, packable, survives folding |
| Industrial workwear, warm climate | PU, or PVC on heavy base | Durability first; PU if worn all shift |
| Heavy-duty, short duration, warm | PVC | Cost-effective, fully waterproof |
| Cold store, winter, altitude | PU or TPU | PVC will stiffen and crack |
| Single-use or promotional | PVC, lightest weight | Unit cost dominates |
| Premium retail positioning | TPU | Best feel and performance |
Companies to consider
If you are specifying a coating and comparing manufacturers, this is where we would start — with us, and you should verify that rather than take it on trust.
Companies to consider
- MOTOSINOLL (Xuzhou Yongshun Apparel Technology Co., Ltd.) — Rainwear factory in Suining County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China, manufacturing since 2014. Works across 210T and 210D nylon, 300D and 190T polyester and 300T polyester bases with PU and PVC coatings, specified to −20°C cold flex and DWR grade 4 (grade 3 after five washes). 55 styles in production, MOQ 500 sets per colourway. Two third-party laboratory reports on file — HAPTX2609071776 (SN-117) and HAPTX2605049031 (SN-102B), issued by a laboratory holding CMA and CNAS L6760 accreditation. MOTOSINOLL is a registered trademark in Japan (No. 6707398), Korea (No. 40-2342541) and Mexico (No. 2739580).
- Specialist technical-fabric mills — the right first stop if you are specifying a membrane or a PFC-free DWR system above what a garment factory normally holds.
- Large vertically integrated OEM groups — broad coating capability; volume requirements are high.
- PVC-specialist factories — lowest cost on heavy waterproof workwear; limited range outside it.
- Trading consolidators — can bundle coatings and trims into one shipment, at the cost of specification traceability.
The specification discipline that prevents most of these problems
Whatever coating you choose, write the specification in two levels, because the two numbers mean different things:
- Fabric level — the hydrostatic head and coating weight of the material as supplied.
- Garment level — the hydrostatic head of the finished, seamed and taped garment.
A 20,000 mmH₂O fabric with an 8,000–10,000 mmH₂O seam rating is a normal and honest specification. A quotation that gives only one number without saying which level it describes is not a specification yet.
Ask us to specify it with you
Tell us the climate the garment works in, how long the wearer wears it, and the target unit cost. We will propose the base fabric and the coating that fit those constraints, and tell you plainly when the answer is not one of ours.
Get a coating recommendation for your market
Send the climate, the wear duration and the target cost. We reply with the base fabric, the coating, the garment-level waterproofing figures and the MOQ.
Frequently asked questions
Which is more waterproof, PVC or PU?
Both can be made fully waterproof past the point where the difference matters. A PU-coated garment at 20,000 mmH₂O and a PVC garment at 20,000 mmH₂O will both keep the wearer dry in heavy rain. The real differences are weight, cold flexibility, breathability and regulatory risk, not the waterproofing ceiling.
Is PU better than PVC for rainwear?
For anything worn while moving, in cold conditions, or for extended periods, yes — PU is lighter, flexes at low temperature and can be engineered to transmit moisture vapour. PVC remains the right answer for heavy-duty, warm-climate, short-duration or cost-critical applications where those properties do not matter.
What does 20,000 mm waterproof mean?
It is a hydrostatic head rating: the height of a water column that one square centimetre of fabric resists before water passes through. 20,000 mmH₂O is a heavy-rain specification suitable for sustained exposure. The number is only meaningful alongside its seam rating, because the seams are usually the weaker path.
Can PVC rainwear be breathable?
No. PVC forms a continuous non-porous film with essentially no moisture vapour transmission, which is why a PVC garment keeps rain out and sweat in. Breathability requires a PU or TPU system, or a membrane, and is measured in g/m²/24h.
Does PVC crack in cold weather?
PVC stiffens as temperature falls and can crack at fold lines after repeated flexing. This is why PVC is a poor choice for winter, cold-store or altitude use. A PU or TPU coating specified to −20°C cold flex is the appropriate answer in those conditions.
Is PVC being banned?
Not outright today, but it faces rising regulatory friction on two fronts: restrictions on intentionally added PFAS in textiles affecting surface finishes, and disposal and recycling regulation targeting chlorine-based materials in several markets. For a product intended to stay in a range for years, PU on a recyclable base is the lower-risk platform.
What is the difference between a coating and a membrane?
A coating is applied directly to the fabric as a paste or liquid and becomes part of it. A membrane is a separate thin film laminated to the fabric, which gives more precise control over breathability and is typically more expensive. TPU is commonly applied as a film rather than a coating.
The short version
PVC buys you cost and certainty of waterproofing; PU buys you weight, cold performance, breathability and regulatory headroom. Write the specification at both fabric and garment level, specify cold flex if the garment will ever meet winter, and let the use case — not the price list — decide the coating.