THE GAZETTE NEWSPAPER

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

Lifestyles Section April 16, 2001

“PUEBLO COMPANY’S PRODUCT HELPS SOLVE A WINDY PROBLEM” By BILL RADFORD

The gas we pass may cause others to snicker, hold their noses or even flee the room.

Although we all suffer gaseous emissions from time to time- hey, it wasn’t me! – flatulence is more of a problem for some than others. Often it’s just a matter of controlling diet. But such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome, certain medications and lactose intolerance can result in excessive or especially foul-smelling flatulence – and thus extreme social embarrassment.

Pueblo-based Under-Tec Corp. offers help with Under-Ease – “protective underwear for flatulence.”

The company’s motto: “Wear them for the ones you love.”

“We get a lot of jokes,” acknowledges Buck Weimer, company president and inventor of Under-Ease. “But we don’t have any doubt that this is a serious product that serves a purpose.”

Under-Ease is somewhat similar to the more-established Flatulence Filter, which absorbs odor and can be concealed in a simple chair cushion. Since it is worn, Under-Ease offers around the clock protection.

Under-Ease is made from a soft, air-tight fabric with an exit hole cut from the back of the airtight material for gas to be expelled; a replaceable filter, which includes two layers of Australian sheep’s wool; and a layer of activated carbon, which traps foul-smelling gas.

Weimer’s wife, Arlene, has suffered from Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, for more than three decades and has irritable bowel syndrome as well. Her battles and frequent embarrassment inspired Weimer to develop Under-Ease.

A rough version incorporating a pair of store-bought Depend underwear and a ready-made filter gave birth to years of research and development. Weimer studied various airtight materials and filtering systems before developing and winning a patent for Under-Ease. Mail-order sales began in February.

The idea probably always will lead to some snickers, but the response to Under-Ease has been overwhelmingly positive, Arlene Weimer says. Customers have included “little old ladies” who were reluctant to go to church or travel because of their gas problems and a 10 year old boy with an intestinal disorder who was being taunted by classmates.

For Weimer, a clinical psychologist with her own practice, gas has been a social and professional embarrassment. The height of that embarrassment came when a client remarked that her office smelled like a sewer and Weimer had to explain her condition. Wearing Under-Ease, as she did on a recent trip to a conference in Washing, D.C., has eliminated such humiliating moments.

“It is so comforting to know I wasn’t going to be offensive in the car or on the plane,” she says. “It really does help.”