SiO2 coatings and inorganic/organic polymer hybrid coatings were applied onto textiles, and the textile properties were investigated with respect to parameters of textile comfort as stiffness, water uptake, and air permeability. Two different types of textiles (viscose and polyamide) were dip-coated with coating solutions of a pure silica sol and a polymer-modified silica sol. Only with low concentrated coating solutions a sufficient low stiffness and therefore an appropriate textile comfort could be realized. Analogously the water uptake of the treated textiles was decreased and sufficient high values were only reached with highly diluted coating solutions. Therefore, it was investigated whether such diluted coating solutions could be used for modification of textiles to add new beneficial properties. To reach hydrophobic textile properties one sol was modified with perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane. For antimicrobial functionalization a second sol was modified with silver. It was shown, for the application of new textile properties like water repellency or antimicrobial activity only concentrations <= 1% were necessary. In this case, the increase of textile stiffness was appropriate low, so the textile comfort was preserved while new functional properties were applied. Therefore, the presented diluted coating agents could be appropriate means for textile refinement and offer new textile applications. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1562-1568, 2010