Do you ever think about the demands we all put on the fabrics we purchase?

If you did think and you knew how certain fabrics were manufactured, you may never buy man-made fabrics ever again. So only read on if you want to know the truth…

We all wear and decorate our homes with many different fabrics. As well as looking good, fabrics have to be robust enough to be tugged or sat on, soft against the skin, crease-resistant, waterproof, warm, washable, or just plain comfy.

With all these demands, it is little wonder that we rarely stop to think about what our clothes are actually made of and how textiles might be affecting our health or the environment.

Natural fibres allow the skin to breathe more easily than most synthetic fibres, and have a less harmful impact on the environment.

The night clothes and bedsheets you sleep in probably spend more time in contact with your skin than anything in your wardrobe.

As you sweat at night, your skin becomes moist, allowing some of the chemicals that may be on a fabric to be more easily absorbed by your skin.

So you may want to think most about these fabrics.

Here’s A Quick Fibre Guide

Natural fibres

These fibres come directly from plants or animals. They include wool, cotton, linen, hemp and silk (from the cocoons of silkmoth caterpillars that feed on mulberry leaves).

Semi-synthetic

The raw ingredient for viscose (rayon) and acetate is cellulose, made from wood chips. Cellulose fibres are found in all plants, and make up the bulk of wood. The cellulose is dissolved using chemical processes, then the mixture is squeezed through a spinneret, which has many small holes, to make fine filaments.

Synthetic fibres

The raw ingredients for synthetic fibres are produced by the petrochemical industry from crude oil. They include nylon, acrylic and polyester. The most common type of polyester is also used for packaging, and plastic bottles can be recycled to make clothing. PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is used for many products, including clothing. Making and disposing of PVC creates and releases dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals there is.

So What’s The Manufacturing Processes

Most fibres go through some chemical processing before being sold as clothing. These include:

• Dyeing and bleaching. Many dyes have been linked to allergies. The worst culprits are those used on synthetic fabrics

• Chemical treatments. Easy-care fabrics, for example are treated using a process that releases formaldehyde and ammonia. Treated fabrics can cause dermatitis in susceptible people

• Plasticized printing. Plastic designs printed onto fabrics can contain very high levels of phthalates – chemicals that have a hormonal effect and are potentially carcinogenic. Children who chew and suck their clothing may ingest these compounds

• Insecticides and fungicides. These are sometimes used on fabrics while they are being stored in warehouses.

What About Natural Organic Fibres – Four Good Things:

• Natural fibres wick water and sweat away from the skin, so they are more breathable than synthetic fibres

• Natural fibres are usually easier to dye than synthetic ones, so fewer chemicals are needed to manufacture them

• Natural fibres will rot away. You can even put discarded clothes on the compost heap

• Natural fibres are made from renewable resources that can be re-grown. Synthetics are made from oil, which cannot be replaced once it has been used

Help With Buying Natural and Organic Fabrics

Please don’t just assume that if your textiles are natural, they are good for the environment. Even natural textiles, or rather the way they are grown, can be extremely damaging.

Many of these problems are avoided with organically produced fabrics:

• Cotton is the most heavily sprayed crop on earth. It is responsible for over ten per cent of all pesticides sold, causing poisonings, water contamination and soil damage all around the world

• Cotton has been genetically modified to tolerate herbicides or to resist insect pests. In the USA, over three quarters of the cotton crop is genetically modified. In theory, cotton engineered to make its own pesticides should need fewer chemical sprays. However, different insect pests are taking over and the main cotton pests are becoming resistant to the genetically modified cotton, meaning that farmers still have to spray their crops just as often.

• Natural organic cotton clothes, beds clothes, baby clothes and towels cause less harm to the environment and you and your children will be exposed to fewer potentially harmful chemicals from fabric treatments and finishes.

Natural And Organic Fabric Shopping Tips

You can help to combat many of the worst social, environmental and health problems caused by the textile industry by shopping wisely:

• Buy organic fibres whenever possible

• Buy alternative natural fibres – linen, hemp, wool and silk are all better for the environment than non-organically produced materials

• Avoid cheap clothing. The true cost of a £3 T-shirt is probably abusive labour practices and environmentally harmful production methods

• Buy second-hand clothes in charity shops.

• Look for fleeces and other clothing made from recycled plastics

• Avoid “disposable fashion.” Invest in better-made, more durable items of clothing that won’t end up in a landfill site after being worn only a few times.

After you’ve bought new clothes and fabrics, wash them first before using them to rinse out many of the processing and storage chemicals that might otherwise end up in contact with your skin. Avoid dry-cleaning clothes, as the solvents damage the environment.

In Summary…

If you have read all the way down to here – the bottom – then maybe you learned a little bit more about why it is best to purchase natural and organic fibres and fabrics.