That stat about recycled polyester shocked me

I was looking into fabrics for a new summer line and stumbled on something that really surprised me. Turns out recycled polyester still sheds microplastics when you wash it, just like regular polyester. I found this report from a textile research group in Sweden that tested 10 different recycled fabrics. Almost all of them released tiny plastic fibers into the water after just one wash cycle. I always thought using recycled materials was the eco friendly choice hands down. Now I'm wondering if we should be pushing for more natural fiber blends instead. Has anyone else run into this problem when picking materials for their designs?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles44216d ago

Hate to break it to you but yeah that study is legit. I dove into this exact thing last year after I made the switch to recycled poly for some hoodies and felt like I was doing the right thing. Then my buddy who works in water treatment showed me the research and I felt pretty stupid honestly. The whole problem is that even recycled plastic is still plastic, it just gets broken down into smaller pieces but the shedding process is basically the same. I think the industry has been real quiet about this because it kills their green marketing angle. Natural fibers have their own issues too though, like cotton takes tons of water to grow and wool has its own environmental impact. Feels like there's no clean answer right now, just picking the lesser evil.

scott.miles15d ago

Did you catch that piece that came out about bamboo fabric being marketed as eco-friendly but it's basically just rayon made with extra steps? Feels like every material claim needs a fact check now.

the_emma15d ago

Used to think recycled poly was the ethical no brainer too. Picked it for a whole capsule collection last spring and felt great about it until I actually washed a sample piece and watched those fibers float around in the sink water. Made me go back through every fabric supplier conversation wondering what else they weren't mentioning.