New Methods of Recycling Fabrics Are Gaining Favor With Designers
A new fiber made from wood pulp, cotton that doesn’t need dying because it grows in colors and clothing made from recycled soda pop bottles are among the latest tools for saving the environment.
A small but growing number of clothing companies are thinking green--not as a fashion color but as a way to operate that is environment-friendly.
The trend includes:
* Tencel, a new fiber made of wood pulp from trees grown for this purpose. The pulp is converted to fiber using solvents that are biodegradable and continually recycled. Designers making garments from the new fiber include Calvin Klein, Georges Marciano for Guess, Carole Little and Esprit.
* Organic cotton, grown without pesticides. Of 3.5 million acres of cotton grown last year in Texas, the largest cotton-growing state, 2,000 produced organic cotton. This year, the state’s Department of Agriculture estimates the number may increase tenfold--to as many as 20,000.
Organic cotton differs from green cotton, so called because it is processed without toxic chemicals such as dyes, bleaches or formaldehyde.
New low-impact dying methods and vegetable-based, nontoxic dyes are beginning to replace the traditional dying process, which uses toxic chemicals.
A new cotton fiber, called Fox Fibre, uses no dyes because it is actually grown in shades of tan, brown and green.
Respun fibers are made from textile-mill waste trimmings or from old clothing that has been cleaned, shredded and spun into new yarn.
* One of the most innovative uses of recycled plastic is to make clothing. Wellman, Inc., the world’s largest plastics recycler, teamed up with Dyersburg Fabrics and Patagonia, a maker of outdoor clothing, to create a fleece fabric from recycled soda bottles. Called PCR for “post-consumer recycled,” it will be in Patagonia’s fall line.
Another company, Hoechst Celanese, has created a cottony-feeling polyester fabric, Revive!, from recycled soda bottles plus polyester manufacturing waste. It is in stores now.
The following companies sell clothes using these products:
* Seventh Generation has a range of adult and children’s clothes made with organic cotton, green cotton, natural dyes, Fox Fibre and respun fibers.
* Ecosport’s line includes underwear, shirts, jackets, skirts and kids’ clothes made of organic cotton, in natural and seven other colors using vegetable dyes.
* O wear makes 100% organic-cotton knitwear for men and women using low-impact dyeing and processing.
* Esprit’s “Ecollection” features a variety of clothing made from organic cotton, green cotton, Tencel and Fox Fibre. All are manufactured with low-impact dyeing and a chemical-free finish.
* Valley Care uses no bleaches or dyes in its casual and sports socks, men’s and women’s underwear, camisoles and T-shirts, all of organic or green cotton.
* Higgins Natural makes unisex sportswear using low-impact dyeing processes.
* Some American stores carry Eco Fibre, a Canadian company’s fabric made from 100% recycled and respun textile fibers, and Fieldcrest-Cannon now manufactures sheets, bedding and towels containing Fox Fibre.
