Flax is cultivated to produce both flax seeds and a fibrous stalk that can be broken down, spun into yarn and woven into a cloth we know as linen. Linen is an ancient textile that has embedded itself into our culture, as even the term ‘linens’ implies a type of woven bed, bath and kitchen textile, because these items were traditionally made out of flax fiber.

Today, a revamped and eco-friendly linen has become a relatively costly textile that has been showcased on runways by the likes of Celine, Lanvin, Stella McCartney and even Uniqlo collections. But why has the fashion world frenzied over this relatively humble fiber? The Fiber Watch series investigates the story behind this natural fabric to find out why and learn how sustainable it is.

The first evidence of woven linen dates back to at least 8,000 BC, as researchers have found fragments of the flax plant and various fabrics woven from it in early Swiss lakeside dwellings. Long before its fashion debut, linen was the mummification cloth of choice for the ancient Egyptians, and has since become a staple household and garment textile that has been used by both Western and Eastern civilizations.

Linen is a naturally eco-friendly and toxin-free material that is cool to the touch, softens through wash and wear, and proves to be extremely durable. This bast fiber, which belongs to the same group as hemp, jute and ramie, is made from the long fibers inside the stalk of the plant. It requires no pesticides for cultivation in its native Central Europe, and the basic production of linen fabric doesn’t require chemicals.

The longest flax fibers are often up to 3 feet long, making flax superior to cotton in length and durability. However, linen is often shunned in fashion circles because of how easily it wrinkles and loses shape. Lucky for today’s designers, modern day fabric manufacturers have developed a whole new range of linen fabrics that are woven into jerseys, blended with Spandex or left raw for a vintage look, offering up linen that is less wrinkly, less transparent and much more versatile than several types of cotton and wool blends. Researchers are also finding ways to apply linen fibers as substitutes for carbon fibers in skis, tennis rackets and even violins.

Currently, about two-thirds of the roots of the flax plant are based in a narrow belt of farmland that weaves its way from northern France to the Netherlands. Around 200,000 acres of flax fields are scattered among the sugar-beet and feed corn crops that inhabit this region. Summertime flax fields are seas of small blue flowers that turn into rattling seed heads (full of flax seed) when ready to harvest in the fall. After harvest, the flax plants are left to lay in the field for a process called “retting” whereby alternate days of sun and rain cause the outer fibers to decay, making the long inner fibers accessible. These are then processed in either China (where 80% of linen is manufactured) or through a local farmers’ cooperative in Normandy, which produces the bulk of raw linen yarn sent to high-end Italian weavers.

So what’s the draw towards this fiber for high fashion? Other than the qualities of modern linen as described above, fine linen is a rather specialty material. Flax is a high-maintenance plant, making its production limited. The French and Dutch regions where the plant is cultivated are specifically ideal for flax, and the processing of the fiber has been refined into a passion for the farmers and fibre artisans of the region. Not only does the exclusivity of the fiber make it attractive, but the increasing importance of transparency and ethical production practices make it a responsible choice.

The supply chain of linen is clearly evident when obtained from France and the Netherlands, especially if it has stayed within a 100-mile radius from seed to finished fabric. The pride that the area’s linen farmers and fiber workers display is evident in each gorgeous creation that struts its way down the runway.

Main Photo Credit: Denis Collette…!!! Others: Blueberry Buckle, nickdoherty, Celine

Related on EcoSalon:

Why Hemp Makes Sustainable, Durable, Fabulous Fashion: Fiber Watch

Fiber Watch: The Bast is Yet to Come

The post Linen Fabric from Flax is Sustainable and Special: Fiber Watch appeared first on EcoSalon.

Would you wear in vitro leather?

Modern Meadow is the start up behind SciFi-esque developments in leather and meat engineering by pioneering a method of producing skin and muscle tissues made in a laboratory. While the company has made headlines for its development of tissue engineered meat that could eliminate several issues caused by the beef industry, they’ve chosen to focus on leather first as a less controversial venture in the eyes of consumers.

Fake leather in the form of pleather, wax cloth and Naugahyde has been covering our bodies accessories and furniture for several decades, but often made with synthetics and toxic chemicals. Real leather is the skin of an animal, and is much simpler in structure than meat, making it a less demanding venture to begin with. The next few years will see Modern Meadow perfecting their materials and processes, with the aim of establishing a fully functioning leather manufacturing facility within 5 years.

So how exactly is engineered leather made? The process starts off by obtaining source cells from any animal typically used for leather production, whether it be livestock like cattle or exotic species of snakes. These cells are then isolated, extracted and genetically modified to make them ideal for leather production, although the cells would not require modification if used for meat production.

A bioreactor is used to multiply the extracted cells to produce billions of them, after which they are lumped together by centrifugal force. These sphere-like cell formations are layered and fused into a specific shape through 3D bio-printing. Once printed, the fused cell formation is put into a bioreactor once again, allowing the cells to mature so that they begin to produce a collagen casing for the cells that eventually turns into leather. If kept in the bioreactor, muscle growth among the cells inside the casing would eventually turn into meat.

Several weeks later, food is no longer provided to the cells, turning the skin into hide and the muscle and fat tissue into meat. The hide has no hair on it and is devoid of a tough outer skin, decreasing the amount of time, chemicals, and water required in conventional tanning. An inherent difference is obviously the complete lack of animal slaughter, making engineered leather and meat interesting propositions for animal rights activists.

Modern Meadows is definitely looking to eventually produce engineered meat for the food industry, although they know they have a long way to go in order to stimulate acceptance from the general public. Wearing seems to be one thing, whilst eating the technological substance is a completely different story. Although a whopping 40% would be willing to try the somewhat eerie idea of engineered meat, it is not a promising enough investment as the idea of eating meat grown in a bioreactor seems too futuristic even for our technology-addicted culture.

But what do we face with the prospect of engineered leather? Although a huge step for animal welfare and reduction of environmentally hazardous tanning processes, what else can the technological leap mean? Will we soon see someone cashing in on Beyonce-skin handbags or baby-skin gloves?

Image: PETA

The post Fiber Watch: Will the Fashion World Embrace Test Tube Leather? appeared first on EcoSalon.

 The first synthetic material gets a major makeover.

First introduced to the world by DuPont in the late 1930s, nylon rushed into the textile market as the perfect material for ladies stockings with its form-fitting, stretch and easy-to-wash and wear qualities. Women in the U.S. went crazy over the new leg wear that rendered their skin, knees and calves near perfect to the point that nylon sales reached 64 million pairs by the end of 1940.

After the onset of WWII, nylon production moved into military supplies such as rope, tents and tires, causing the price of nylon stockings to skyrocket from $1.25 to $10 a pair. Nylon production re-focused on women’s hosiery after the war ended, and millions of women lined up at department stores to buy stockings made from the “miracle material.” Thus began the “nylon riots,” triggering calamitous behavior such as witnessed in Pittsburgh in June of 1946 when a reported 40,000 people stood in a mile long line to compete for 13,000 pairs of nylons. Soon the entire synthetics fiber market shifted towards civilian products as industries like carpeting, home furnishings and car upholstery caught on.

By the 1950s, nylon made up more than 20% of the fiber produced for textile mills in the U.S., marking the beginning of our lasting affair with petrochemical textiles. With the onslaught of chemical manipulation and large investment into crude oil harvesting and management, acrylic, polyester, aramid, and spandex, alongside several others soon followed. These materials were soon incorporated into nearly every type of garment from underwear to socks, coats, mock-wool clothing and even men’s drip-dry suits, not to mention all of the other industries they entered.

The nylon production process uses a combination of coal, water, petroleum and natural gas as the main resources for performing a series of chemical reactions that produce a substance called caprolactum. The caprolactum is polymerized through a steaming process to produce a molten solution that is flaked and then processed through a spinneret that looks like a shower head, solidifying and spinning it into filaments of fiber.

Now nearly 8 million pounds of nylon is produced annually, meaning that the fiber accounts for approximately 12% of the synthetic fiber market. Although this is a small percentage considering the domination of synthetic fibers in several modern industries, we nonetheless have a bevy of nylon material already in existence with several million pounds added each year. So what to do with it?

What we’ve learned best to do with the toxic excess that we have created is to recycle it. Hyosung, a Korean company, has developed a method for recycling discarded nylon items into a textile grade fiber called Regen. As textile grade yarn is the finest achievable form of the fiber, the recycled material is not inferior to virgin nylon in any way, and can be used for a number of applications.

A whole range of pre- and post consumer’s nylon waste is utilized to create the recycled material, such as fishing nets, carpet, clothing, tires, rope and even instrument strings. Although the re-processing method is not entirely environmentally efficient or sustainable, recycling nylon keeps a rather large percentage of petro-chemical waste from going into the landfill or being incinerated, releasing toxic emissions into our atmosphere. It also uses 27% less natural resources than the production of virgin nylon, reduces greenhouse emissions by 28%, and can be processed over and over again.

Several companies worldwide recycle waste nylon into virgin grade material, such as Nilit in Israel, Unifi in the U.S., Toray in Japan and Nuriel in Spain. This retrieving routine has attracted a plethora of clothing and accessory designers so that a range of consumers can access and experience products made from recycled nylon. Patagonia is a devotee as one of the first apparel companies to incorporate the material into its athletic gear and backpacks, alongside the likes of running gear manufacturer Nautilus in its Thoni Mara line.

Christopher Raeburn A/W 2012

Even apparel giant H&M has taken on the use of recycled nylon in its Conscious Collection, while the material has also been cited in the collections of Christopher Raeburn, Organic by John Patrick and DKNY Pure. As no apparent danger of another nylon riot is in the near future with our abundance of material to work with, hopefully more manufacturers will see the beauty in rejuvenating the experienced versus the virgin version.

The post Fiber Watch: Nylon Gets a New (Recycled) Life appeared first on EcoSalon.

SeaCell fiber makes the benefits of seaweed wearable. 

We usually obtain natural textiles from the fiber of earth-bound plants like cotton and bamboo or trees like eucalyptus and beech, but who would have thought of using the sea as source for nutrients that  can enhance our fibrous yarns and fabrics? German company smartfiber AG has taken on this challenge of scavenging the blue waters, and introduced seaweed as a material to be woven and blended with other fibers for fabrics that harness the benefits of deep-sea minerals and trace elements.

Enter SeaCell, a cellulose-based material that is mostly made up of the fiber from the eucalyptus tree and processed through the same method as Tencel. The eucalyptus fiber is combined with seaweed and turned into a fabric that contains numerous benefits for human skin. With a fiber structure that facilitates active exchange of nutrients between the skin and fabric, SeaCell releases nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, iron and vitamin E (which is extremely beneficial for repairing stretched or damaged skin) onto the wearer.

Long considered a healing plant in Chinese medicine, seaweed can boost immune systems, reduce blood sugar, promote circulation and digestion, and revitalize skin, hair and nails. Seaweed constitutes around 5% of the SeaCell fiber, and although the number may seem small, its qualities are omnipotent. Known as an anti-inflammatory that activates cell regeneration and re-mineralizes the skin to protect the largest organ of the human body, who wouldn’t want to wear seaweed fabric?

The specific variety of seaweed used in SeaCell fiber is known as brown algae or knotted wrack, and is harvested from the northwestern shores of Iceland. The obtained seaweed is sushi grade and certified organic by the USDA. After harvest, the fresh seaweed is dried and crushed, then ground and introduced to the cellulose fiber in a way that binds the seaweed powder to the raw fiber.

The fiber is made entirely of renewable resources, and processed in closed-loop methods through Lenzing’s Tencel method, making it one of the most sustainable natural fibers to date. SeaCell has been awarded several certifications, including the EU’s EcoTex 100 standard and the EcoLabel, and is constantly tested for its benefits and lack of toxins from raw fiber to finished fabric.

SeaCell fiber can be blended with nearly any other type of fiber, rendering it applicable as a knit, woven or non-woven fabric. The resulting material is one of the most breathable and soft fabrics on the market, attracting the likes of sportswear and yoga attire manufacturers, as well as markets for sheets, towel, blankets and baby clothing.

The material is currently being used by various active wear manufactures that openly market their use of SeaCell, with lululemon, Orca triathlete outfitters, Adea yoga clothing & sleepwear, and Falke socks & hosiery already on the growing list. Fashion designer Christine Zillich, whose dress is pictured above, has created an entire collection out of the material, showcasing a range of beautiful designs fit for the earth-bound mermaid. So let the ocean feed and rejuvenate your skin to sea and feel the difference.

The post Fiber Watch: Fabric From The Deep Blue Sea appeared first on EcoSalon.

 

Originating in the Philippines as a lightweight option for their hot and moist island climates, pineapple fabrics and their lustrous qualities are catching the eye of luxury and couture designers. 

Although pineapple fabrics were first created in the Philippines, the pineapple plant actually originated in South America around the region of Paraguay. In the 16^th century, Spaniards invaded the Northern Philippines and planted pineapple plants they had discovered in the Americas since they deemed them to do well in the tropical climate.

The Spanish settlers also had a long list of demands to establish among the native Filipino population, one of them being that all should be fully clothed from head to toe. This was understandably ridiculous and impractical to the indigenous peoples who had for centuries maintained their local wisdom and lack of bodily shame through staying comfortable and cool by baring all.

However, since the Spaniards had the advantage of armaments, the natives decided to adhere to the pressure to wear garments and devised a way to weave cloth from the newly planted pineapple plants. Having developed methods for weaving cloth from their native banana and abaca leaves, the Filipino population discovered similarities between sheath leaves of all three plants.

Through experimentation, they realized how pineapple leaves rendered a gossamer fabric that was diaphanous, breathable and had excellent cooling properties. Ideal for the tropical climate, the material also managed to meet the European standards of being properly clothed.

Weaving of the pineapple leaves into this graceful fabric continued, and rapidly rose in popularity among European fashion circles by the 19^th century. Parisians in particular coveted the fabric, and in 1850 Filipino officials gifted a petticoat and undergarments made from pineapple fabric to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of the British Empire. The material was held in favor until the cheaper and more easily obtainable option of cotton overtook the textile industry by the end of the 19^th century.

The process of obtaining pineapple fabrics is long and arduous, due to the fact that it is mostly done by hand. The leaves are first soaked to soften the plant gums, then scraped to obtain the fibers, and hung to dry in the open air. Once waxed to remove tangles, they are then knotted and spun into a lustrous, white yarn.

As pineapple yarn is extremely delicate, working and weaving with it requires precision and patience. The resultant fabric is a glossy but slightly stiff, ivory-colored material that is considered one of the finest materials by the Philippines, and also used for their ceremonial Barong Tagalog outfits.

Pineapple fabric is known as piña (the Spanish word for pineapple), and can be woven in combination with other fibers such as cotton, banana leaf, silk and polyester. The fiber takes natural dyes very well, and is usually only dyed without the use of chemicals. The glossy surface of the material also eliminates the need for toxic treating agents, since it acts as a protective layer for the fabric in itself. Softer than hemp and better in quality than raw silk, piña is like a lightweight, lustrous and smooth, linen material. As an added bonus, it is easy to wash, not requiring dry-cleaning.

Although these qualities make piña the perfect material for ethereal clothing, it is very expensive due to the time and skills involved in processing. It has therefore caught the eye of luxury fashion designers such as Oliver Tolentino (a Filipino) and Rania Salibi. Tolentino has turned the natural material into a star of the red carpet by creating gowns and cocktail dresses and suits for the likes of Emmy Rossum, Cee Lo Green, Tatyana Ali and Anna Paquin, alongside crafting beautiful bridal wear. Having also won several awards for sustainable fashion competitions with designs that incorporate pineapple fabric, Tolentino has been credited with introducing the piña to Hollywood and Western fashion circles.

Who knows, perhaps the states of Florida and Hawaii will see sustainable opportunities for re-learning and preserving handcrafts and luxurious materials with the waste from their pineapple industries.

Images: THIS Co.

The post Fiber Watch: It’s Ripe Time To Pull Out The Pineapple Leaves appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ramie was used as a linen-like fabric as far back as the times of Ancient Egyptians.

Ramie is an age-old fiber plant that has been made into yarn and textiles for millennia because of the extremely long fibers contained in it’s stalk. Though very similar to linen, ramie produces a lustrous, silk-like material that is soft to the touch and eight times stronger than cotton.

The first recorded use of ramie fabric dates as far back as 5000-3000 B.C., when it was used for the mummy cloths of the Ancient Egyptians. Considered a useful and versatile fabric by the ancient culture, the Egyptians obviously treasured it since it was used to swathe the bodies of their deceased kings. Historians have also found evidence of the textile’s use in eastern Asia in prehistoric times, from where it eventually spread to Europe in the Middle Ages. Ramie was seen as a cloth for nobility in Asia, whereas its counterpart, hemp, was considered more suitable for the peasantry.

Commonly called “China Grass” ramie is predictably native to China, from where it has been formally exported to the western world since the 18^th century. The plant is part of the cellulose bast fiber group and belongs to the nettle family, with Boehmeria Nivea being the species most often cultivated for yarn and textile applications. Primarily grown in Asia and Brazil, nowadays only a fraction of the material is shipped overseas to Europe and the USA, making it practically unknown to much of the western population.

Not only is ramie a natural fiber, it is also similar to other bast fibers like hemp and nettles in that it needs minimal amounts of water and no pesticides or herbicides to thrive, also providing nutrition for the land it is grown on through it’s biomass. The stems of ramie plants can reach 8 feet in height and can be harvested up to 6 times a year. Following harvest, the stalks are peeled to extract the fiber by scraping off the bark from the fiber layers and hanging them to dry. After this, the fibers are split into thin threads and hung to dry again before the spinning process.

Although ramie fabric is very similar to linen in appearance, the properties and behavior of the material can be different. Ramie yarn is naturally white, making bleaching unnecessary and allowing it to take dyes (yes, including natural ones!) very well. Like the other fabrics made from bast fibers, ramie textiles are extremely strong and actually strengthen when wet without shrinking at all.

The downsides of ramie fabric are similar to those of linen, in that it doesn’t take creasing well and wrinkles easily. Although ramie fabric holds dyes very well, heavy use of dyes or strong dyes can cause discoloration of skin or other materials that the dyed ramie is rubbed against, especially if the fabric is wet or damp.  Ramie, however, has the advantage over other natural fibers of being naturally mold, insect and bacteria resistant, storing well and acting as a shelter of sorts when worn.

Unfortunately, Ramie is still often processed chemically on a larger scale, making these manufacturing methods unsustainable. Several textile companies such as Habu Textiles and Telio use hand-processed ramie, and because the fiber is biodegradable, the two combine in making ramie fabrics closed-loop. Ramie stalks are said to contain the longest extractable fibers of any cellulose fiber plant and so when blended with cotton, wool or silk creates a large range of durable and versatile textile types.

Climatex Cradle-to-Cradle certified upholstery  textiles are made out of ramie and wool blends for furniture and interior design applications. Several fashion designers use ramie fabrics or blends in their garments including Donna Karan, Lanvin, Michale Kors, MiH Jeans, Levi’s and Gary Graham, whose ramie dress from S/S 2012 collection is featured above. Textile artist Mackenzie Frere has been experimenting with different dyeing techniques for ramie, creating wonderful renditions that truly showcase the beauty and texture of the material. Hopefully this fiber will continue keep alive the value of versatility in textile fibers and hand-crafting so we can continue to explore the wisdom of natural, sustainable textile solutions.

Image: Mackenzie Frere, Habu Textiles, Gary Graham , Mackenzie Frere

The post Fiber Watch: An Ancient Textile Is Making Its Way Back appeared first on EcoSalon.

Corn becomes a popular fiber.

Although the U.S. is largest producer of corn crops in the world, it still comes as a surprise that cornfields cover a whopping 72.7 million acres of land in the country. A high yield of fibrous matter from the crop has brought about developments in processing corn fibers for spinning yarns and fabrics, alongside technologies that bond corn fibers together to create non-woven materials like diapers and plastic containers.

Much of the fibrous part of the corn plant (stalk and leaves) is fed to animals, although a material called PLA (poly-lactic acid) is fast becoming an alternative that allows corn fibers to be in AND on our bodies.

Image: Nature Works LLC

During the last decade, a fiber processing company called Nature Works has been developing corn fibers for large-scale production of plant-based plastics and textile materials under the product name Ingeo. Acting as a replacement for polyesters, PLA is a fiber that can be turned into a range of textile grade yarns from its pelletized form. The material is said to use 20-50% less petroleum based resources than polyesters, is compostable and can be grown and processed annually to yield high amounts of fiber.

Considered part of the plant-based synthetics fiber group, PLA is derived from a plant sugar called dextrose obtained mostly from corn, as well as sugar beets, wheat or sugar cane, all common and necessary food crops. However, a somewhat green-washed notion that corn fabrics, or dextrose-based fabrics and materials are environmentally-friendly because they are “natural” and come from plants is covering up some of the larger issues in the corn and sugar processing industries.

Image: Fiber Innovation Technology

Up to 85% of the corn grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered, and incorporated into food like corn chips, cereals, sodas and peanut butter, as are the several other highly refined and chemically infested sources of sugar. Cargill was the first company behind the development of PLA, and coincidentally also the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered corn crops.

Fossil fuels are still largely employed for the harvest, processing, chemical production and shipping within the corn market, keeping the oil industry closely tied to corn production. Basically, PLA can be seen as a way to cover up the degradation caused by genetic engineering and chemical processing of resources for the food and livestock feed industries. So does supporting the production of corn-based textiles then give manufacturers another excuse to push farmers towards growing GMO crops and creating mono-crop cultures?

Image: Fiber Innovation Technology

Nature Works has come up with an offsetting program where buyers can choose to receive PLA fibers with GeneScan certified non-GMO corn, as well as a half GMO, half non-GMO fiber material. But why doesn’t Nature Works drive the production of completely GMO-free PLA, and even better, the production of PLA made from organic corn? The company claims to be looking into other sources of cellulosic feedstocks, but have not yet made a leap that excludes genetic modification or chemical intensive processing.

It seems that if the company were truly interested in developing sustainable material options for companies that require fibers, they would invest in experimenting with diverse materials that are by-products of environmentally friendly processes. Nature Works is looking into using agricultural waste from the rice and corn industries for fiber production in the name of closed-loop systems, but can that be called anything more that greenwashing if the sources for agricultural waste are not sustainably produced?

Image: Nature Works LLC

PLA has gained favor with outerwear companies that are always on the lookout for greener material options, such as Portland-based Nau and REI. Patagonia, one of the most environmentally conscious outerwear giants has, however, rejected the fiber. They view Nature Works’ choice to incorporate GMO corn in some of their materials as a largely negative factor that will not change the production processes of the corn industry in the long run.

Patagonia has taken a very realistic stance towards PLA production, and one that will hopefully cause apparel producers to put pressure on fiber suppliers to completely exclude GMO crops from their processes. PLA is a great technological development, but the industries and processes it currently relies on do not make it a sustainable option. That is why all of us along the demand and supply lines of fibers must begin to understand how important the sources and processing of these fibers are to the health of our planet and ourselves.

The post Fiber Watch: Corn Spun Into Fibers is Natural, Right? appeared first on EcoSalon.

Cork is being used in the apparel industry as a lightweight fabric and insulator.

Most people equate cork with wine stoppers or push pin boards, but what about cork in clothing? Cork fiber is harvested from the bark of a specific type of oak tree that naturally re-grows its bark, making cork a renewable resource and a crop that employs thousands of family farmers. Utilizing the fibrous, lightweight and naturally insulating material for fabric is a large leap in the right direction for the textile industry.

German company Schoeller is behind the development of these cork fiber solutions, proving their position as soft-shell material pioneers with the invention of their corkshell^TM fabric. They’ve combined the insulating properties of cork with high performance fabrics such as wool fleece and jersey for the manufacturing of sensible outerwear or activewear. What’s more, cork fabric keeps the wearer warm, is extremely breathable and super comfortable. You could soon be seeing cork on the labels of your winter coat or running and hiking gear as clothing companies catch on to its functionality. But is it sustainable?

The raw cork material Schoeller uses is harvested from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified forests through a process that doesn’t actually involve cutting down any trees. During its average 200-year lifespan, a cork oak tree can be harvested up to 16 times for the thick and rugged bark. The bark grows back naturally after harvest, causing no harm to the tree, and every gram of it is turned into a usable material. Schoeller’s cork is a byproduct of the wine industry and is biodegradable, making the process a waste-less and closed-loop system.

Cork oak forests are native to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa and are considered superb habitats for wildlife and plant diversity. Cork oaks share forests with other oak varieties, wild olive trees and maritime pines, as well as endangered species such as Barbary Deer, the Iberian Imperial Eagle and the Iberian Lynx. Maintaining cork oak forests and harvesting the fiber also keeps several family farmers employed, skilled and aware of the natural growth patterns of plants and wildlife in their areas.

The cork oak bark is made up of a bubble-like structure that is insulating but lightweight, making it the perfect choice for a variety of textile types. After harvest and pulverization, the cork is processed into a coating that can be inserted between two layers of fabric or just one layer of fabric depending on the application. The lightness of the cork coating is ideal for thermal insulation that doesn’t wear you down, making it perfect for cold climate outerwear and exercise gear.

So Schoeller’s corkshell^TM  textile component seems to be very sustainable indeed, and even just won an award in the Material Innovation category at the 2012 OutDoor Industry GOLD AWARDS. Recognized for its functionality, level of innovation, durability and sustainability, corkshell^TM is also a certified bluesign material, meaning that the resource productivity, emissions, fair labor and consumer safety of the processing and production facilities are rigorously monitored. Outerwear companies like Patagonia and the North Face will probably be quick to jump on Schoeller’s bandwagon and pop the cork on their collections.

Also check out:

Fiber Watch: Tencel The Tenable

Fiber Watch: The Bast Is Yet To Come

Fiber Watch: The Sartorial Sting Of Nettles

The post Fiber Watch: Off of Wine Bottles and Into Clothing appeared first on EcoSalon.

Have you ever worn a eucalyptus tree?

You may have worn eucalyptus since Tencel, the fiber and fabric made out of eucalyptus wood pulp, is rapidly gaining popularity among big name apparel producers like Patagonia and Topshop. Tencel is classified as a man-made cellulose fiber, meaning that the fibers used to make it are extracted from the cellulose-rich core of the eucalyptus tree, and processed by machine to be made into yarns and textiles.

Tencel is recognized as a very sustainable textile solution because of its superior fabric qualities, biodegradability, renewable resource base, and production process that could be entirely closed-loop.

Eucalyptus wood fiber was originally termed lyocell by the company that created the fiber extraction process, but Tencel has become synonymous with lyocell as it is the leading wood pulp textile product. The producer of Tencel fabrics is Austrian-based Lenzing AG, a company dedicated to developing sustainable and environmental solutions for fabric manufacturing. They have found eucalyptus to be a highly renewable resource since it grows at a rate of 6-12 feet per year, reaching nearly 100 feet within a 10-year period. The eucalyptus trees Lenzing uses are grown on plantations certified as sustainably and responsibly managed to ensure this renewability.

After harvest the trees are turned into pulp that is broken down with amine oxide, a non-toxic solvent that heats the wood pulp until all of its cellulose dissolves. Then the cellulose solution is squirted through a spinneret with hundreds of tiny holes to solidify streams of large molecules into fibers that can be spun, simultaneously releasing the amine oxide. Once the fibers have been spun into yarn, they are washed to remove any solvents, dyed and finished, ready to be woven with nearly any type of fabric to produce a range of high quality textiles.

Academic studies have shown that growing wood for fiber products has a much smaller impact than cultivating cotton, and manufacturing Tencel causes hardly any damage to the atmosphere or environment.  Amine oxide is the only chemical used throughout the entire process of fiber extraction and processing, and has been recognized by the Forest Stewardship Council as “a non-toxic solvent.”

Lenzing retrieves the released amine oxide after the spinneret process and concentrates it through distillation so that 99.5% of it can be re-used. All waste is utilized, such as any of the leftover wood, which is used as bio-diesel to power Lenzing’s internal manufacturing process. Even by-products of the manufacturing process are harnessed and utilized, like xylitol found in the wood that the food industry uses as a natural sweetener.

This entire process renders Tencel a very versatile fabric, and one with superior qualities such as good draping, softness, breathability, moisture-wicking and natural wrinkle-resistance. Tencel is even biodegradable, with several experiments proving that the material can completely biodegrade in under six weeks (one study found it to decompose in eight days) in the compost.

Tencel has also received the Biobased Certification by the USDA’s BioPreferred℠ program that aims to reduce reliance on petroleum based consumption, meaning that the fiber is “composed wholly or significantly of biological ingredients—renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry materials.”

The textile is used for a number of applications such as high fashion, activewear, outerwear, underwear, home textiles and furnishing fabrics. A few months ago, Lenzing released information on innovations in Tencel yarn for denim, which could reduce the amount of cotton used for jeans alongside eliminating the often harmful and water-thirsty processing of cotton-based denim textiles. Kontiki designs bags that incorporate recycled bike tubes and has collaborated with Lenzing by also using their Tencel denim.

Several designers and apparel companies have decided to incorporate Tencel fabric into their garments not only because of its environmental benefits, but mainly because of its amazing qualities as a textile. Patagonia has been at the forefront of utilizing Tencel fabrics, with above pictured Tencel and organic cotton blends becoming a fast favorites. Even mainstream brands like Acne and Free People are adopting the material because of its extreme durability and breathability, while higher end labels like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, rag & bone and Elie Tahari favor its excellent drape,  softness and applicability for a range of designs from silky dresses to leggings and trousers.

Tencel is not finished or dyed by Lenzing, making the traceability, full impact and knowledge of chemical use in a Tencel garment difficult. However, as the fashion industry begins to understand the long-term sustainability of producing clothes responsibly, we’ll no doubt see the tenacious Tencel staking its claim as a textile of the future.

Also check out:

Fiber Watch: Off Of Wine Bottles & Into Clothing

Fiber Watch: The Bast Is Yet To Come

Fiber Watch: The Sartorial Sting Of Nettles

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Bast is a fiber group that includes hemp, flax, jute, nettles and the less familiar kenaf. The plants in this fiber group are characterized by an outer bark that contains strong, cellulosic fibers, and kenaf is quickly becoming a sustainable favorite among textile innovators.

Bast fibers have been around since early civilizations as they were the simplest fibers to process before mechanization of fiber and textile production. Kenaf has been documented as a textile plant by the Egyptians as early on as 1,000 B.C. , although it’s believed to have originated in Asia. The plant appears similar to other bast fiber plants, but is actually related to hibiscus and cotton, thus its latin name Hibiscus cannabinus.

Kenaf is claimed to be one of the most sustainable fiber plants in existence, due to its growth rate and excellent ability to replenish the environment it grows in. It can be grown in several places including the U.S., converting more CO2 than 2 acres of tropical rainforest during its growing season whilst also improving soil structure and fixing nutrients into the soil. The plant requires minimal amounts of water, nearly no fertilizers or pesticides and grows extremely rapidly to its full 15 feet in only 150 days. As a natural material, kenaf is completely biodegradable since neither cultivation nor processing require synthetic chemicals.

Kenaf is a superior option for garments, as its extremely long fibers make for very fine yarn when spun. The stalk of the plant contains 30% less lignin (a glue-like substance that fills in the spaces between plant fibers) than other bast fibers, thus making the extraction of long fibers much easier when compared to other similar plants. Nearly 50% of the plant stalk contains fiber that can be extracted for a number of applications, such as knitted or woven textiles. Kenaf has also been found to work exceptionally well blended with cotton, and is also suitable for a number of applications including furniture, shoes and outerwear because of its natural absorbency and fire-retardant properties.

U.S.-based Kenactiv Innovations, Inc. has found very successful and tangible methods for processing kenaf fiber for different uses. The company operates fiber extraction methods with food-safe, natural enzymes and closed-loop processes. The company is currently focusing on solutions for commercial non-wovens, alternatives to petro-chemical plastics, soil composites (kenaf biochar can replenish pesticide-ridden soil), mulch and animal bedding. Although they are not currently producing kenaf yarn in the U.S., plans for fiber extraction and spinning facilities are underway, as are larger plantations in Arizona that will accompany previous growing operations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

While Kenactiv currently produces kenaf yarn in India, where it is used for apparel and accessories. The process in India involves a bath soaking of the plant stalks, after which the long fibers are stripped and dried. The company doesn’t currently work with designers or apparel companies within the U.S., as their production facilities in the U.S. don’t yet have the proper equipment for extracting and processing long fibers. However the company continues to develop new technologies for processing and diversifying the use of kenaf fibers, with the aim to create a viable market for kenaf textiles in the U.S. by bringing the first bast fiber production and spinning plant to the country. Although the company is proprietary in regard to their processing methods, hopefully they will be open to collaboration and share their knowledge about sustainable and intelligent methods for processing bast fibers.

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