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.

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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.

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The post Fiber Watch: Tencel the Tenable appeared first on EcoSalon.

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.

Also check out:

Fiber Watch: Off Of Wine Bottles & Into Clothing

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The post Fiber Watch: The Bast is Yet to Come appeared first on EcoSalon.

The look, the feel of nettle.

If you’ve ever walked through a patch of nettles or accidentally brushed your arm on them, you might think twice about wearing a plant that gives you a painful, burning tingle. But think about this: nettle textiles actually competed strongly with the ubiquitous cotton back in Victorian times, and despite their obsession with values of restraint, the Victorians were not masochists. Neither were the cultures and civilizations that had utilized nettle fibers as textiles for thousands of years before the 19th century, since nettle fibers are extracted from the stalk of the plant, making a fabric that’s even softer and more durable than cotton.

Cultivating nettles for textile fibers is a much more sustainable alternative to cotton, as its growth rate and low-maintenance qualities mean it requires minimal amounts of water and no pesticides. Nettles grow like a weed in several parts of Europe, Africa and western North America, and are related to both hemp and flax of the bast fiber family. The plant also attracts copious amounts of wildlife and thrives even in the poorest of soil unsuitable for other crops, with the added benefit of fixing nutrients back into the soil it grows in. The plant has endless uses and can be found in anything from lotions and soaps to food, tea and wine, while the matter leftover after processing the stalk is often used for animal bedding.

Netl A/W 12

Nettle fibers are now experiencing a long awaited and deserved revival in the world of textiles and fashion, with fiber researchers and design-savvy clothing labels taking on the task of bringing us stylish and sting-free nettle garments made from nettle textiles.  Netl, a Dutch fashion label, produces stylish but simple European clothes designed by Rianne de Witte, with their A/W collection available from July 10. The first collection marries vibrant colors and geometric shapes reminiscent of Rothko paintings with clean silhouettes the Dutch are known for. Netl knitwear is made from a blend of 75% cotton and 25% nettle yarns, with the company harvesting the stinging nettle from its very own plantations and complying with fair labor standards in their Europe-based factories.

Netl Spring 12

The research staff at DeMontfort University in Leicester, UK are also pushing nettle fashions forward by eliminating the use of toxic chemicals in processing the fiber and breeding varieties of the plant that render even softer textiles. They have discovered a method of using enzymes for dissolving the lignin, a glue-like substance that makes plant stems sturdy, in order to extract the fibers to use for spinning into yarn. The university researchers have partnered up with furnishing textile producer Camira in a venture called STING: Sustainable Technologies in Nettle Growing.

Camira’s wool and nettlefabric

The nettles are all grown in the UK and blended with pure, new, traceable wool to create a hopsack weave in a range of rustic colors ideal for upholstery.  The company has noticed the excellent flame-retardant quality of the blended and durable fabric, rendering it ideal for furnishing solutions. The entire production process incorporates green electricity, non-metallic dyes, recycling of any waste and conscious use of resources, making Sting Camira’s (and the furnishing industry’s) most sustainable fabric to date.

Although many new technologies are constantly developing, fashion is always borrowing from the past. Hopefully the effects of nettle fiber reinvention will sting fashion’s fancy and make a mark.

Netl A/W 12

Also check out:

Fiber Watch: Off Of Wine Bottles & Into Clothing

Fiber Watch: Tencel The Tenable

Fiber Watch: The Bast Is Yet To Come

The post Fiber Watch: The Sartorial Sting of Nettles appeared first on EcoSalon.