Sustainable Clothing

May 17

Natural clothing is better for the environment, human health, and doesn’t shed microplastics into local ecosystems when washed. Natural fabrics include cotton, linen, hemp, silk, and wool. These fabrics are biodegradable, renewable, and usually require less chemical processing and energy to produce.

In contrast, fast fashion is normally made with synthetic fibers, like polyester and nylon. These fabrics are made from fossil fuels and require more energy to produce. They linger in the environment for a long time, contributing to plastic pollution and polluting the land and water sources.

Certifications

Unfortunately, buying natural fabrics is not enough to fully protect yourself, your family, or the environment. As consumers, we also have to be aware of chemicals that are used during the production process. Even cotton advertised as organic, although less likely to be saturated with chemicals and PFAS, can be dangerous to human and environmental health.

Shopping for pieces that are certified by reputable organizations that create standards for measuring the safety of textiles and clothing is the best option, but more expensive than clothing that isn’t regulated. More expensive clothing generally lasts longer and protects you, your family, and the environment from chemical exposure, but realistically, many people can’t afford to spend a lot on clothing.

Buying with brands that are known to be safe, sustainable, and avoid chemicals is also not foolproof. Quince, for instance, offer some pieces that are oeko-tex certified, while others aren’t, but they are fully transparent about the certifications of each item.

There is growing pressure on the fashion industry to remove PFAS from their supply chain in order to protect environmental and consumer health, but a lot of brands have not fully transitioned to cleaning up their production methods or use of chemicals.

Certifications to look for include:

GOTS certified, specially GOTS 7.0. GOTS is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for Organic Fibres including Enviromental Criteria, backed up by Third-Party Certification of All Processing Stages. GOTS certified final products may include fibre products, yarns, fabrics, clothes, home textiles, mattresses, personal hygiene products, as well as food contact textiles and more. Check out Ready to explore GOTS? for a list of GOTS certified brands.
Oeko Tex: Oeko Tex ensures textiles like clothing, bedding, furniture, and other items are free from harmful substances. They aim to regulate chemicals that endanger human health, enforce fair working conditions, and protect the environment. Check out OEKO-TEX® Directory to find companies that are oeko-tex certified.
OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100
OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON
OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD
OEKO-TEX® STeP
OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT
OEKO-TEX® RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

Organic Content Standard. OCS works to make sure that companies produce textiles in ways that support planetary health.

Check out Spot eco-friendly clothing: Certified Fashion and Understanding Europe's Sustainability Certifications for Fashion Brands to learn more about identifying clothing and textiles that protect human health, the environment, and animal welfare. Europe, in general, is more strict about regulating clothing and textile safety than the states.

Types of Fabrics

Synthetic Fabrics

Synthetic fabrics are created from chemical compounds, often derived from petroleum, coal, or natural gas.

Nylon is a synthetic, man-made fabric sourced from petrochemicals or crude oil extracts.

Polyester is a synthetic fabric made from petroleum-based chemicals. Its name is shortened to represent a synthetic man-made polymer and is commonly known as a PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

Spandex (Lyrca) is a synthetic fabric made from a combination of polyester and polyurethane.

Semi-Synthetic Fabrics

Semi-synthetic fibers are derived from renewable materials found in nature, the most common being wood pulp, that are chemically dissolved and then regenerated.

Rayon is a semi-synthetic fabric made from wood and related agricultural products.

Modal is a semi-synthetic fabric made from beech tree pulp.

Lyocell is a semi-synthetic fabric primarily made from wood pulp, specifically the cellulose within the wood.

Natural Fabrics

Natural fibers are raw materials obtained from plants, animals, or minerals that can be used to create fabrics, textiles, and other materials.

Cotton is a natural fabric made from a carbohydrate called cellulose.

Wool is made from the fleece of animals, primarily sheep, and composed of the protein keratin.

Silk mainly consists of fibroin, a protein that certain types of insect larvae secrete to make cocoons.

Hemp is made from the stem of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa L.), a cannabis species.

Linen is made from the fibers of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum).

Here’s a comprehensive list of natural fibers.

Where to buy natural clothing

These stores sell 100% natural clothing, but be sure to check the label on each piece. Some items are a mix of natural and synthetic fibers and they may or may not be certified. I recently began shopping online for clothing made in Europe because the EU has stricter regulations on clothing and textiles.

New clothes

Second hand