16/03/2024
What Is Natural Fibre Clothing?
Natural fibre clothing is clothing that is made from fibres produced by plants or animals. Examples of natural fibres are cotton, silk, linen & wool. Synthetic fabrics, on the other hand, are produced by humans through a chemical synthesis known as polymerisation. In short, similar processes to that of plastic production. The majority of synthetic fabrics, i.e polyester, rayon, nylon etc., can be regarded as just that, plastic fabrics.
Why We Choose Natural Fibres
Natural fibres for clothing have obviously been around since humans first decided to cover up and it’s why, even today, many of the fabric production processes have not changed for millennia. Using natural fibres means we can support these traditional production methods that tend to be more sustainable, more eco-friendly and less energy intensive that synthetic methods. Although washing all clothes leads to microfibres entering waterways and eventually to the ocean, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned by the number of long-lasting microplastics from synthetic fibres. A single machine wash of polyester clothing has been found to release up to half a million microplastic fibres.
Although natural fibres still produce microfibres when washed, they generally bio-degrade at much faster rates to most synthetic fibres and as they are natural, you would expect them to do less harm when released into the environment.
Shopping for natural, eco-fabrics brings with it a range of fantastic benefits.
