Eco Friendly Fabric
Updated: May 6, 2021
Protecting the environment is more important than ever before.
Designers and customers alike are researching more and more into products that not only can be recycled at the end of their useful life, but also products that have been made with eco friendly materials and processes right from the start.
Fabric is a product where a lot of research and development is being made and organic textiles are soaring in popularity and becoming increasingly more available.
Just a few years ago the only organic fabric that was really available was a basic cotton, but now new processes are developing a whole range of fabric types, made from organic or recycled materials but looking just like the more luxurious fabrics made with synthetics that have been the main sellers for so long.
rPET or PET fabric for example - made with a yarn produced from recycled plastic bottles - can be mixed with other traditional yarns to recreate polyester types of fabric.
'Just 1 tonne of regenerated RPET yarn equals to nearly 70,000 plastic bottles. Reducing C02 levels by over 4 tonnes, saving over 65 Litres or 14 gallons of petroleum and over 1,400 gallons of water when compared to the production of virgin Polyester.' (Ref: Chadwick Textiles)
Other methods include recycling unwanted polyester fabric and reusing, again often mixed with other materials to create a more sustainable product - Eco Canvas and Eco French Terry fabric for example.
Then there's the completely organic fabrics such as cotton which has been manufactured to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). GOTS approved products must contain at least 70% organic fibre content, be free from potentially harmful chemicals, and a verified supply chain right back to the farms.
New production methods can turn organic cotton into fabric such as Organic Satin and Organic Jersey which traditionally would have been made from synthetic materials so customers are no longer limited to basic fabrics when looking for a more sustainable source.
Take a look through the different types of Eco and Organic fabric bases that our designs can be printed on: Aura9 Design fabric shop
Even the printing is environmentally friendly, using Digital Pigment inks, with no water and around 95% less energy in the printing process than traditional screen printing.
