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Have you ever been curious as to why your favorite t-shirt made of cotton feels like a warm hug while your gym clothes made of polyester feel like you’re wearing a state-of-the-art body armor? You wear textiles for 24 hours a day, but we’ve rarely considered what lives secretly exist for those textiles before we buy them and put them in our closets.
There are thousands of stories associated with every strand of fabric that you wear. This article traces back this fascinating journey of cotton through chemistry and history to show you how it became the natural fiber we all wear as underwear, leggings, or T-shirts (more commonly known as “T-shirts”). The majority of textiles made from cotton begin on the farm, when frost is setting in for the winter months only to warm back up again in the springtime, causing a transformation in the shape, size, and density of the cotton fibers.
1. Cotton: The Thristy Traveler
As you probably already know, is one of the most popular fabrics to wear because it is soft, breathable, and made from natural materials. However, did you also know that cotton has been travelling around the world for thousands of years? Before a cotton fiber is formed into your most comfortable denim jeans or neatly pressed dress shirt, cotton has gone through a tremendous transformation, including soaking up huge amounts of water during the growing process.
Cotton is a “social fabric” in that it loves moisture and absorbs as much as 27 times its own weight in water. That is why it feels so good on a warm summer day – your body takes advantage of all of this moisture in the cotton to maintain its temperature and helps your skin remain hydrated by absorbing your perspiration. Ideally, cotton’s “secret” is that producing just one conventional T-shirt made of cotton requires approximately 2,700 litres of water to produce.
2. The Plastic Hero & The Plastic Villain – Polyester
Most likely, if you check the label on your leggings or raincoat, you will see “Polyester” listed as one of the materials. The truth is, you are wearing plastic! Polyester is basically made from the same resin as plastic bottles (PET).
The “superpower” of polyester is its durability! It won’t wrinkle, dries almost instantaneously, and has an almost eternal lifespan. This durability is also why polyester has a dark side! Since it’s made from 100% plastic, polyester will never biodegrade. When you wash polyester products, tiny bits or microplastics are released into the ocean. Polyester is a perfect example of the double-edged sword that is 21st-century fashion.
3. Silk: The Ancient Technological Wonder
Silk is luxurious, and luxurious is an understatement. Silk’s origin is straight out of science fiction. Fully matured (finished) silk is made from a single continuous strand that can reach lengths of 900 meters (almost 2,954 feet) and is unwound from the body of a silkworm after it has eaten enough leaves to grow.
4. Wool: A Scientific Insulator
Wool is not just for making sweaters that itch during Christmas. It has a hidden elegance that can only be found in high-end wool products, such as Merino. It is “intelligent” due to the unique structure of the wool fiber, which has a crimp resulting in millions of tiny air pockets. The air pockets allow heat to remain in the wool when it is cold, but allow moisture from the body to evaporate when it is warm. In addition to those qualities, wool is also naturally resistant to odors. Therefore, a wool shirt may be worn multiple times without developing any odor, and it will still smell fresher than a synthetic shirt!
In Conclusion: Choosing a Fabric That Fits You
Fashion has always been an important part of people’s lives; however, to many of us fabrics are simply an extension of clothing. The fabrics we wear have a much deeper connection to the planet than simply being worn as clothing. Knowing about how your fabric is created will make you a more informed consumer. By choosing to purchase natural fibre products such as Organic Cotton or Wool, you are benefiting both you and the planet; therefore, being aware of synthetics will help reduce the amount of plastic that reaches land fill sites.
So, before putting on your clothes, check the label of what you are putting on; the material you are wearing represents not only your personal taste, but a very complex combination of science and history.