The so-called green alternatives & their imprint.
- Apr 19, 2023
- 3 min read
Recently I received a message from an acquaintance, telling me they'll purchase swimwear from my shop. So I thought “Awesome ! Let’s create more of them before summer !” I already crocheted one made out of cotton I used in water last summer, but it was carrying too much water, making it heavier than what It should feel on the body.
It is well known that 100% polyamide yarn are perfect for bikinis hence the synthetic fiber (it’s stretchiness more precisely) is ideal for these types of clothes, it doesn’t retain water at all & drys super fast. In conclusion the perfect material for swimwear.
But I tried searching for raw, ecological alternatives and found out that some people on YouTube were recommending bamboo/silk yarn naming brands like Lion Brand Yarn (Truboo Yarn selection) or Patons yarn as a good plant-based alternative.
Bamboo material
However I did some research on that Bamboo material on how it’s production process is made, and here’s what I found :
So First of all, the bamboo usage is super positively displayed for not needing as much water as the cotton harvest, and also for being the fastest growing plant in the world. Meaning “you can get a lot of raw material from a small piece of land. Moreover, when a bamboo stalk is harvested, a new stalk will grow to replace it. This alone makes it a highly sustainable option.” Their roots remain and help to protect topsoil against soil erosion (blablabla…)
“It is a sustainable resource, so using it to make fabric helps to reduce our reliance on petroleum-based products and can even help us to reduce our carbon footprint. ”
Okay so their harvest is not the problem.
They say the manufacturing process of bamboo viscose & rayon is very similar to the process of making other types of rayon. So how is rayon done ?
Here’s where the ick is.
Rayon is made out of bamboo’s cellulose, in the process they crush the bamboo stalk to extract the cellulose by using a mixture of sodium sulphate and citric acid, & then they use carbon disulphide before reconditioning it into bamboo fiber. “Ammonia, caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, sulphuric acid, and acetone are also commonly used in the process to extract the cellulose from the wood pulp and to soften bamboo fibers.”
That heavy process makes it impossible to recycle, is toxic and pollutant. The carbon disulphide is known to be very toxic for the workers health in factories & is a high danger for human reproduction, fertility and the foetus. The factories manufacturing viscose recover half of this solvent. Therefore, this means that the other half of carbon disulphide is rejected in nature.
What you should know :
Normally the natural bamboo fiber is indeed rather rough and brittle, which makes it unpleasant to wear. So look out for bio-labeled bamboo products / yarn, it might contain viscose.
Also viscose fabrics like modal by the Lenzing company may have a lesser environmental impact as it recycles 95% of the chemicals used, but its chemical process (ModalTencel) & component remain the same, so Modal fabric is still a toxic semi-synthetic fiber to use for workers & humans. https://www.panaprium.com/blogs/i/lenzing-modal#3
An ecological alternative you can find :
Tencel-Lyocell processed material, which uses a natural non-toxic solvent (NMMO). You can find how it’s made here : https://www.thegoodgoods.fr/mode/tencel-lyocell/
However in may not be the best alternative to bamboo in terms of swimwear usage. Ecologically very certainly, but I haven't yet found a similar product non-water absorbent as bamboo, or other synthetic fiber yarn.
Sources I used for this article ✨:
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