Strong, breathable and richly textured, natural fabrics are unbeatable. But growing practices can have disastrous effects on the environment. So we’ve found a range of healthy, eco-friendly fabrics.
One Eco Home carries a library of eco fabrics, including organic cotton, hemp, recycled polyester, organic leather, wool, felt, fair trade silks and even pineapple fibres. Please contact us for our postal sampling service.
living@oneecohome.co.uk or tel: 0844 800 4144
There’s no two ways about it: natural fabrics are simply nicer. They’re breathable, biodegradable and recyclable and come from readily available and renewable sources.
Yet, there are hidden costs. Where some natural fibres such as conventional cotton are concerned, the overall environmental impact can be greater than that of processing synthetics. In the growing process soil is polluted and the landscape degraded, excessive water use is required, watercourses are polluted and wildlife affected.
It’s also worth noting that many natural fibres have been treated with potentially harmful chemicals, either during the growing cycle or through the application of finishes. Finishing includes dyeing, sizing and treating for stain and wrinkle resistance, mildew, fire and mothproofing. Sizing found on cotton is usually made with very irritating formaldehyde and latex polymers. The dyes and stain resistance treatments also contain many chemicals that are hazardous to produce and handle and can cause skin reactions.
The use of natural and low impact dyes provides a healthier and more environmentally sensitive solution. However, natural dyes can’t compete commercially on the same scale as chemical dyes. And they’re not without their problems: not all natural dyes are entirely pollutant free, they require the use of a mordant to help increase the dye fastness. Depending on what type of natural mordant is used this can be a very toxic metallic compound.
These fabrics have often been treated with formaldehyde and should be avoided. Formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound (VOC) that can off gas into the home affecting indoor air quality and presenting a potential health risk to occupants. Symptoms of formaldehyde exposure include irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, throat, sinuses, and lungs, resulting in itching, watery eyes, and cough. It’s been known to cause asthma and has also been linked to kidney and liver damage and to cancer.
Flame retardants are a legal requirement in the UK, but they contain formaldehyde and are a health hazard. Though they play a vital role in preventing the spread of fire, their use in such excess, on beds and sofas that come into direct contact with the skin, only helps to increase the build up of unwanted and potentially harmful chemicals in the home.
A natural fibre derived from the cotton plant, cotton breathes and absorbs moisture, making it a very comfortable product next to the skin. Unfortunately cotton is vulnerable to a large number of pests so pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers are widely used and residues may remain in the fabric. Cotton tends to be the most chemically treated of all fabrics. Most cotton is chemically bleached, and coloured cotton is chemically dyed and fixed. An average piece of coloured cotton is made up of around 25% chemicals and only about 75% actual fibre. Cotton is also a very water intensive crop to grow. Demand for water from cotton irigation has deprived the Aral Sea in central Asia of enough water to sustain itself, destroying both the lake and its ecosystem. We do not include any convnetionally grown cotton in our range.
Unbleached organic cotton is a lot better, and we do include some in our fabric range. However, be aware that a huge amount of water is still used to irrigate the crops.
Good alternatives to cotton are linen and hemp. Linen comes from the flax plant. Like cotton, it is very absorbent and is also cool and extremely strong. Pesticides are used in flax-growing but not to the same extent as in the growing of cotton. Most linen is now chemically bleached, and chemical dyes and other additives such as flame-retardants are commonly used. Our range of linens included linen that is bleached in the sunlight and dyed with vegetable dyes.
Hemp fibre is derived from the cannabis plant. Once a thriving UK crop used for sail and rope making, it is now illegal to grow hemp in this country without a licence (due to its perceived links to the cannabis drug). However, when grown for industrial purposes, the cannabis plant possesses no drug related qualities. Most hemp is currently cultivated in Europe and China. Hemp fibres can be used alone, giving a finish rather similar to linen or mixed with cotton and silk to produce a wonderful array of different weights and textures. As a crop it requires no pesticides or fertilisers and is one of the most eco-friendly fabric fibres known to us. Current problems with hemp for use as a textile is the energy use associated with inefficient processing techniques as well as importing fabric from China.
Silk derives from the fibres of silkworm cocoons. Light, smooth and supremely luxurious, silk takes dye readily and is available in a range of intense hues. However, silk is often treated with mothproofing chemicals, and because most silk is imported, there are energy costs in the transportation. It should also be known that most silk is produced by boiling silkworms alive before the silk is extracted. We carry a range of ‘peace silks’ that have allowed the silk moth to complete its natural life cycle before reeling the silk from the cocoon.
Wool comes from a range of sources; sheep, obviously, but also goats, alpacas and vicunas. Wool is absorbent, warm and more flame-resistant than cotton or linen. It’s manufactured with little use of chemicals, but is often treated with a pesticide for mothproofing. Once considered a valuable commodity in the UK, wool is now regarded as a low value or waste product. Yet wool has fantastic and supremely flexible qualities as a fibre. From finely woven cashmere to more substantial tweeds, it has strong links with British heritage. For an eco-friendly approach, check out our range of untreated and unbleached wools from Scotland.
Felt is made from matted wool fibres which are pounded and shrunk together. It is an extremely flexible and eco friendly fibre. It can be moulded and used for interior products, as clothing or as it’s used traditionally, for tents and yurts. Felt is 100% renewable. Traditionally it was created by hand using hot water and soap to bind and shrink the fibres. Modern uniformed felt production involves the use of machinery but follows the same basic principles using pressure, heat and water/steam to bind the fibres. This of course will have energy implications.
Sheepskin fleeces allow air to circulate around the body and so make excellent under blankets. They are exceptionally comfy and cosy and are great draped over a chair, on a camping trip or in a cot or pushchair. Our sheepskins are bi-products of the meat industry and have been classed as a waste product. Unless used all skins are incinerated – what a waste!
Most leather used in interior design is produced from animals slaughtered for meat, which means its use prevents waste. Sourcing leather that comes from animals raised in cruelty-free conditions is difficult as skins can get mixed up at the hide markets. And, as with dyeing textiles, the tanning and dyeing of leather have serious environmental consequences, due to the use of alkalis, chromium compounds and other toxic materials. In most countries, tannery discharges are now fairly well regulated, but, for example, in India or Brazil, unregulated tanneries provide a cheap service to overseas companies at the expense of workers’ health and safety. An additional environmental problem to consider when using leather is maintenance; leather, especially suede and chamois, requires highly polluting, chemical cleaning process.
These are natural man made fibres, made from cellulose rather than petrochemicals. They are commonly used in blends with other fibres. Both possess the bonus of breathability but have associated energy and processing costs.