I grew up with Scotchgard on sofas, Teflon on non-stick pans and GoreTex on my raincoat. These trademarked items were all made possible through the vast PFC (perfluorocarbon) family of chemicals which has transformed our lives – and the textile industry. When applied to fabrics, they provide water and stain resistance. These perfluorocarbons – commonly …
Why did the manufacturers of children’s bedding and clothing, who urged the Consumer Product Safety Commission to exempt their products from the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, consider their products safe from lead residues? In many instances the bedding and clothing designed for children are made from naturally grown fibers, often organically grown fibers. …
What does it take to change human behavior? We have known that lead is poisonous ever since the Romans began sprinkling it on their food as a sweetener. Lead was used so extensively in Rome (for metal pots, wine urns, water pipes and plates) that some Romans began to suspect a connection between the metal …
After last week’s discussion, I think you understand why it’s important to remember that whether one uses natural or synthetic dyes a major concern is not only what type of dye the dyer uses, but whether the dyer has water treatment in place! That’s because neither natural dyes nor synthetic dyes (plus the associated mordants, …
I thought we’d take a look at the dyeing process because so many people ask if we use “natural” dyes. The answer is no, we don’t (although we’re not entirely objecting to natural dyes), and I hope the next two blogs will explain our position! Let’s first take a look at what makes the dyes …
The questions is whether it’s a better choice to use inherently flame retardant fabrics such as AvoraFR rather than a natural fiber (like cotton) which has been doused with toxic FR chemicals. The answer is complicated and like most in this emerging green area, there may be no “best” answer. We think the answers may …
The Environmental Working Group has a new campaign, to gather support for the new Kid Safe Chemicals Act. To understand what the fuss is all about, we’ve copied the page from the EWGs web site, below, but you can go to http://www.ewg.org/kidsafe and see what you can do to help. There is a declaration you …
This is one of the things we found out early on: Chemicals are used in the manufacturing process – they’re used a lot. The 2007 AATCC (American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists) Buyer’s Guide lists about 2,000 chemical specialties in over 100 categories offered for sale by about 97 companies, not including dyes. The …
OEcotextiles 