OEcotextiles

http://www.greenlodgingnews.com/Content.aspx?id=2966

http://organic-furnishings.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-november-2008-we-teamed-up-with-eco.html 

http://tedkdesignbuild.com/blog/?p=47\

http://capefeargreen.blogspot.com/2009/01/fw-cfgba-january-newsletter.html 

Boutique Design (trade magazine for boutique hotel world) had some different questions for me this week:

http://www.boutiquedesign.com/Spotlight–Leigh-Anne-van-Dusen-1799.aspx

L.A.

Last two days, CalFinder – a really cool remodeling blog – has posted a two parter on O Ecotextiles – they really ‘get’ it! Check it out, and the rest of their site!

http://www.calfinder.com/blog/green-remodeling/the-off-gassing-problem-o-ecotextiles-solution/

http://www.calfinder.com/blog/green-remodeling/o-ecotextiles-–-education-products/

A couple other particularly nice postings of late-enjoy:

http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/159898-O_Ecotextiles_honored_as_a_leading_green_supplier.php

http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/homefront/2008/11/25/ecotextiles-wants-to-transform-the-way-fabrics-are-made/

Hello Azhahia: There are many, many prohibited dyes. GOTS prohibits the use of all amine releasing azo dyes, for instance. This prohibited category includes the following chemical compounds with their CAR RN (chemical label) : Azo dyes (Restricted amines – from Azo dyes)

• 4- Aminodiphenyl (92-67-1)
• Benzidine (92-87-5)
• 4-Chloro-o-Toluidine (95-69-2)
• 2- Napthylamine (91-59-8)
• o-Aminoazotoluene (97-56-3)
• 2-Amino-4-nitrotoluene (99-55-8)
• 2,4 Diaminoanisole (615-05-4)4,4
• Diaminodiphenylmethane (101-77-9)
• 3,3-Dichlorobenzidine (91-94-1)
• 3,3- Dimethoxybenzidine (o-Dianisidine) (119-90-4)
• 3,3- Dimethylbenzidine (o-Tolidine) (119-93-7)
• 3,3- Dimethyl-4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane (838-88-0)
• p-Chloroaniline (106-47-8)
• p-Cresidine (120-71-8)
• 4,4-Methylen-bis-(2- chloroaniline) (101-14-4)
• 4,4- Oxydianiline (101-80-4)
• 4,4- Thiodianiline (139-65-1)
• 2,4- Toluenediamine (95-80-7)
• o-Toluidine (95-53-4)
• 2,4,5-Trimethylaniline (137-17-7)
• o-Anisidine (90-04-0)
• p-Amino-azobenzene (60-09-3)

There are many other categories of prohibited residues from dyes or from chemicals used in any of the other other production stages. Prohibited residues above a certain threshold using a specified test include formaldehyde and other aldehydes, heavy metals, PVC, organotin compounds, AOX, disperse dyes, and a whole list of other chemicals. This is important because, as you probably know, many of these chemicals, especially the heavy metals, are a component of – or a mordant or fixative for – dyestuffs.

In addition, there are requirements that dyestuffs must meet regarding oral toxicity, aquatic toxicity, biodegradability, eliminability and bi-accumulation in fatty tissues. The GOTS details are on their website: http://www.global-standard.org. Some dyestuff producers advertise that they have a dye group that meets these standards, such as Huntsman and Clariant.

As you know, vegetable and natural dyes are often some of the most heinous violators of some of these rules. Natural and vegetable dyes when used with usual mordants, fixatives, etc., are definitely NOT an eco choice.

As you also may know, this list of prohibited chemicals and limited chemical residues will most likely become longer in the coming years with the very important EU REACH legislation. We all suffer from the fact that most chemicals – in fact the vast majority – in industrial use currently have not been tested for aquatic toxicity, oral toxicity – haven’t been tested at all in most cases. REACH will change this situation over the next decade or so.

Hope this helps.

Leigh Anne

In our quest to change the way textiles are being made, we’ll share what we’ve found out and if any of our information is wrong or misinterpreted, please jump in and tell us!

Let’s work together to define what green means to each of us: for example, I read about a woman in the New York Times who says she is green by driving her huge gas guzzling SUV – because she keeps it parked most of the time and bikes almost everywhere. If she were to sell it, the new owner would drive it much more than she does. Therefore, she’s green.

I’d like to start by sharing what we learned when we first got into this. We could find fabrics made with organic cotton. But then we saw that a fabric made with organic cotton, for instance, simply cannot be considered an organic fabric. Why?

It turns out that the textile production process is very complex, and involves many steps such as singeing, scouring, mercerizing, sizeing, desizeing, bleaching, dyeing, and additional finishing. The bleaches, dyes and finishes are usually applied to the yarn or the fabric by immersion in chemical baths. Then the resulting yarn or fabric needs to be rinsed again and again to rinse out the excess chemicals.

So the bleaching, dyeing and finishing all involve chemical baths that themselves often require additional washing, rinsing and drying steps. Lots of chemicals can be (and often are) used at each step. And they are not necessarily benign chemicals.

In my next submission, I’ll have some data from the Hazardous Substances Research Centers of the U.S.

Welcome to our blog.

I’m Leigh Anne, one of the founding partners of O Ecotextiles and I have to come clean: I wasn’t particularly green when I started this, and certainly no expert in fabrics. But that’s a long story, and maybe all you want to know is how this company got started.

Four years ago, when I couldn’t find beautiful, safe, natural fiber fabrics to cover my sofa, I realized someone somewhere should be doing this. So I teamed up with my MBA, business-savvy sister and we decided to make fabrics we would love to own in ways that won’t hurt the planet – fabrics that are soft and beautiful and free of synthetic chemical residues.

It’s been a real eye opening experience. And I’ve become a green crusader.

When we started out in 2002, people thought we were more than a bit crazy. We were told that nobody gave a “rat’s ass” about whether a fabric was “green” or not; nobody ever asked for a green fabric, or whether it was made of organic material…nada. The only thing that mattered was whether the fabric worked in a design scheme.

But the more we found out, the greater our conviction that people would come to care. The problems created by the industry were too ubiquitous, the health dangers too urgent. It just didn’t seem to us that this problem would simply go away.

During our journey we’ve made mistakes. But we regrouped each time because we found others (mills, dye houses, fiber brokers, spinners) who share our conviction that we can offer something better. They would always show us a way around obstacles. And now we’re poised to begin selling our first collection of fabrics – our hard won, lovingly grown collection.

We want to share all the information we learned. There’s a lot of misinformation and greenwashing and out there. We’d like this blog to be an online connection point where we all work together to find answers.

I’ll get into that in my next submission.