Textiles could be one of the most un-sustainable products in the world. In their entire lifecycle from growing the raw material or creating it from oil to manufacturing and selling and final disposal they can create a serious problem.

Eventhough the textile processing affects the nature there is an alternative for an Eco – friendly process. The Eco – friendly fabrics like Hemp, organic cotton, Soy silk, Ingeocorn fibre, Bamboo etc. Jute and Tencel is one of the great alternative fibre used for producing Eco – friendly products.

An Eco – friendly process like Bleaching the fabric using sunshine, Using Eucalyptus for an crease stain remover and so on. Eco friendly labels are available to identify the product which is produced under Eco – friendly process.

 

 

 

The textile industry is considered as the most ecologically harmful industry in the world. The eco-problems in textile industry occur during some production processes and are carried forward right to the finished product. In the production process like bleaching and then dyeing, the subsequent fabric makes a toxin that swells into our ecosystem. During the production process controlling pollution is as vital as making a product free from the toxic effect. The utilization of rayon for clothing has added to the fast depleting forests. Petroleum-based products are harmful to the environment. In order to safeguard our environment from these effects, an integrated pollution control approach is needed. Luckily there is an availability of more substitutes

 

Eco-fashion is about making clothes that take into account the environment, the health of consumers and the working conditions of people in the fashion industry.

There are a variety of materials considered "environmentally-friendly" for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the renewability of the product. Renewable resources are items that can be replenished in a relatively short amount of time .

The second factor is the ecological footprint of the resource - how much land (usually measured in acres) it takes to bring one of the individuals (plants or animals) to full growth and support it.

The third thing to consider in determining the eco-friendliness of a particular product is how many chemicals it requires to grow/process it to make it ready for market.

Hemp, Organic Cotton, Soy Silk, Bamboo Fabrics, Jute, Corn Fiberthey are available in a cheaper rate. etc are considered as eco-friendly fabrics due to their availability from nature with out any harmful effects of chemical or toxics. Moreover, as compared to other synthetic fibers

 

By far, the crop with the most potential for eco-friendly textile use is hemp. The ecological footprint of hemp is considerably smaller than that of most other plants considered for their fibres. Hemp plants grow very quickly and densely which makes it difficult for weeds to take hold, eliminating the need for herbicides and artificial fertilizers..

Hemp has naturally long fibres which makes it suitable for spinning with a minimum of processing. Those fibres are also long-lasting; in fact, historically hemp has been used for making naval ropes that were used in and around water because they resist rot. If it held up to those conditions, imagine how well it will wear as a pair of jeans, or a shirt.

Organic cotton is much more environmentally friendly than the traditional variety as it uses no pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides during the growing cycle. There are many growers of this crop, and the number is steadily increasing.

Even more promising is a new cotton that is grown in the tradition of the Aztecs - coloured cotton. Sally Fox, a biologist, spent ten years perfecting a coloured cotton with long enough fibers to be spun into thread. She managed to get it to grow naturally in shades of green and brown. It has the added benefit of not fading (in colour) and in fact, it gets more vibrant with the first few washings.

In the 21st century, though, it's soy silk that has the greater potential.Soy silk is made from the by-products of the tofu-making process. The liquefied proteins are extruded into fibers which are then spun, and used like any other fibre (woven, knitted, etc.). The high protein content makes it receptive to natural dyes, so you can create your own colors.

If you aren't squeamish about the idea of tinkering with goats eggs by mixing in the genetic material from spiders to cause the females produce a special type of milk that contains silk fibres (originally produced for the US military, it must be concentrated to be used), then this might be the fabric for you. By and large, the resultant fibres are being used to create biodegradable sutures, bullet-proof material and research is being done to make artificial ligaments

It is undoubtedly too early to believe that Dow Chemicals (Cargill Dow) has turned over a new leaf, but it seems that they are interested in reaching out to new markets through the development of Ingeo™. Ingeo is created by extracting the starch and then sugars from corn, and processing them to make a fibre, which can be spun into a yarn or woven into fabric.

It's hard to see how this fabric qualifies as "environmentally-friendly" when the manufacturer's site contains the following sentence: "Firstly, bamboo pulp is refined from bamboo through a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching."

Bamboo is a highly renewable grass, and it is probably this property that has resulted in its being classified as "eco-friendly". It also has natural antibacterial properties and the fabric "breathes". The resultant cloth is biodegradable.

A polyester fibre made out of recycled plastic bottles which can be made into fleece. Manufacturing this fibre is preferable to creating new petroleum-based fibres, and a plus given the sheer amount of plastic bottles in existence.The fleece that is created is prized by backpackers for its warmth and durability.

 

·                     Bio-degradable properties

 

Tencel is a natural, man-made fiber. It has many of the qualities of synthetics, but is made of natural cellulose found in wood pulp making it fully biodegradable. The pulp used to produce Tencel is grown in tree farms, and the closed-loop production process recovers a solvent used in the spinning process and is able to re-use 99% of it. The process also uses no chlorine for bleaching, making the entire process relatively environmentally friendly.

Products that can be made from this material include all forms of clothing such as shirts, pants, skirts, and suits, as well as sheets or any other cloth application where something other than cotton is desired. Tencel can be blended with other materials to produce other effects. Tencel could be an excellent replacement for synthetic materials such as Rayon.

In the fabric world, Tencel is known for its "drape". It flatters the human form. The look is luxurious and refined. This new fiber also represents a milestone in the development of environmentally sustainable textiles. Tencel is a natural, man-made fiber. It is the trade name for the generic fiber Lyocell.

 

With respect to clothing textiles, the phrase 'ecology' can be classified into three groups:

1) Production ecology, which includes: .Cultivation and harvesting of natural synthetic fibers. . Production of regenerated and synthetic fibers.. Production of yarns, twisted threads and fabrics. Garment production by using fertilizers, growth regulators, crop protection agents like pesticides and a range of textile chemicals, auxiliaries and finishing agents.

2) User Ecology, which is related to the clothing textiles and the substances that give them beauty and performance characteristics during application.

3) Disposal Ecology, which refers to the disposal of textiles after application i.e., to-recycling composting, dumping or incinerating in a manner that ascertains the least probable environment effect.

The related factors for eco-standards are: Formaldehyde, pesticide, carcinogenic dyestuff, skin neutrality, heavy metal content, -pH, fastness to perspiration.

Eco-standards and eco-Iabels are quickly started to have significance in arrange to have a successful expert and market promotion in the apparel and textile industry. For the delivering eco-Iabels particular standards should be set, i.e., these measures are developed on analysing the product's whole lifecycle beginning with the selection of raw materials progressing through the stages of production, packaging, distribution, use and disposal after utilization. Some of them are as described below:

For research and testing in the field of textile ecology, the OEKO- TEX standards were given by the Austrian Textile Research Institute and the German "Hohenstein Research Institute".

The OEKO-TEX standards have described a variety of norms and limit values for different classes. They can be described as follows: . Product class I: Defined for babies and infants up to two years of age. . Product class II: This class is defined for textiles that come into direct contact with the skin and cover a large part of its surface, during usage. . Product class III: The class includes textiles which do not come into direct contact with the skin or cover only a small part of its surface during application. . Product class IV: This class covers furnishing materials which are used for decorative purposes.

This is a product label, which is to be used for products that are made in Germany and referring only properties of textiles.

Trademarks for textile tested harmful substances:

MUT: This is a trademark for textiles that are made by environmentally sound protection methods (VVUT). It needs acquiescence of certain rules in their manufacture.

GUT: This eco-Iabel was established by well-known companies in European carpet industry. GUT exists for "Gemeinschaft Umweltfreundlicher Teppichboden." It is an association for environmentally friendly carpets with an objective of maximizing textile floor-coverings and their protection cycle.

GuW: It is a seal of Eco-friendly Furnishing Fabric Association.

CLEAN FASHION: It is an Eco-Iabel introduced by private companies related to textiles.

STEILMANN: This is an Eco-Iabel of the most prominent German Textile Company.

GREEN COTTON: A label based on an internal evaluation system that considers social, ecological and toxicological values.

ECO MARK: This is an Indian eco-Iabel

 

      Eco-clothes are made from organic raw materials that are grown without pesticides. This reduces damage to the environment, animals and peoples health.

      Other eco-clothes are made using recycled textiles or plastics, saving on waste, landfill space and the amount of raw materials used.

      No harmful chemicals and bleaches - which can cause long-term damage to peoples health and the environment - are used in the production of eco-clothes.

      Eco-clothes are fair traded.

      Eco-clothes are high quality and last a long time. Because of this people need fewer clothes, less raw materials and energy are used, and there is less waste.

      To guarantee standards in the future, a system of eco-labelling is being established to show that clothes have been made from organic materials and manufactured in an environmentally-friendly way.

The Eco Mule is made from a luxurious Italian microfiber noted for its breathability, easy treatment and water resistance. The microfibre used for the upper is treated without any chemicals using all water-based adhesives, better both for the workers in the factory and the environment. The soles are made from Treetap rubber, a sustainable crop that comes from the sap of rubber trees, sourced from converted Columbian cocaine plantations. Midsoles made from recycled cartons. 100% recycled carton packaging.

 

Cotton cultivation requires large amount of pesticides, fertilisers and water. With the increasing use of cotton, 22.5 percent of insecticides are used globally for it. Subsequently, this increasing use of cotton requires approximately 257 gallons of water for one T-shirt. Pesticides are biologically active chemical compounds, which curtail the growth of organism like bacteria, fungus, algae, insects, etc.Water if utilized in too much quantity in irrigation of cotton, can increase the salinity of land and thereby decrease its fertility.

In the spinning process, individual fibres float in the air and thus pollute the atmosphere in the spinning department. Such floating fibres are dangerous to human beings who inhale it. The humidified air which is scattered in the spinning department is filtered so as to remove these floating impurities from the air.

There are two types of pollutants created by the loom shed, namely floating particles like fibrous substances and size particles and noise pollutions. If proper measures are not taken during the weaving operations, oil stains are formed.

The dyes which are free from AZO group of Amines can be dyed for an Eco – friendly fabrics. There are 26 Amines banned from using in dye manufacture.

Chemical formaldehyde based cross-linking agents applied to cellulosic textiles for crease resistance and dimensional stability are the most toxic chemicals. Free formaldehyde may be discharged from resin-finished fabrics either because of un-responded formaldehyde in the product in cross-linking or while storage of the finished fabrics.

Hot water is the best means of sanitizing your fabrics. It is, however, not always enough to remove stains and dirt. There are a variety of phosphate-free and enviro-friendly detergents on the market, but here are a few other tips. Remember that different types of stains require different treatments. There is no panacea; protein-based stains may get set permanently if you use the wrong method.

      Sunshine instead of bleach if you have the time to lay your whites in the sun to let them bleach naturally, you can take them outside while they are still soapy and hang them where they will receive at least five hours of direct sunlight.

      Lemon Juice and sunshine is another powerful combination for stubborn stains. Treat the items the same as in the line above, only add a touch of lemon juice.

      Eucalyptus Oil is an excellent grease stain remover that won't damage your fabrics.

      Tea Tree for times when you want to disinfect the laundry and cannot use hot water, tea tree oil has antiseptic, antibacterial, germicidal, and fungicidal properties. Oil

      Rubbing Alcohol - good for grass stains

      Hydrogen Peroxide - since this is hard on the fabric fibres, only use this method in a pinch and for fresh stubborn stains like blood.

      Its RIGHT time for Indian Dyestuff manufacturers to adopt environmentally safe process and products to minimize/ eliminate the adverse impact of industrial pollution on the environment & human health.

      Its to give Top Priority to Environment, Health and Safety issues.

      Need to take all these restrictions and regulations as a opportunity to find out constructive solutions.

    By following and making all the above mentioned process we can form ECO FRIENDLY textile products which will make the environment to keep green and clean.                                     ”Having Exceeded The Speed Limit,We Are Vulnerable To Environmental Degradation”