What are the differences between natural and organic fabrics? Lets take a look at both to answer the question.
Natural fibers- The most common natural fiber would have to be cotton, but the list goes on. You also have ramie, linen, wool, silk, and hemp that are all considered natural fibers too. The use of natural fibers for clothing goes back thousands of years. These natural fibers are usually split into three different groups.
1. Vegetable fibers- these are the fibers that come from plants. Flax, cotton, and hemp fall under this group.
2. Protein fibers are those that come from the hair of animals. These include cashmere and wool.
3. Silk is its own group. Silk comes for the secretions of silkworms.
Organic takes natural everything to a whole new level of health, wellness, and environmental safety. Organic fibers are natural fibers that are raised, or grown without using any pesticides and/or pesticides. Fiber can be completely natural without being organic. Because the information Ive found at GreenBuildingAdvisor.com from Annete Stelmack has such good information on the subject Ive posted it in.
As an eco-nerd at heart, I love researching and reading up on products. Here is what Ive found when sourcing sustainable natural fibers for fabrics and rugs.
Organic Cotton produces strong fibers due to the fact that it hasnt been chemically processed. Organic Cotton avoids that by not using any chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides. Using sustainable agricultural methods, farmers have been able to reduce, and at times eliminate, annoying pests from the cotton. These are in essence more safe because they reduce the damage to the environment, healthy risks, and damaged soil.
There have been noted drawbacks to going to organic cotton. The processed used required a lot of water. You might want to look for cotton that has been grown where there is naturally a lot of rainfall. Sally Fox has created a great system for growing natural colors of cotton, like brown, green and natural. These are colored organic cotton and are amazing because of how they are fade resistant. It is also minimally processed, recyclable, and biodegradable.
Organic wool harvested by sustainable ranchers is a strong, beautiful fiber with few limitations, plus amazing longevity and durability. Naysayers debate that sheep emit high levels of carbon dioxide and abuse the land. Wool also needs to be scoured, which requires significant amounts of water and leads to polluted waste water.
You do want to look for a couple of specific things too when you are out buying. Make sure that the wool you buy is unbleached or, there are also great options now to have things bleached with great ozone-based products. Also check the dying process and make sure that it is dyed with an environment friendly way. This wool is amazing because of how it is stain resistant, recyclable, biodegradable, and even fire retardant.