Lycra® is the tradename for the elastic fibre elastane. It's made of polyurethane which is obviously a synthetic compound. There are many issues that need to be considered if ecological materials are to be introduced successfully on to the market. One of them is the introduction of Lycra® into organic cotton clothing materials. The purist may argue that if so much care has gone into the growing and processing of organic cotton then why adulterate it with a synthetic material made of polyurethane.
We've looked closely at the market for organic clothing, and concluded this: there are very few people who want soggy fabric that doesn't stretch and which is susceptible to wear and tear. In order to get organic clothing more mainstream and create the maximum benefits for people and environment, it needs to have the same sort of performance as conventional products. For many types of clothes, that means some form of elastic fibre being woven in -- take a look at the labels on any of your favourite sportswear, tights, skirts and underwear and even suits and you'll see they all have some stretchy fibre in. It makes clothes fit better, makes them more durable, and overall works really well.
The trouble is, the only yarns that can do this are made from polyurethane. The entire organic clothing industy worldwide acknowledges this, and all the official standards say that it's perfectly OK to call a fabric 'organic' as long as it is at least 95% organic cotton or organic wool. And that's what you'll find the Natural Collection catalogue when you look at the fibre content -- for the products that have it, there'll be a few percent elastane.
There is however starting to be some focus on the chemicals used to make elastane which is as we learned earlier, a type of polyurethane. One of the things it's made from is di-iso-cyanate, and if you look way up the manufacturing chain you will find there is a possibility of some chlorinated compounds being released into the environment by the factories that make materials that end up in elastane. Obviously, we were concerned about this, because chlorinated compounds are often bad news, being found in pesticides and so on.
So we tracked down what was going on and while it is likely there is some chlorinated pollution caused by making elastane, it is in fact very small. Really, really small. Like barely a few nanogrammes for every kilo of organic cotton / elastane mix fabric produced. That's so small it's barely measurable. And it's literally millions of times less pollution than one kilo of non-organic cotton would produce.
So overall, and on balance we think it's well worth it having a bit of elastane in some of our organic products. It not only enhances their style and durability but the modern consumer likes the way it makes things fit. It may not be a perfect solution but if organic clothing is going to be able to compete in a market it must stand up to its conventional cotton competitors and offer the same standards that the consumer has come to enjoy. If someone can find a stretchy yarn that can replace it, then we and the rest of the organic clothing industry would be extremely pleased to hear it, and you would see another switch over time to that new method. It is bound to happen in the end, we just need the volumes to make it worth while for the manufacturers.
Feel free to tell us what you think!
Live well,
The Natural Collection Research Team