Eco-Friendly Fabrics
Honor the Planet
Choosing eco-friendly fabrics for your home is less threatening to the environment and luckily there are more and more natural fibers and textiles produced in a sustainable manner that can be used to make the soft goods in your rooms including upholstery, window treatments, pillow covers and more.
Sustainable criteria included textiles, namely organic cotton, hemp,
jute
bamboo and the like to be grown and processed without the use pesticides or treated with hazardous chemicals, use no formaldehyde or chlorine bleach and printed with water-based inks.
All natural fiber fabrics are renewable and have the potential to be sustainable making them perfect for interior decorating.
Organic Cotton
Conventional cotton is a natural fiber derived from the cotton plant, but tends to be the most chemically treated of all fabrics due to its popularity and low resistance to a large number of pests.
Where as organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment and in soil certified by a third party to be free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
An emerging trend toward eco-friendly fabrics and in particular, organic cotton has grown exponentially.
Most cotton is chemically bleached, and colored cotton is chemically dyed. Organic cotton on the other hand can be grown in varying colors eliminating the use of dyes.
When an item is of a blend of fibers, check to see whether it's blended with another sustainable fiber like hemp or linen rather than conventional cotton or a synthetic fiber.
Hemp
As a crop hemp is a hardy plant that grows quickly and dense requiring no pesticides or herbicides.
Fabrics are made from the fiber of hemp. Hemp fiber, is extremely durable and comes from the stalk of the plant.
These long fibers are broken down in a natural process that is called water retting. Retting separates the fibers from the glue and pectin within the stalk.
The fibers are spun into a yarn and the yarn is woven into one of the most versatile and renewable eco-friendly fabrics available.
Hemp fabric can be used in the same manner as wool or cotton and when used alone it appears similar to linen but is normally blended with cotton, silk or wool.
Bamboo
Bamboo is a grass that grows extremely quickly without the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
It is a rapidly renewable resource because its root system, it never requires replanting.
More sustainable than most fibers, a natural textile is made from the pulp of bamboo.
Eco-friendly fabrics made from bamboo take to dye well and is often compared to silk because of its fluidity and to cashmere because of its softness.
Look at this site, I thought was nice if you want luxury organic bedding and other accessories.
Or this, for fabrics and more:
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