Recycled polyester - it's everywhere

[waltzingparrot]

Does anyone like this material? I find it horrible to wear.

Do you think it's here to stay or is it some post covid blip, to get more clothing in the stores quickly?

I have a horrible feeling it's here to stay as a solution to climate change.

Tencel is a brand name for viscose. Essentially it’s made from wood pulp from managed forestry. It can give a soft, silky feeling to fabric. It’s more expensive though so will make up just a couple of percent of the blend.

A pure tencel/ viscose pillow case would cost as much as a high thread count cotton pillowcase and sold as an alternative to silk.

No tencel is a different material. Polycotton is a blend of polyester and cotton.

Tencel pillowcase

These are 78% tencel 22% cotton. I expect they will feel lovely. Tencel drapes beautifully in clothes and doesn't wrinkle.

I find viscose horrible as well though. It doesn't seem to let your skin breathe and gets really crumpled after washing. It appears to shrink unless you iron it.

I think Bamboo is a good way forward for fabric. Polyester is horrendous

Viscose and tencel aren't the same thing. Tencel doesn't shrink and the manufacturing process is different.

Bamboo socks tend to wear thin quite quickly though. I bought one not cheap packet that were basically single use. I'm no good at darning but used them for rags.

I love bamboo socks but durability is an issue.

Does the plastic leech into the water when they're washed?

I just don't know anyone who isn't moaning about recycled polyester and refusing to buy it. I hope they aren't churning tonnes of stuff out that will never get worn.

I'm ever the optimist, so I hope scientists are on the verge of a new, sustainable material.

There's viscose and then there's viscose; theres higher and lower quality stuff in the same material. Good viscose lasts well and drapes beautifully. Low quality one feel thin and wrinkly. Another reason I prefer to shop in person now rather than online

I love the jumpers from recycled plastic bottles, they’re the warmest thing ever. I have a few from H&M and I think Zara for winter and some pyjama joggers of the same knit fabric which are amazingly cosy.

Me too. Jeans are good.

Tights are more difficult/ impossible

HATE the prices for anything poly now in mid end shops that used to be better - eg Maje, Sandra, Kooplrs. ....

The state of smart trousers for women is a disgrace. I was looking in the winter and it was basically impossible to find trousers that were wool. Everything is mostly polyester or viscose. There were a few, which were unsuitable for me for other reasons, but mostly even those were a wool mix.

Meanwhile, over for the men? Wool in smart trousers everywhere. Good selection of 100 percent wool, some wool mixes. Lined to the knee, good pockets. I ended up getting a pair from Moss Bros, but there's no equivalent as made for women.

Yes. All materials shed fibres. Read an article yesterday, that this innovation in recycling plastic bottles into clothes, merely suspends, but does not eliminate, plastics in our oceans. It will all end of there, regardless, whether it is in bottle form, or microfibre form.

Well that's very depressing. There's so much of it in shops as well. 😞

Jeans are not good and stretch jeans have polyester in them.

Many posters are obsessed with washing every thing after one wear, which really isn't necessary. Many of the more ethical clothes companies make that point on their care instructions.

Whilst I own very little, if any polyester other the recycled polyester jacket is dry clean only and by MN standards would probably be considered filthy before I would send it to the cleaners.

Jeans and Environmental Impact

Just bought a dress from Nomads , it is recycled viscose from wood pulp but feels very comfortable to me, much more so than a lot of other non natural fibre clothes .

I've found bamboo to be long lasting - I've had bamboo socks that have lasted for years.

I'm fine with it. Minimal creasing and I never have believed that cotton and linen are the holy grail.

i would never wear polyester
i am dubious about viscose but i hate ironing so cotton is a no no unless i am careful

I have very few (outerwear) clothes which aren't cotton, silk, linen, wool or tencel but posters are fooling themselves that just because they "shudder- wouldn't touch recycled polyester" that they can wear their green halos

Any jeans which have a stretch to them have polyester in them. Denim uses vast amounts of water and chemicals to produce. Cotton generally, unless it's certified organic uses vast amounts of pesticides and takes land out of food production. And as for trainers...

The recycled polyester jacket I bought is beautiful and soft, it will last me for years. It's not washable and will be going to the dry cleaners only when necessary.

Trainers and the environment

The article I linked says "sneakers" but they mean trainers. This is what it has to say about them.

The majority of sneakers are predominately fabricated from plastic and/or plastic-like materials. All these petroleum-derived plastics (polyester, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) produce alarming numbers of carbon dioxide.

@NatashaDancing - So well put.

And I suspect that some MNetters would not talk to me because everything I'm wearing today contains polyester. I don't like clothes or, in particular underwear, that does not have stretch. I have sinned 🙄.

you can all wear polyester if you like
it dont because it makes me sweat
you wouldnt like me in polyester!

although i might wear a fleece/jacket in the cold weather made of recycled plastic

I'll wear polyester in technical clothes. I won't wear recycled polyester.
Not only is it unpleasant stuff, but i'm not sure how environmentally-friendly the recycling is, and I suspect that there is greenwashing involved.

I dislike viscose, and bamboo takes ages to dry.

I re-use rather than recycle, and then recycle. Looking after clothes and not washing unless necessary, means they last longer.