Marcia

O ECOTEXTILES

• The new ecoliteracy May 16, 2013
  This blog is supposed to be “textile specific”, meaning we try to keep the topics restricted to those things that apply to the growing of fibers, or the manufacture of synthetic fibers, and the processing of those fibers into cloth. But society seems to have tunnel vision about many things, such as chemical use. Bisphenol […] […]
  O Ecotextiles
• Fire retardants: the new asbestos May 9, 2013
  My toxic couch: I’d like to nominate flame retardant chemicals used in our furniture, fabrics and baby products – as well as a host of other products – as being in the running for the “new asbestos”. These chemicals (halogenated flame retardants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are commonly known as PBDE’s. An editorial in […] […]
  O Ecotextiles
• What’s the “new” asbestos? May 1, 2013
  What does asbestos have to do with fabrics? Asbestos has been used in fabrics for centuries – the story goes that Roman soldiers (or, depending on the story, wealthy Persians) would clean asbestos napkins by throwing them into the fire – and they’d emerge clean and white. During the Middle Ages, some merchants would sell […] […]
  O Ecotextiles