I’m sorry, but aren’t we collectively tired of all our clothes being made of polyester?
"microfiber. viscose. rayon blend. ripstop. fleece. jersey knit. pet. vegan leather. polyurethane vinyl. lycra. vegan shearling. acrylic yarn. dacron. performance velvet. organza. china silk. broadcloth. flannel. sateen. elastane. taffeta. moisture wicking. antimicrobial" - so pretentious. it's plastic.
For the record, some of those can be real natural fiber fabrics. China silk, jersey knit, broadcloth, flannel, sateen, and taffeta are weaves of fabric, not fibers themselves. Fleece can be a form of wool, too. I have a skirt made out of wool flannel and evening gowns made out of silk taffeta. I lined my winter coat with 100% silk habotai a.k.a. china silk. My favorite sheets are made out of cotton sateen. Etc.
And I think part of the issue is that people are often just… Not taught about fabrics anymore. a lot of the terminology has completely gone by the wayside and we don’t know how to recognize different fibers (or, as seen above, know the difference between a term for a fiber and a weave). I research 19th century clothing and textiles as part of my job, and there are terms even I can’t fit to a certain weave or fiber in my mind. Just the number of different types of natural fiber textiles that used to be in people’s lives is absolutely mind-boggling considering that now it’s all just different forms of plastic 99% of the time
People don’t stand up and demand better because they simply don’t know another way, most of the time. And that’s so sad
Yep, pretty much.
"Microfiber" refers to a variety of different essentially plastic fabrics which all use a very fine thread.
"Viscose" is related to "rayon" and "acetate". All are made from cellulose fibers, most often wood pulp, through a chemical process. They are not plastic, although they are heavily modified.
"Ripstop" is a kind of nylon used for rugged outerwear and luggage.
"Fleece" is a weave, not a fiber. It most often refers to sweatshirt knit, which can be anything from 100% cotton to 100% polyester.
"Jersey knit" is a weave, not a fiber. It's the sort of plain knit fabric they make t-shirts out of. It can be made from any fiber.
"PET" is ethylene polyester fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. It's sold as eco-friendly, but it really is not.
"Vegan leather" is most often pure plastic. There are plant-based imitation leathers but they generally have to be bonded with plastic for greater durability and thus are neither compostable nor recyclable.
"Polyurethane vinyl" is a kind of plastic.
"Lycra", a.k.a. "Spandex" a.k.a. "Elastane" is a stretchy plastic fiber. In the US and Canada "Elastane" is called "Spandex".
"Vegan shearling" -- Uhh, I don't know what this is, sorry. If it's the combo of faux suede and fake fur that it sounds like, it will definitely be made from plastics.
"Acrylic yarn" is a form of plastic.
"Dacron" is a trade name of polyester (plastic) fiber.
"Performance velvet" is a polyester fabric chemically treated to be water-repellent and stain-resistant, used for upholstery.
"Organza" is a weave, not a fiber. It is stiffly-spun threads in an open weave and has a texture sort of a cross between a veil and a soft window screen. It's very common in silk, although there are poly versions too.
"China silk" is silk. Of course. What the heck. It is a very fine, thin, plain weave lightweight silk. (The only thing called "silk" that is not silk is "art silk" which is short for "artificial silk" and means "rayon" (see above). It was big time illegal to call rayon "art silk" for a long time because of deliberately misleading advertisers, but I have seen the term creeping back in online discourse.)
"Broadcloth" is, again, a weave, not a fiber. It's a densely-woven smooth medium-weight plain cloth mostly used for shirts. Historically it was always wool. More recently it was made from cotton. Nowadays poly-cotton blend broadcloths are most common, though you can still get pure cotton and wool broadcloths.
"Flannel" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a soft fabric brushed to have a nap on one side. Flannels used to be all wool or cotton. Microfiber is depressingly common these days.
"Sateen" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a satin weave, but not using silk, popular for bedsheets. Historically it was cotton. These days you can find it in polyester.
"Taffeta" is a weave, not a fiber. It's a crisp, plain, lightweight, tightly-woven fabric. The nicest taffetas are silk. They also come in nylon and polyester, sometimes rayon if you're lucky.
"Moisture-wicking" just means a fabric acts a certain way. It's neither a weave nor a fiber. Wool is naturally moisture-wicking. The term is mostly used these days to describe artificial fibers.
"Antimicrobial" is a chemical finish. It's not a kind of fiber.
