6 Alternative Fabrics Which Are Completely Sustainable

You must check out these six alternative fabrics, which are not only sustainable, but worth of replacing other fabrics for winter as well.

It’s easy to grab your usual suspects when it comes to keeping cosy over the cooler months. But do you actually know where your fabrics come from? Turns out most of them are not as sustainable as you first though.

In-fact, if COVID taught us anything. Yes, I know we are all sick of hearing that C word., but just hear me out. When the lockdowns first started back in 2020, people around the world were left with little option to purchase imported goods. Stats show that the sales of products which were homegrown skyrocketed, as a lot of the International market came to a semi-standstill.

Of course, this didn’t mean you couldn’t purchase overseas, it just meant you had to wait a lot longer.

For birthday gifts, personal gifts, gifts for yourself and for any other occasion, unless you were happy to wait nearly two months or more for an item to arrive, most of us found ourselves shopping closer to home. And what did this teach us?

Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I do know for myself, it taught me to really pay attention to where products were coming from and how they were being made. For example, and I am not trying to incriminate anyone here. My fave clothing line BONDS, which is still absolutely made from one hundred percent cotton, do not make their products here as I thought. Nope, they were made in China.

As I said, I am not here to criticise, and yes I do still buy good even today which are made from China. However, what this taught me, was that I don’t even really pay attention to where the products I love actually come from. Being Australian, I thought the cotton for BONDS was completely Australian. I was wrong.

Although I do still buy the occasional BONDS item, as I love the brand and clothing line for activewear and casual wear. Learning this, has made me pay close attention to other brands, and spend a little more time purchasing more quality items which are more sustainable, more conscious and more natural. And that goes for anything purchased overseas as well.

Check out these six alternative fabrics to look out for, which are generally linked to sustainable brands, which I will also recommend a few of those later on in this post as well.

Soybean Cashmere: This is a lovely vegan replacement for other cashmere fabrics, as it is super soft on the skin and very comfortable to wear. Most manufacturers of soybean cashmere produce it free from petrochemicals and it is also wholly biodegradable too. There are a variety of high end fashion labels now creating fabric using soybean cashmere for its luxe look and feel.

Recycled Fibres: Okay, so to be completely honest, most recycled fibres are synthetic. Recycling won’t save the planet, but it does play its part in reducing waste, including a huge reduction of plastic, as plastic is widely used as a recycled fibre with is turned into a variety of different products, including recycled fibres. These fibres are often blended with recycled cotton to make alternative activewear clothing to using other synthetics often used for legging.

Organic Cotton: Obtaining clothing made from organic cotton is probably the easiest fabric to source, as a lot of big brands, independent brand and boutique brands have actually been using organic cotton for a while now. Why? Because it’s grown without the use of toxic pesticides and produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions.

Tencel: You may not have ever heard of this fabric. It is made from pulp cellulose and is very kind to the planet. It uses close lop technology, which means, the water and chemicals used in the processed of this fabric are reused in order to minimise waste, making is very sustainable indeed.

Hemp: This is nothing new. However, more and more brands are jumping on board to produce clothing from hemp. The first I saw clothing made from hemp, was when I lived in Cairns for nearly four years, from 2007 to 2011. A lot of boutique shops around Cairns sell beautiful clothing ranges made from hemp.

Bamboo Fibre: Again, nothing new, but becoming more and more popular with many brands. Often used as a replacement for wool, in knitting yarns, as a worthy replacement, it is warm and cosy and a great fabric to loo out for in the cooler months, as it’s very warm and thick and perfect for winter.

Okay, so now that you know what to look out for with fabrics, to help you get started with what brands use what, I thought I would share several of my favourites which use all sustainable, vegan and organic fabrics.