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Pro

– Is soft to the touch
– Is very lightweight
– Is durable
– breathable
– dyeable due to its natural source and water absorbency

Cons

– possibility of shrinkage
– prone to wrinkles

Advice

Preferred is the use of recycled cotton or if that is not available or does not meet the needs of the product; organic cotton. When possible always go for GOTS certified cotton, therefore ensuring a responsible production and the disuse of harmful chemicals.

cotton

Cotton is the second most common used fiber used today in textile, after the synthetic fiber polyester. Cotton is a natural seed fiber derived from the cotton plant. Since cotton is a natural fiber it is considered a renewable resource. As a consequence of mass use cotton can have an extremely harmful impact on people and the environment, the processing of cotton is very water-, energy- and chemical intensive. Therefore, rainfed cotton is preferable, since it requires no irrigation in its production. The normal cotton production we have come to know these past decades uses a lot of toxic and polluting chemicals to achieve greater yields. These toxins and chemicals however contaminate surrounding water sources and ruin the cropland and its surroundings.

Monocultures like the ones largely used in the production of fibers like cotton, have a high use of pesticides, insecticides and herbizides. They also have an extensive use of GMOS which enhances loss of biodiversity.

Cotton production therefore has a huge social impact and leads to massive consequences for people and especially for the farmers crowing the product. On a global scale, less than 1% of cotton is certified as organic and the percentage of recycled cotton is even smaller.

The preferred end of life solution for cotton is mechanical recycling, as it uses less water, energy and chemicals that chemical recycling. The tolerance for recycling a non-cellulosic material (e.g. elastane) is no more than 2%.  If the latter is not possible, cotton should be industrially composted. Things like dye, toxic chemicals, blended fibers and trims can hinder compostability. Composting non-organic cotton releases all the toxins and residue of treatments. Whereas untreated cotton is completely compostable.

The third end of life solution is chemical recycling, which may possible where composting is not. But through chemical recycling the fibers get transformed into a viscose-like material, which will never be compostable again.

Sources

https://cfda.com/resources/materials

https://materialarchiv.ch/en/ma:material_561/?q=cotton

https://www.commonobjective.co/article/fibre-briefing-cotton

https://www.enkev.com/en/products/

Textilepedia, Fashionary International Ltd, 2020