The Skin Knows: Handloom Versus Milled Cloth.
When people try on natural handwoven clothing for the first time, they report an experience that can only be described as their skin ‘thanking’ them. This is not imagined. It’s not just the natural fiber that feels good, it’s what’s missing— chemicals. Manufacturers of milled cloth can use up to 2000 different chemicals in fabric making. According to a report from the textile magazine, EcoTextiles, it takes from 10% to 100% of the weight of the fabric in chemicals to actually produce the fabric! These chemicals are used to give the fabric the unnatural characteristics we’ve come to expect in our clothes like, non-iron or wrinkle-free, flame-retardant, shrinkage-free, water-repellant, stain-repellant, anti-cling, perspiration-proof, and more. These qualities are obtained by saturating...