Product Review from Environmental Building News
December 1, 2008
No-Compromise Green Fabrics from O Ecotextiles
“We want to change the way textiles are produced,” says Patty Grossman, who, along with her sister Leigh Anne Van Dusen, founded O Ecotextiles in 2004 and began creating sustainable fabrics out of the company’s Seattle headquarters. The company set out to establish the highest environmental standards possible for every step involved in fabric production, including everything from agricultural impacts to labor practices. O Ecotextiles debuted in the U.S. in September 2008, showcasing high-end textiles made from rapidly renewable fibers—bamboo, hemp, abaca, ramie, and linen—with minimal environmental impact.
In examining textile production, the sisters found that even organic fibers may undergo processing with toxic chemicals, which then remain on the fabric. O Ecotextiles’ strict standards require production partners to use biodegradable surfactants, detergents, and degreasers. And mills are prohibited from using a variety of chemicals that are common in textile production despite health and environmental concerns, including chlorine compounds, heavy metals, azo colorants, halogenated solvents, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) or deca-brominated flame retardants. Due to its concerns, the company discourages the use of performance coatings but does offer flame retardant and GreenShield stain-repellant finishes when necessary for commercial applications.
O Ecotextiles also requires that its mills treat wastewater, use fair trade practices, and employ socially responsible labor practices. To back up its claims to social and environmental responsibility, the company is willing to share detailed information with anyone who wants it.
The company produces its Willapa line of blended bamboo and cotton fibers (in an 80/20 blend) in a Japanese mill powered solely by wind bought from a local windfarm. Certified to the Oeko-Tex 100 standard, which covers the use of harmful chemicals during production, not just in the end-product, Willapa uses sustainably grown bamboo that does not endanger panda habitat, and the organic cotton is grown in a rainy region of Peru that can handle the crop’s high water demands. The company uses sulfuric acid to process the bamboo but neutralizes the leftover solution; after treatment, the wastewater is clean enough to meet Japan’s drinking water standards. Ozone is used instead of chlorine to bleach the fiber, and all dyes used meet the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The resulting fabric is carbon-neutral and “very absorbent and very soft,” Grossman says. “It is great for spa and top-of-the-bed applications.”
Whereas O Ecotextiles makes Willapa with contemporary technology, the company’s Ultimate Floppy Linen is woven at a 100-year-old traditional Italian mill that uses no chemicals in its production process. Also Oeko-Tex 100 certified, this fabric uses dyes with very low toxicity and is spun by workers who have earned a “Master of Linen” designation. The mill uses very long flax fibers and a weave that provides strength and stability to produce a fabric that is environmentally friendly, flows well, and won’t sag, so it works well for drapes, according to Grossman.
Pamela Ladesma, senior designer at S. Russell Groves in New York, incorporated five different O Ecotextiles fabrics in a showcase for high-end sustainable design in Sagaponack, New York. “We were really happy with the fabric,” Ladesma said. “It was beautiful and didn’t feel like typical green fabrics.” She added, “I would use these on any project, not just green projects.”
O Ecotextiles offers 14 lines of “heirloom-quality” fabric, but this no-compromise green performance comes at a premium price of $68–$100 per yard. Currently, O Ecotextiles’ offerings are marketed for the high-end residential and commercial markets but the company will offer durable contract textiles at a lower price starting in 2009.
– Brent Ehrlich
For more information:
O Ecotextiles
Seattle, Washington
206-633-1177
www.oecotextiles.com
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Patty G. is also heading up the textiles division for the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC).