Big Wool wants you to believe it’s nice to animals and the environment. It’s not.
Wool’s cozy image masks a polluting, violent reality.
The article makes a lot of mistakes, because I don't think that the author actually cares about textiles at all.
Cotton is not comparable to wool at all. Full stop. If you wear wool for technical reasons--like, because you want to stay warm--then you need to know that cotton will kill you, as will all cellulose fibers that aren't treated to be hydrophobic. Petroleum-based fibers like polyesters, nylons, etc., do not wet the same way that cotton does, but also don't keep you warm in the same way that wool will. Wool is the gold-standard for cold-weather outdoor apparel.
Tencel--which is a type of rayon--is considerably weaker than cotton when it gets wet. The process for making rayon is usually--but not always--a very polluting open-loop system. There are closed-loop systems, but they weren't in common use as of 2010.
Leather is irreplaceable as a protective material. Synthetic leathers lack the abrasion resistance and/or heat resistance of leather. Compare a pair of high-quality leather boots to the highest quality non-leather boots; leather will last decades longer. So you can't compare on a per unit basis; you need to compare them based on practical lifetime costs. In regards to certain protective apparel--such as motorcycle gear--textile jackets simply do not provide the same level of repeatable protection as leather. If you ride your bike on a track, you will be required to wear leather.
My understanding was that there are three types of rayon. Or have I been had by Big Cellulose?
If something just says "Rayon" you can probably assume it's viscose. Tencel sellers want you to know it's Tencel.
Regardless, none of the above are good for warmth, so bad replacement for wool no matter which process they use. I do love my Tencel bedsheets though.
The fake leather thing is real. It's why you can reuse a leather jacket after a motorcycle crash, but not a textile one. Leather also slides better, and sliding gently to a stop after a motorcycle crash can really save you.
Bro, have you see how wool reacts with water?
No way wool is keeping you warm in the rain without something water-resistant over it.
Wool most certainly does keep you warm when it is wet. Sheep dont have a water resistant layer and they live outside. On the other hand cotton will literally wick the warmth away from you when it is wet.
Can someone please tell me exactly what I'm supposed to be wearing?
Adopt actual sheep, and just strap them to your body for warmth.
So generally the entire clothes industry is slavery ridden and completely fucked. Trying to follow the supply chain is basically impossible.
I would suggest essentially as little as possible for as long as possible, plant fibres probs good. synthetic not really that bad given the whole state of everything it's small fries in terms of plastic waste.
get local tailors to make clothing if you can afford it
Simplest answer: cotton. It’s cheap and good enough for most uses. High-grade cotton like Supima is extra comfortable and not much more expensive.
It's not very good for the use of keeping you warm. Unlike wool.
Unfortunately extremely high water usage to grow cotton, and a lot of it is grown in places that need that water for other things (RIP Aral Sea).
Based on the article we should use flax aka linen, which I suppose makes sense. Linen was once a finery due to the excessive effort needed to produce it, but now we have machinery.
Nothing! Go forth and let it all be free and flap around!
Can't say anything about buying new clothes, but as the budget's tightened in my household I've been leaning how to mend my clothes. The ones I normally would've thrown away due to armpit/toe/crotch holes can be fixed somewhat easily.
One catch is that I use a sewing machine my MIL gave me - so there was some cost somewhere. But I see machines on craigslist going for sub 60 fairly often. The second catch is that I was lucky enough to develop an interest (and spend my free time) learning about how to mend clothes. If people lack free time/interest to learn how to do it, then they end up paying the new-clothes tax.
Reduce, reuse, recycle is the best bet. Most people in privileged areas own much more clothing than they need and dispose of it long before it's worn out. Used clothing, hand me downs. Recycled plastic fibres (wash in one of those bags that filter out micro plastic). Plant fibres. Hemp is a great alternative to wool.
I'm looking up hemp clothing now. It's just as expensive as the other option the other person gave me.
Purchasing used clothing, fine, but if your advice is to buy much more expensive clothing than I can afford, I guess I can't wear the cruelty-free stuff if I need something new. And I'm sure as hell not buying used underwear.
Based on the news today, human skin™️ apparently
If we change the climate enough via global warming we can make it so it's always hot then we will no longer need clothes!
There are mulesing free certificates, and some companies go the extra mile.
Varusteleka is pretty open about their wool, but they don't have the biggest selection.
(varusteleka, I've called you out twice on this account, sponsor me lmao)
As little as possible.
Did they really compare wool with leather as equally cruel to animals?
Perty shure sheep weren't meant to be shaved like that and the constant shaving has caused them to evolve to require it.
You're not wrong but there isn't a domesticated animal or plant that we haven't selectively breed so the traits we want to see more of aren't expressed more prominately.
It depends on the variety. Some sheep do need to be sheared, but others shed naturally and their wool can simply be combed out.
While we shouldnt be cruel to animals, just want to point out that Lamarckian evolution was proven false by Darwin already.
Sheep didn't evolve to require it by the constant shaving, farmers would have likely selected for highly producing animals if anything.
Lotta misinformation in this thread trying to claim that wool doesnt keep you warm when it is wet, and I can say from first hand experience that it most certainly does keep you warm when completely soaked through. Sheep should be shorn humanely and it is possible to do, but corporations and capitalism have no incentive to do it. Here is an indepth article explaining the science behind how wool keeps you warm when wet. And Here is anothet article
Big plastic challenges big wool in the thunderdome. 2 enter but we all lose no matter what choice you make. Just go naked people or are you all part of the big clothes conspiracy?
Kill la Kill was a prophecy?
I love how American journalists decide to demonise an industry by putting the word 'Big' in front of it.
Big media doesn't want you to know this big secret, the big truth is big stupid
Sounds like something Big Lemmy would say...
Big Journalism wants you to believe journalists are subject matter experts. They're not.
I dont know where it was but someone once described how if you are an expert in an area and read something about it you recognize all the errors but then you move on the other stuff and you kinda tend to take it at face value
Sounds like something big synth would say
Yeah Moog!
It is a pretty good article but I have some nitpicks:
They say both that you cannot decide in a vacuum and fast fashion uses synth materials to make disposable clothing. I think given these two ideas, the carbon usage for one garment of wool vs one garment of nylon should include all the "waste" garments produced as well. Since, when you buy from a company that practices this, the impact is from the whole process, as they are keen to point out. That includes the sweatshop to landfill garments.
Personally I like not wearing a microplastics generator.
I am also curious about hemp clothing.
Hemp clothes are smokin'
i started Buying expensive,wool, darn tough socks and they last at the moment infinitely longer than my cotton socks (since I have 0 issues after over a year)
I think that is an important aspect To consider, kind of in a same vein I went for a more expensively macbook because I know it will easily last at least 5 years for my work and probably more and even after it will be very useable.
So I am a firm believer that the most important part is focusing on buying things that last when you do buy.
I wouldn't be so confident on the MacBook part. Those are historically kinda flaky from bullshit that apple could have fixed but didn't feel like doing. From their keyboards locking up to the case glue melting from the hot laptop exhaust to even the internal display cables slowly pulling themselves lose when you open and close the device because they are too short. All of these issues Apple will "help" you with by wiping your laptop and replacing the entire thing, how wonderful.
True, Apple even stops supporting macbooks software-wise in just 5 years. The new macOS sonoma is only available for macbooks after 2018. While I have a toshiba at home from 2008 running Windows 11 (16 years old, upgraded with more ram and SSD). Macs and longevity can't be in the same sentence.
Buying macbooks is the stupidest idea ever if you want longevity. Heck they even stop supporting them software-wise in just 5-6 years. I still have an old Toshiba from 2008 that is now running Windows 11 fully upgraded, with more ram and an ssd, and is being used by my parents daily. Tell me any macbook that not only can be improved hardware wise (upgraded) but also be kept fully up to date software-wise in almost 16 years. None. The latest macOS didn't release to macs before 2018. That's only 5 years of software support for 3000-4000€ laptop. Sorry but, macbooks have the worse longevity of any other brand. If you want longevity, you just did an immensely stupid purchase, sorry to tell you.
K
Wool is one of the most humane animal products on this planet. Without it, humans could not have kept themselves warm as easily and we would not have evolved into the species we are now.