Men are just big penis
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?
- Viscose is the one that gets weaker when wet, and uses aggressive chemicals
- Modal gets stronger when wet, but also aggressive chemicals
- Tencel (brand name for lyocell) specifically refers to that closed loop process with less harsh solvents, and also gets stronger when wet
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.
In what way is cotton killing people?
Wet cotton will freeze someone to death, wet wool will still keep you warm.
Can’t you / shouldn’t you be wearing a rain coat or outer shell if you think you might get wet?
I get there are some situations where its impossible to keep underlayers dry, like if your on a boat or Backcountry camping, but for the majority of people and situations some layers of cotton or synthetic under a shell should be fine.
If you over exert yourself and sweat cotton underlayers are useless.
Bullshit, 100%.
If it’s cold and wet enough that you’re going to freeze wearing cotton, you will also freeze wearing wool.
Wool doesn’t repel water. Water passes right through it onto, guess what, you.
It’s ok to not know something. You don’t have to share an opinion that has no basis.
If you’ve ever done multi-day outside activities in the cold, you learn really quick to not wear cotton socks or under layers. Your sweat is what makes you cold because cotton will no longer provide a warm layer. Wool still has air pockets and will keep you warmer and may save your life or limbs.
Are you going to be comfortable in wet wool? No, but you have a better chance of surviving and not getting frostbite.
If it’s cold and wet enough that you’re going to freeze wearing cotton, you will also freeze wearing wool.
Wool doesn’t repel water. Water passes right through it onto, guess what, you.
You don’t have to share an opinion that has no basis.
Identify the opinion or admit you don’t know what an opinion is.
These are the people who think wool will keep you from freezing in the wet and cold while cotton will not.
All I can say is, lol. Make your own decisions and don’t let strangers on the internet put your life at risk.
I’m not going to argue with them anymore because I’ve come across their type before and no matter what, they will believe contrarian bullshit and fight tooth and nail to defend it.
Pot meet kettle
Ahh, gotta block you too. Lol.
Weird watching you people reply to all my comments like that.
Bring the science, jackass
Do you have wool? Place it over a cup and then pour water over it.
See what happens.
If it’s cold and wet enough that you’re going to freeze wearing cotton, you will also freeze wearing wool.
The entire population in the Nordics had an inexplicable tick when you wrote that. Maybe not act all confident about a topic you clearly have no knowledge of?
Wool keeps you warm even when it becomes wet, facts don’t care about your feelings.
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
get local tailors to make clothing if you can afford it
Anyone who can afford that is not doing it to be sustainable and humanitarian and I think you know that.
Wtf are you talking about? I’m not super rich, but i get some things done with a local tailor and one of the biggest reasons is to support local business and avoid overseas slave labour
I look forward to Christmas every year so I can finally get new socks. You might not be super rich, but you’re certainly not poor, either.
You really don’t know what choices someone is making. If you replace clothing about once a decade and don’t own much it’s not very expensive.
High up front sure but maybe someone is eating cheap bean and rice based food, maybe they don’t buy alcohol, maybe they don’t own a car, maybe they buy used stuff rather than new whatever. There are loads of ways for many people to squirrel away the funds to get an item made here and there. Yeah obvs if you’re destitute it’s impossible and right now with economies going to shit way more people are losing money each week but prior there were choices people could usually make.
Yes it involves giving up other things and it can be stressful and difficult but that’s expected. Slavery makes things cheap in dollars and high in human misery.
That really is a ‘where you live’ thing. When I lived in SEA I could buy a button down shirt you could wear to work for about $5, going to a tailor and having one bespoke was $6 in cotton, or $15 in silk. Wool was actually more expensive since there was no domestic production.
Does SEA mean Seattle or South East Asia?
Sorry, southeast Asia
Depends on where you live. In European cities it will be expensive to get new things tailored, but there will be shops only for changes and repairs, which will be cheaper, for example.
That really depends. If you buy a tshirt it was probably made paying someone like 5c a day.
If you find someone who makes clothing, just a normal arse person not someone catering to the rich, they can probably make a basic tshirt to your rough size in about 3 hours or so. If they’re paid a reasonable fee that’s going to be in my country for example 200 aud or so factoring in material. A sweat shop T would be 20 to 50, or even 80 in a high end store so it’s really not much more expensive.
Wear it till it has holes in it so say 5 to 10 years and it’s really not that expensive.
More complicated clothing gets more expensive but a basic wardrobe is something like 3 Ts, 3 long sleave tops, 2 heavy pants, 2 light pants/skirts etc. you don’t need to buy it all at once. Sometimes you need more clothes than that, e.g. you’re a woman and you work customer facing but most people have waaaaay more clothes than they need.
Based on the news today, human skin™️ apparently
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.
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)
Are you fucking kidding me?
Do you think most people can buy clothes for that kind of money? I sure as fuck can’t afford a shirt that costs $64 or pants that cost $160.
You’re basically telling me that in order to have cruelty-free wool, I have to be wealthy.
You’re basically telling me that in order to have cruelty-free wool, I have to be wealthy.
Congrats. You found out why there’s animal cruelty in the first place. People need cheaper things -> other things need to be sacrificed to make that happen.
That is correct.
Ethics come at a premium. Ethics are a luxury good.
As little as possible.
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.
Did they really compare wool with leather as equally cruel to animals?
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
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
Big Wool. Silly
IMO anyone who puts big in front of an industry to describe some collective movement by that industry is a total moron.
At this point, If you aren’t using Big _____ ironically 9/10 times, you’re doing it wrong.
Big oil? understandable. Big toothpaste? No.
Thank you
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.
