Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion

Technology (EiTEX)

ECO FABRIC, STRANGE AND AMAZING

INNOVATION

By

ABDELLA SIMEGNAW

December 2018
INTRODUCTION
Sustainable textiles are textiles (or fabrics)
that are grown and created in an
environmentally friendly way, using
minimal chemicals.
Because chemicals are not used in
sustainable textiles, there are less health
problems that are associated with chemicals
such as headaches, allergies, skin
irritation, and respiratory problems
 Petroleum-based fibers currently dominate the textile
industry, but their production will ultimately decline as oil
prices and environmental awareness of the costs of these
materials continue to rise.

 The materials that eventually replace oil based polymers

will need to be sustainable both in their manufacture
and in their disposal, and also deliver at high performance.

 Natural materials such as spider silk demonstrate that high

performance and sustainability are not mutually exclusive
goals, and may provide a road map for achieving them.

Biotechnology!
 Biotechnology!
 Biotechnology can be described as a discipline in
which cells, cellular components, organisms and
biological processes are used and exploited to
develop new technologies and products.

 Modern biotechnology provides us with

technology and products that reduce our
environmental footprint, use cleaner and less
energy, afford us with more efficient and less
impactful manufacturing processes and combat
rare and debilitating diseases.
 Relying on polluting textile materials like cotton and
polyester may become a thing of the past as a new
range of eco-fabrics emerge, often made from materials
that would otherwise go to waste.

 Some of these environmentally friendly fabrics are

already in use, like those made of coconut husks,
recycled plastic bottles, wood pulp and corn, while
others are strange and futuristic, sourced from hagfish
slime, fermented wine, spoiled milk, orange pile and
genetically engineered bacteria.
 1. Fabric from Fermented Wine
 Artist Donna Franklin and scientist Gary
Cass have collaborated on an incredible
project in which they created a
seamless textile using fermented
wine.

 The fabric made from wine is an

interesting marriage of science and
design.

 Wine is carefully fermented for several

days, at the end of which a “skin”
formation is produced. In this state, the
substance takes on characteristics one it’s biodegradable
would expect from something made from
old wine: It is much less toxic
 it has a strong smell and feels slimy. cuts out much of the labor
However, once the material is allowed to
dry, the delicate cellulose material feels eliminating the need for sewing
very similar to cotton.
2. Naoron: A Leathery, Water-Resistant
Textile Made From Wood Pulp

This leather alternative is not only

animal-friendly, it also avoids the
chemicals required to create
conventional faux leather.
Naoran is a water-resistant textile
derived from wood pulp and
recycled polyester. It‟s soft, flexible,
and tear- and water-resistant.
 3. Hagfish Slime Thread
A hagfish has about 100 of these glands, or
invaginations, that run along the side of its body
from which they give out a milky, white
substance, comprising mucus and thread.

Tiny fibers reinforce the slime making it strong

and difficult to remove for protection against
predators.

Hagfish slime has many similar qualities to

spider silk, but has one big advantage, says
Fudge - the proteins that make it up are far
smaller, and so easier - in theory - to replicate.
alternatives to synthetic fibres
like nylon and lycra, or spandex,
which are made from oil - a non-
renewable resource
4. Spider Silk Produced from Metabolically
Engineered Bacteria
Spider silk is both highly valuable and
extremely difficult to collect.
Geneticists Scientists in Korea have
discovered a way to chemically synthesize the
spider’s silk gene and insert it into E. coli
bacteria for easier harvesting.

Initially, the bacterium refused to the

challenging task of producing high molecular
weight spider silk protein due to the unique
characteristics of the protein, such as
extremely large size, repetitive nature of the
protein structure, and biased abundance of a
particular amino acid glycine.
The team developed a simple, easy to scale-up purification process for the recombinant
spider silk protein.
The purified spider silk protein could be spun into beautiful silk fiber.

 Their choice of bacteria: E. Coli.

According to Ecouterre, mass-
produced silk could be used in
mechanical
engineering, photonics and
optics, nanotechnology,
and medicine, in addition to
textiles.
 The technique could be
replicated and used to produce
other silk-like biomaterials like
elastin, collagen, byssus, and
Three times stronger than both steel
resilin. and Kevlar, yet thinner than a human
hair
 5. Orange fiber
 The citrus industry waste
amounts to about 700 million
tonnes per year
 Students studying away from
home in Milan who, during a
chat in the kitchen, literally
invented Orange Fiber, their
innovative sustainable fabric
made with oranges, and now
they are going to make their
dream come true.

Thanks to nanotechnology and citrus fruit

Thus Orange Fiber was created:
essential oil, it is encapsulated and fixed to
cellulose, which is then spun, is
the fabric: the material obtained is, therefore,
extracted from all the fibres that are
also able to leave the skin soft, not greasy, in
discarded from the pressing and
fact, just as if a body lotion has been used.
processing of oranges.
6.Ingeo, Fabric made from corn
• Ingeo is an awesome fiber innovation that‟s
packed with a ton of ecological benefits.

• For starters, this textile does not require oil

as an ingredient. Instead, the fiber is derived
from the dextrose in field corn. The corn
used is taken from crops already grown for
other purposes (Ingeo requires less than 0.5%
of these crops, leaving no impact on food
availability or prices) so there is no need to
grow all-new crops for the fabric.
• The dextrose (sugar) that is taken
from corn is used as fuel for the
creation of the polymer this fiber is
made up of.
• Unused sugars can be stored for later
use. The polymer is formed into
Ingeo “pellets” that can be used to
The fabric is color-fast, wrinkle
make a wide range of products, from free, resilient, drapable,
electronics to apparel. hypoallergenic, stain resistant, and
wicks away moisture. It‟s a lot like
• When an Ingeo item reaches the end polyester, except that polyester has
of its life, it can be disposed of with to be chemically treated before it
zero impact on the environment. will wick away moisture and odors.
Besides fabric, Ingeo is also used
There are several options, including in bio-plastics for packaging
composting and clean incineration
7. Qmilk: A Silk-Like Fiber Derived From Spoiled
Milk
 Qmilk: A trademarked name for milk fiber, a
silky textile derived from an odorless protein
found in mammalian milk.

 Based on casein found in soured “secondary

milk” that‟s i. no longer suitable for human
consumption and ii. headed for disposal.

 Unlike other milk fibers, Qmilk makes

efficient use of water—2 liters for every
kilogram of fabric and requires no harmful
chemicals. It also leaves behind zero waste.
 Alleged properties include moisture
management, bacterial resistance, and reduced
skin irritation.
 Blends well with other fibers, with potential
applications in the home-, technical-, and
 The brainchild of Qmilch, a company medical-textile industries.
founded by German designer Anke
Domaske.
Production process of milk fiber
8. Polyester yarn from 100%
recycled plastic bottle

Newlife is a polyester yarn made from 100%

post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, which
is processed by mechanical rather than
chemical means.
Made in Italy, the fabric is used in fashion,
sportswear, underwear, medical garments and
other clothes and furnishings.
Georgio Armani used it to create a fashionable,
eco-friendly gown for LIvia Firth at the 2012
Golden Globe awards.
9. Used Coffee Pods

Inspired by the resource fulness of

locals in Kerala, India, who
repurpose waste in surprising ways,
designer Rachel Rodwell
discovered a material that wasn‟t
living up to its potential: used
coffee pods. Rodwell gathers pods
from friends and family and
smashes them with a meat
tenderizer, reconfiguring them into
geometric-inspired designs in
colors that reflect India‟s cultural
aesthetic
10. Recycled Newspaper Yarn

• This type of paper yarn can

perhaps be a future
environmentally friendly
alternative to cotton and oil-
based synthetic fibers.
• No hazardous substances are
emitted from the manufacturing
process and paper yarn can be
recycled biologically and be a
part of an environmentally
friendly cycle.
 11.Cupro: A Cellulose Fiber Made
From Recovered Cotton Waste
 A regenerated cellulose fiber derived from
cotton linter (the ultrafine, silky fibers that
stick to the seeds of the cotton plant after it‟s
been ginned) that has been dissolved in a
solution of ammonia and copper oxide.
 It is similar to rayon, but breathes and
regulates body temperature like cotton.
 Often used as a silk substitute, cupro is noted
for its ability to create beautifully draped
clothing, except it can be machine-washed and
-dried.
 A European relative of Tencel, cupro is a
hypoallergenic, antistatic fabric that is
resistant to stretching out of shape at higher
temperatures.
waste fibres that are too small to spin.
12. Cocona, Made of Coconut Husks

• It was only a matter of time

before tough, fibrous coconut
husks were made into durable
fabric.
• Cocona is one trademarked
example, made of coconut-
husk waste disposed of by the
food service industry.
• The fabric is lightweight and
breathable, making it ideal for
sportswear. It‟s used in Nau‟s
insular jacket.
 13. Lab-Grown Biological Textiles
 The studio explored organisms like bacteria, cellulose, fungus,
algae and yeast and they‟re potential for growing and
producing fabrics and apparel.

 Some of the key outputs can be seen below where Lee used the
process of brewing sustainable fabrics; biomaterials, using
similar processes to making kombucha tea with mother culture
as the scaffolding for growing bacterial cellulose, which once
dried and sterilised, have similar properties to leather
• Designer Amy Congdon believes
that in the future, we‟ll be able to
grow textiles like ethical fur in
laboratories where high-fashion
garments are grown from cells.
She experiments with materials that
occur naturally when cooked up from
edible ingredients including gelatines,
kappa carrageenan, agar-agar sea
vegetable, water, natural flavour
extracts, glycerine, food colouring and
lustres. She describes is as high-tech
kitchen couture. how biotechnology, genetic modification and bioengineering
could change the luxury goods market,
  The team have now set up as a
research group called Algiknit. They
are currently developing wearable
 The team from FIT created a textiles from a range of biopolymers.
bio-based material to try and  This material could be the answer to
address the harmful impact of creating a more circular sustainable
the fashion and textile economy for the fashion and textile
industries production methods. industry
 Made from a form of
alignate, which is extracted
from brown sea weed, they
developed its usual production
format of sheets into an
extruded yarn.
 The bio-based filament can be
knitted or woven by hand or
machine.
14. Recycled Cassette Tapes
 All of the strands of
cassette tape still floating
around in the world could
not only be reused for
fabrics, but spun into „audio
textiles‟ that play back
under a tape head.
 Artist Alyce Santoro
weaves this unlikely
material on antique looms
in a family-run textile mill
in England to produce
„Sonic Fabric‟, including
purses made from sound
collages based on life in
New York City.
 Reference
1. Sustainable and Environmental Friendly Fibers in Textile Fashion A
Study of Organic Cotton and Bamboo Fibers
2. BIOmatters, A New Age of Biosynthetic-Technology in the Textile and
Apparel Industry, byhannah Hansell 2016
3. ECO-FRIENDLY TEXTILES: A BOOST TO SUSTAINABILITY,A parna
Sharma Lecturer, Home Science Department, TMU
4. Sami A.M., “Technology of Eco Friendly Textile Processing- A Route
toSustainability” 5 march 2013

5. http://www.amycongdon.com/tissue-engineered-textiles/
6. http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/2015/07/lab-grown-biological-textiles.html
7. http://www.ideassonline.org/public/pdf/OrangeFiber-ENG.pdf
8. https://heartsleevesblog.com/off-the-cob-will-corn-fabric-make-it-in-eco-fashion-
720ceaae50e3
9. https://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2012/11/12/eco-fabric-14-strange-and-
amazing-textile-innovations/
10. https://startupfashion.com/fabric-made-from-wine/
THANK YOU!