Focus on… cotton: the fabric of the past Seagale

Focus on… cotton: the fabric of the past

The most used fiber on the clothing market, cotton remains a must for every brand in order to produce malleable products without constraints on the shape and color that we want to give them. Durable, very comfortable to wear and "natural", cotton has ever

The most used fiber on the clothing market, cotton remains a must for every brand in order to produce malleable products without constraints on the shape and color that we want to give them. Durable, very comfortable to wear and "natural", cotton has everything to please on paper. The situation is unfortunately quite different when we look closer on its production process as well as its unknown properties that could spoil your experience.

 

Why do we call cotton the fiber of the past ?

-  Not respectful of the environment

-  Bad for men

-  Dry slowly

-  Lack of versatility

 

 

NOT RESPECTFUL TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Cotton is the third most water-intensive crop. Globally, irrigation concerns 55% of cotton surfaces. As an indication, 10,600 liters of water are needed to produce only 1 kilogram of cotton.

To illustrate this excess water consumption we can name the case of the Aral Sea which was drained following the diversion of the two powerful rivers that supplied water to irrigate cotton crops in Asia. In 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of ​​66 458 km², in 2000 this area was divided by two because of cotton production and is one of the largest environmental disaster of the twentieth century.

In addition, since most cotton is grown in developing countries (75%), restrictions and standards for the use of chemicals process to produce are lower (compared to Europe). therefore they're used in large quantities to ensure mass production and pollute the soil, get into the groundwater, contaminating the water used by residents and animals around.

Finally, we can notice that this use of pesticides is not a long-term solution since they are mainly used to prevent the appearance of insects to the plant, and these insects adapt over the years through genetic mutations to be able to resist these pesticides which thus become useless, one thus finds new ones, sometimes even more virulent for the environment and being brought to provide the same long-term result as the preceding ones.

 

 

NEFASTE FOR MEN

As stated earlier, cotton is bad for the environment but not only. These adverse effects result in significant repercussions on human health. It is known that for a hectare of cotton about 1kg of pesticides is applied to prevent against insects and other "pests". It is known that about thirty percent of Indian producers suffer from pesticide intoxication in a single season.

Many textile dump their wastewater directly into rivers, rivers nearby polluting surface water as well as underground water. Consequences are disastrous for humans, according to the WHO (World Health Organization) the cotton crop and its use of pesticides would be responsible for 22 000 poisoning deaths each year.

In addition, these chemical substances are subject to evaporation by the sun and impact directly our atmosphere, resulting in a distribution of pesticides in the fog and rainwater, contaminating the surrounding areas, producing the following effects on the human body when exposed to it:

-  Skin lesions, dark spots on the skin

-  Cardiovascular diseases

-  Destruction of the liver

-  Reproductive function disorder

-  Immune system damage

-  Generation of long-term cancers

 

Finally, beyond these medical consequences, we can note the human exploitation linked to the textile factories that make their employees (especially children) work in extreme sanitary conditions for derisory incomes.

 

 

 

DRY SLOWLY

This is one of the main problems, if not the most. Cotton is not recommended as first layer if you are a led to sweat during the day. Whether because of your perspiration or even the hazards of weather, a cotton T-shirt will quickly become a real burden for you.

But why should we avoid wearing a cotton T-shirt like the plague when you have to evolve in a humid environment?

Well, because cotton tends to absorb moisture and especially to retain it, from the moment when moisture is present it remains in constant contact with the skin. We know that our body uses moisture in contact with the skin to cool during warmer periods, but a water-soaked cotton T-shirt stays wet whether you're hot or cold and can therefore generate heat. Hypothermia situations, which can be very problematic when hiking, traveling or any other situations if you have not planned a second T-shirt.

Due to moisture retention, cotton becomes very quickly an additional (and unnecessary) weight for hikers in particular. Add to that the abrasive and unpleasant feeling that water retention produces and you get a heavy and irritating T-shirt that can cause blisters on contact with a hiking bag.

It also becomes problematic when you have to go on a trip for several days, imagine that you leave 7 days, if you only have cotton T-shirts you will have to take 7 T-shirts, one for each day, and even more for the evening to sleep dry.

In addition, a cotton T-shirt is rarely wearable for more than one day if you tend to sweat in it because of its moisture retention which promotes the development of bacteria, and therefore, the appearance of bad smells that will not leave until you have washed your T-shirt.

All these characteristics make cotton a bad ally during your travels, sports activities, active moments of your life. And at SEAGALE we say no to the constraints for active men so, no cotton!

 

 

LACK OF VERSATILITY

As stated before, cotton is not a friend of the wet situations of everyday life. This could be a reason for non-versatility on its own...

But as if that was not enough, cotton is also one of the least qualitative fibers you can find on the market in terms of elasticity, length, flammability and sun resistance. Lack of elasticity will cause a lack of comfort and softness during loose movements tending to stretch your garment causing friction and stress for your skin.

The length of a fiber is often very significant as to the quality of the latter and the cotton has one of the shortest lengths, it can extend only from 1 to 5.5cm versus 25 to 120cm for linen for example!

Cotton's flammability is very large compared to wool, which burns only from 200 ° and does not spread fire. Finally, cotton is not resistant face to the sun, it oxidizes and tends to yellow contrary to synthetic materials on which the sun has no effect or even wool that loses only resistance and very low proportion.

 

 

Cotton is certainly the most used fabric in the textile industry nowadays. It has many interesting properties for the people who exploit it, because of its industrial production cost of production is very interesting, gives it a place of choice in the inventory of each store.

However, it has many drawbacks that do not allow it to offer a high quality product with unique properties and incomparable feeling. All this is not entering our project to offer products that make your life easier and more environmentally friendly.

These are all the reasons why you will not find any cotton in SEAGALE products, but rather unique, innovative materials that are part of the textile company's sustainable development.

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