5 Sustainable Clothing Brands Using Natural Plant Dyes
Although most of us are pretty careful about what we put inside our bodies, we don’t pay much attention to what we put on our bodies.
One such thing which most of us have probably never given a second thought about are dyes in our clothing. Those coloring agents which lend your clothes those vibrant colors?
Most of them are probably not very good for you or the environment. Let's see why.
Are clothing dyes toxic?
Although not all clothing dyes are toxic, there are a fair few that are. A group of dyes called Azo dyes are commonly used to dye cloth.
These dyes contain concentrations of p-Phenylenediamine (PPD) which can cause skin allergies and dermatitis. The highest concentrations of Azo dyes are seen in brown and black colors.
Azo dyes have been banned in western countries such as the EU due to their toxicity but there are no specific regulations restrict “azo dyes” specifically in the US.
These dyes are water-soluble which makes it easy to enter the water stream when you wash your clothes and also to pass easily into your skin.
This may cause symptoms including skin and eye irritation.
Some dyes also use pigments that contain mercury.
Mercury is well-known as a notorious element that can be harmful to the skin and also cause organ damage.
How do clothing dyes impact the environment?
With the advent of the fast-fashion age, textile dyes have been showing their presence in water bodies and have started to significantly impair the quality of water bodies.
Over 70% of China's water bodies were found to have been contaminated with 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater from the textile and dye industry. Dyes in the water stream increase biological and chemical oxygen demand and may promote toxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity.
They are also detrimental to marine life. Therefore, dumping dyes into water bodies is not a good idea.
This toxic waste finds its way to us by way of domestic water consumption harming communities near garment factories.
Along with this harmful substance, surfactants are also harmful.
Although not very harmful to humans, surfactants, which are substances used in factories for dyeing and finishing can be extremely harmful to marine life.
How do clothing dyes impact us?
Our skin is the largest organ in our body. As our skin has pores, these chemicals can easily be absorbed and cause serious health problems.
Some toxic dyes used to color clothes can also cause symptoms in many parts of the body such as airways and lungs, blood, eyes, ears, nose, throat, gastrointestinal system, heart, and skin.
What are plant dyes?
Plant dyes are obtained from plant sources obtained from roots, wood, bark, berries, etc, or animal sources.
There have been shreds of evidence of plant dyeing in many cultures and they have been used for centuries by our ancestors in prehistoric times to color fabrics, paper, and even highlight facial features.
Plant dyes are also commonly used within Indigenous communities.
Plant dyes also have minimum impact on the environment because they come from natural sources.
As they are biodegradable, disposing of the cloth will not have so much of an impact on nature.
Plant dyes are also renewable and give a soft hue or soothing shade. However, most natural and plant dyes fade with washes so it’s important to take extra care when washing plant dyed clothes.
It’s also important to acknowledge that certain plant dyes are not entirely sustainable.
Depending on what is used, certain resources can be rare and producing them requires large tracts of land. When shopping for plant dyes it's important to keep in mind how the dyes were created and plants sourced.
5 Clothing Brands Using Plant Dyes
If you’re looking to explore some clothing made with plant dyed fabric check out these brands!
This post does contain some affiliate links which means The Honest Consumer may receive a commission if you decide to purchase, however, at no additional cost to you!
Valani’s Plant Dyed TENCEL & Hemp Clothing
Valani crafts clothing with care - from the plant, to the factory, to the customer, this brand is passionate about building a better fashion industry for everyone involved and creating dreamy, feel-good clothing everyone can enjoy.
Valani has both a TENCEL clothing line and a Hemp + TENCEL clothing line that feature beautiful whimsical dresses, tops, and pants for women.
Kattra Moon’s Plant Dyed Kids Clothes
Kattra Moon features bold plant dyed clothing for kids. Discover unique onesies, dresses, and bottoms for your little one who loves nature.
Sustain by Kat’s Bright Plant Dyed Clothing
Each plant-dyed piece from Sustain by Kat is meticulously dyed with brilliant plant dyes from across the world, known for their ability to make beautiful, long-lasting colors.
No harmful chemicals here. Discover brightly colored blues and purples in shirts, scarves, and more.
Rosemarine Textiles Vibrant Plant Dyed Home Goods & Accessories
Rosemarine Textiles is a home goods + accessories brand based in Detroit that uses plant dyes. Sustainable shoppers can find zero waste linen tops, scrunchies, pillows, scarves, and more dyed with plants and featuring vibrant color.
Cloth foundry clean clothing
Cloth Foundry is a natural clothing brand that focuses on finishing their fabrics with natural materials that do not harm the planet.
For example, they use eggshells instead of heavy metals, natural enzymes instead of Formaldehyde, and dyes made from madder root, weld, and chestnut instead of petroleum derivatives.
They believe in finding cleaner and safer alternatives to harmful chemicals and using the highest quality materials. Shop joggers, shorts, tops, towels, underwear, and more..
Tips to avoid synthetic dyes
When shopping in stores it can be hard to know what dyes have been used. We've got some tips and tricks for you to look out for when shopping for clothes and eco-friendly dye practices.
Wash your clothes before the first wear to ensure that any excess dye is washed off
Look for Azo free dyes
Avoid buying from fast fashion brands as they are the greatest contributors to cheap clothing being produced with little care about the environment or their workers
Opt for natural fabrics like cotton, hemp, and linen. You could choose to wear sustainably produced cotton and linen colored with natural dyes on atleast some days
Shop sustainably from brands that are dedicated to having safer and cleaner clothes for their consumers and workers.
Use filtering substances to filter out any harmful substances that might enter the water stream from your clothes
Look for clothes that have not been dyed at all or dyed using plant dyes. You can find them under the tags “natural”, “unbleached” or “undyed”
DIY Plant Dye Color
If you're interested in dying some of your own fabric or clothes at home there are different online tutorials teaching the natural dyeing practice.
Basically you'll need some aluminum pots, rubber bands, gloves, water, plants, and fabric.
Here are a few examples of how you can achieve different colors from plants.
This can be as easy as using fruit peels, left over food scraps, flower petals, and is much more eco-friendly than traditional fabric dye kits.
Explore this list of natural dyes to feel inspired.
Green dye can be created using grass, spinach, artichokes, or more.
Red dyes can be created by using hibiscus flowers, beet roots, or other plants and vegetables.
Pink dyes can surprisingly be made using avocado skins.
Yellow dyes can be made with yellow onion skins or turmeric.
Hopefully this guide has helped you learn a bit about plant based dyes and how to choose clothing that is dyed responsibly.
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