Ethics of silk and alternative bedding textiles

A semi-synthetic fibre typically made of wood from eucalyptus, spruce, and pine trees, but can also be made from cotton or bamboo. It's called a 'regenerated cellulose fibre obtained through the viscose process. It was first developed in the late 19th century and was originally marketed as artificial silk due to its softness, drape and lustre.

Rayon can have significant negative impacts on people, the environment and biodiversity during lifecycle. The wood pulp used could be from sustainable sources but only 1/3 of production is and roughly 1/3rd comes from ancient and endangered forests.

The most common method to produce rayon is the viscose process which uses toxic chemicals ("Carbon disulfide") to breakdown the wood pulp and turn it into a fibre. The chemicals are dangerous to workers and they pollute our waterways and air as they often aren't captured in production. It's estimated 150 million trees (Canopy Planet) are logged every year and turned into fabric such as viscose every year.

Workers can be seriously harmed by the chemicals which can cause reproductive harm and damage to the nervous system. Carbon-disulfide-based viscose isn't manufactured in the US anymore. Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, can cause chemical burns and corrosion to workers who handle it frequently without protection.

Another type of rayon viscose just using Bamboo plant fibres as the donor plant for the chemical soup. So how exactly is Bamboo fabric made?

Firstly, it involves extracting cellulose from bamboo pulp by breaking it down into tiny chunks and bathed in sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). Then this cellulose substance is compressed into sheets and exposing it to carbon disulfide with a little extra sodium hydroxide for good measure. Now we have a viscous material, which is where the name viscose comes from, and it is pushed under high pressure through tiny holes of a spinneret transforming it into strands. These strands are then immersed in a bath of sulfuric acid, sodium sulfate and zinc sulfate to create the filament fibre. Then these filaments are spun into yarn and woven into fabric. Voila, bamboo sheets, so natural.

Clothing and bedding 'made from bamboo' has been marketed as more environmentally friendly because the donor plant is tree-like, technically a grass, that grows rapidly and thrives all over the planet without artificial fertilisers or irrigation. But, most of it is made from viscose rayon, which is a toxic soup of chemicals and generates significant pollution.

It's so-not natural, that the raw plant materials are chemically dissolved to the point they no longer exist in the final fabric. In 2015 major retailers were fined millions of dollars by the FTC for mislabelling textile goods as 'bamboo' or 'made from bamboo' when they are really viscose rayon. These products are derived from bamboo, but not made from bamboo.

The law states: "If it's not made directly of bamboo fibre, don't call it bamboo. Not anywhere, not any way. That's a mistake". Instead they can label the products "viscose from bamboo".

Part of the rayon family of fabrics, it has some positive and negative qualities.

Cuprammonium rayon ("Cupro"), otherwise known as "Bemberg" after the manufacturer JP Bemberg, or "Ammonia Silk", is a semi-synthetic fibre made from cellulose dissolved in cuprammonium, which is a solution of copper, ammonia and caustic soda. This can be either from recycled cotton linter (tiny fibres around the seeds of the cotton plant), or from wood pulp.

It may seem like a new fabric in 'sustainable fashion', however this fabric was invented back in the 1890s by French chemist Dr Max Fremery, who obtained a patent for the cupro manufacturing process of mixing cellulose solution with copper salts and ammonia.

The high levels of chemicals used to break down and harden the fibres poison the environment and put workers health at risk. Because hazardous chemicals are used in the production process, the production of cupro in the US is currently illegal. If cupro isn't created using a closed-loop system, it poses risk of contaminating areas with copper waste and toxic chemicals.

The ammonia is extracted from natural gas, which is a non-renewable resource. It's difficult to dye, which requires more harsh and toxic formulas to complete the process.

It feels soft and drapes nicely, so its used for lining men's suits, blouses, nightgowns, lingerie and scarves. It has quite good moisture wicking properties so can be used in sweatpants and yoga clothes, although it's not stretchy but can be blended with spandex and elastane to give this property.

One of the benefits of Cupro, when compared to natural fibres such as cotton, linen and especially silk, is its low cost. Cupro is knitted or woven into fabrics for fashion to replace silk or polyester as a cheaper option.

Cupro, like other rayons and polyester creates microplastics every time you wash it, polluting the waterways and interrupting the endocrine systems of aquatic animals, causing irregular behaviour and reduced appetite as the fibres can block the digestion tract and damage stomach lining leading to reduced feeding and starvation.

Similar to rayon, it is regenerated cellulose fibres created by dissolving wood with a chemical solvent (N-methylmorpholine N-oxide, "amine oxide") and then extruded under high pressure to form fibres.

Even though it's of natural origin, it's a semi-synthetic, manmade fibre. Tencel branded lyocell says that they only source eucalyptus wood from sustainably sourced plantations and 99% of the chemicals used in manufacturing are recycled and the water treated and reused in a somewhat closed loop, so it's better than rayon in this regard and non-branded lyocell production, however it still uses a lot of harsh chemicals that can cause skin sensitivities.

This initially sounds good, but Eucalyptus plantations growing in non-native regions is not without controversy. The main issues are the impact monoculture Eucalyptus plantations have on the local wildlife (they don't like the smell, so the plantations are largely devoid of animal life); the harmful effect on the environment and ecology by draining water resources; it enhances soil erosion, suppresses undergrowth, depletes soil nutrients and allopathically affects nearby agricultural crop.

The fabric feels soft, is hypoallergenic and reportedly biodegradable at end of life, so these are positives. Negatives we have researched is that the fabric may be prone to pilling more than silk.

Verdict: Neutral. Plantations of Eucalyptus trees displace local animals, and flora. Depending on the exact source of timber, and the habitat it's grown in would determine if you can consider it ethical on balance.

This was the first synthetic textile fibre, invented by DuPont in 1938.

Nylon is made from a complex and energy-intensive chemical and manufacturing process derived from crude oil. It first creates the fibre's strong polymers, then binds them together to create a durable, strong, stretchy fibre that makes it useful as a fabric.

Broadly it combines two sets of molecules, one set is an acid group on each end and the other set has an amine group made up of basic organic compounds, on each end. There is room for variation but using hexamethylene diamine monomers and adipic acid is a common combination. When they're combined, crystalised 'nylon salts' are formed. Commonly known as nylon 6, 6 or simply 6-6. This is based on the number of carbon atoms between the two acid groups and two amine groups.

It's then heated into a molten state and forced into a spinneret, that creates thin strands and exposidng to air for the first time. Once it comes in contact with air it hardens immediately, and once hardened it can be wound onto bobbins. It can then be stretched to create strength and elasticity, which is one of the material's main benefits.

The term is now commonly used to refer to a range of polyamides, or synthetic polymers that encompass a broad range of differing products - clothing, rope, hard plastic mechanical parts, parachute coverings, tires. It converts petroleum into a type of stretchy plastic. It can be treated with formaldehyde-based residues to prevent shrinkage and does not biodegrade.

In bedding it would be a terrible choice of fabric. Hot and sticky and water resistant, so you'll be sleeping in a literal pool of sweat.

Verdict: Not ethical. Energy intensive, petroleum derived. Pollutes our ecosystem, non-biodegradable.

Sateen is a luxurious type of weave to imitate the smooth texture of silk. It's actually a satin weave but using cotton as the fibre, so it's called sateen.

Cotton production we have covered earlier, a lot of water, around 10-20,000 litres of water per kilogram of cotton! Said in another way, a kilo of cotton, enough to make a pair of jeans and t-shirt, uses as much water as a person drinks in 13 years.

50% of annual cotton production is grown in arid regions that rely extensively on irrigation.

Lots of toxic bleaches and chemicals are used in processing and finishing cotton with some of these chemicals remaining on the garment in trace amounts, which can cause skin sensitivities.

Formaldehyde can be used to prevent mildew in transportation as well as increase wrinkle and crease resistance in textiles, and also helps some dyes and inks better penetrate fabrics. It's commonly associated with that "chemical smell" of new clothes and is linked to many health problems like asthma, nausea, cancer and dermatitis.

Cotton bedding also dries your skin and hair out as it absorbs 27x its weight in moisture. It's also a breeding ground for bacteria and dust-mites so it requires frequent washing.

Fun fact about bedding generally:

A recent study by Amerisleep found that a pillowcase after just one week of use, had 17 thousand times more bacteria than a toilet seat, and after 4 weeks, had 39 times the bacteria of a pet bowl.  

We shed around 15 million skin cells each night which is a breeding ground for bacteria to multiply.

Verdict: feels nice to sleep on, but can't really be considered eco-friendly.

One of the oldest vegetable fibres in the world, dating back almost 5000 years. It's harvested from a fibre yielding plant of the nettle family and is called a bast fibre, like flax, jute and hemp. Bast fibres are fibres from the cellulose in the stalks of plants.

The fibres are stripped/scraped from the inside of the stalk by hand, it's very labour intensive, and then boiled in an alkaline solution before washing, bleaching, neutralising, oiling and drying.

It's a delicate, see through fabric that looks a little like silk. The positive properties are it doesn't shrink when wet, is very absorbent so comfortable to wear in hot weather, resists mildew and bacteria and dries quickly. Negatives include, it's labour intensive, needs to be treated gently as it can be stiff and brittle, and easy to break. If it's left folded in the same place for a long time it will break. It also wrinkles quite easily.

Verdict: not a practical fibre for bedding, nor viable alternative to silk.

A type that is created using long lotus stem fibres. Originating in Myanmar (Burma) it's now also woven by smaller-scale cottage industries in Vietnam.

Lotus grows without chemicals and requires very little moisture. As it is extracted and made completely by hand, the price of lotus silk is more than 10x the price of traditional silk, making it one of the most rare and expensive textiles in the world.

Verdict: Small-scale and expensive to be an alternative to conventional silk.

Another silk fabric you might see - Pineapple silk fibre - is produced from the fruit industry and not silk worms.

It's a manual process extracting fibres from the leaves of the pineapple plant.

It deteriorates when reacted with acid so has limitations in clothing and tableware.

It is biodegradable, and long lasting, turning into beige colour as it gets older.

It's no wonder the Cactus Silk, also known as Sabra, doesn't go unnoticed. It is a unique textile originating from Morocco, made from fibers extracted from the Agave cactus. The process of creating Sabra is labor-intensive and requires skilled artisans, who extract the fibers, wash, dry and hand-spin them into threads, and then weave them into vibrant, lustrous fabrics using traditional looms. The difficulty in making Sabra lies in the intricate extraction and weaving process, which demands expertise and patience. However, one downside to Sabra is that it may not be as durable as synthetic alternatives, making it more susceptible to wear and tear over time.

An innovation in fabric this silk is made from spiders and therefore it is not vegan. A million spiders go into creating a small piece of cloth and the production process is very capital intensive and so not feasible for daily use.

Spider silk is highly flexible, extremely stretchable, surpasses steel in strength. It is said to be five times stronger than a steel and can be used to create bulletproof vests.

Silk is remarkably elegant and possesses flame retardant and antibacterial characteristics.

Silk has various uses from being used as bedding, to making bicycle tires, to virgin silk used in medical industry to making clothes and more.

Since the early 1800s silk has been a popular textile. It is delicate, lustrous and beautifully crafted and the perfect material for a scarf, blouse or dress. A legend, claims silk was found in 2640 BC when Chinas Empress Xili Lingshi drank a cup of tea on the edge of mulberry bushes and ate tea in the area. A cocoon filled the cup and the queen understood that cocoons are composed of lovely yarns that are used in making fine fabrics when dissolving them. In fact Silk was first produced, mostly in Asia, but sericulture became popular throughout the world with the ages.

The silk industry eventually made its way to Europe after centuries with the trade route between Europe and Asia also known as the ' Silk Road'.

There is little known about the Ahimsa/ peace silk production. Created and trademarked by Kusuma Rajaiah who was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophies. The word means 'non violence' in Hindi, where silkworms are not killed during their suspended animation stage in the cocoon, and are allowed to leave the cocoon for their final 5-10 days where they mate, although they no longer eat. Usually Ahimsa silk is Eri Silk from Samia Ricini silkmoth a wild type of silk. This moth leaves a tiny hole in the cocoon, so it's able to exit the cocoon without using an acid to cut a hole in the cocoon like the Bombyx Mori silkworms do.

However, the grade of Ahimsa silk cannot be compared with the quality and softness of Mulberry silk. The silk produced is a wooly, cotton-like feel to the silk.

At first inspection, 'Peace silk' sounds like the humane solution, but even Peace Silk is not perfectly humane. You see, after emerging from the cocoon, the male and female moths are kept together for three hours to mate. The females are then segregated and placed in trays to lay hundreds of eggs. The males are put in the refrigerator, kept semi-frozen, and trotted out repeatedly to mate. They are eventually thrown into a dustbin to die lingering deaths when their virility diminishes. Silk farms have a limited supply of food and they can't feed all the hatchlings. So although the silkworm moths have emerged safely from their cocoons and will die naturally or in the dustbin, most of their offspring will die from starvation or dehydration within a few days of birth. Is this humane? We don't think so.

Even with wild silk, which is impractical and low quality, most offspring will suffer the same fate. Eaten by birds, ants, spiders and starvation. Silkworms are notoriously picky eaters, and will die of starvation if their chosen choice of food is not immediately available.

Silk industry goes back more than four thousand years when the cocoon began to be cultivated in the East. Generally speaking when it comes to conventional silk there are 11 grades of silk and the best silk grade of silk is Grade 6A Mulberry silk. Let us find out more about this smooth fabric.

The silk produced by bombyx Mori silkworm being fed Mulberry leaves. This is why it's called, Mulberry silk.

With the encouragement of sustainable fashion the demand for recycled silk has increased. Many companies source silk fabric which has been used and create outfits from them.

This is a highly ethical and sustainable approach, reducing waste, and a wonderful use of the precious silk fabric, as it's repurposed and reused.

Used by royalty and noblemen as bedding for centuries, modern technology has made silk bedding durable for every day use and brought to luxury seekers homes for not just its tactile benefits but also numerous other benefits. Let us explore some of the reasons silk pillowcases and silk bedding is becoming a popular choice for those in the pursuit of sweet dreams.

As explained above, silk is more ethical and sustainable than its counter parts. Its production process which involves planting of Mulberry tree helps maintain the ecological balance, reduce waste and produce a product that is biodegradable at the end of its life.

Silk naturally repels dust mites, mould and mildew. The bedroom is a major cause of allergies in the home. Tiny microorganisms are found in bedding and carpets, and feed off of our dead skin cells.

The excrement of dust mites is the number one cause of household allergies.

Silk fabric is recommended to beauty professionals as it reduces wrinkles and sleep creases. The cotton pillowcases wicks out the moisture from your skin making it dry and dull whereas silk being similar pH level to your skin retains the natural moisture. This method works well in the evening for optimal benefit and gives a more glowing skin tone.

As the cotton pillowcases dry out the hair but absorbing the natural moisture they cause hair to get dry and brittle. This can result into hair breakage, bald spots and even hair loss.

Sleeping on silk is recommended for all hair types. It is particularly beneficial for curly and coloured hair. The silk proteins and soft texture of silk help to prevent hair mattes and dry out while sleeping. It retains the hair's natural moisture and those who are used to going in for a regular blow dry find that their blow dry lasts a few days longer when they sleep on silk pillowcases.

Silk is also a wonderful insulator and regulates body temperature very well which makes it ideal for bedding. Keeping you warm when you’re cold and cool when you’re overheating. Your silk bedding can be used all year around.

A leading brand when it comes to silk bedding and accessories, Mayfairsilk creates biodegradable and sustainable silk products that when discarded at end of life and can be composted with food & garden compost.

All our products are grade 6A Mulberry silk and are OEKO-Tex standard 100 certified. Besides being super soft customers absolutely love the matt finish of our silk. We offer a durable fabric that you can enjoy all year around. Dry cleaning or machine wash using a silk setting is preferred although one can also hand wash the silk.

Our 22 momme and 25 momme silk bedding and accessories are widely distributed across the US, Middle East, Europe and Asia. We pride ourselves to be one of UK's sustainable brands and so we plant tree after every order made directly on our website. Our products aim to bring you joy in the simplest of moments that lead to sweet dreams.

Silk is a wonderful textile and all things considered, has low impact on the environment, is a completely circular industry with no wastage, long lasting, sustainably produced and renewable and has low sentient animal cruelty as silkworms are insects and asleep while when boiled for food and reeling the silk.