Green Fabrics You Can Love!

Who wants to wear harsh chemicals next to their skin, right? Likewise, you don't want to wear fake fabrics that cost the earth her precious resources, either.

It's time to forget chemical-laden, petroleum-based clothing fabrics like nylon and polyester and try on natural, green fabrics for size. In fact, you may be surprised at all that organic clothing has to offer the fashion world. The exciting green clothing we'll describe here is made primarily from bamboo, soy, hemp, alpaca, merino wool, tencel, silk and organic cotton. These fabrics drape so nicely that you probably wouldn't know they're also a healthier choice if we didn't tell you! Find out how choosing these green clothing fabrics impacts your life (and the life of the planet) below.

Bamboo clothing - get your green on!

Bamboo clothing makes for extreme comfort and versatile designs. Great for both hot and cool climates, bamboo clothing offers built-in temperature control. It traps warm air in its cross-sectional fibers to keep you warm in the winter, while its breathable nature and wicking properties keep moisture at bay for greater comfort in hot times. It can look and feel like silk or very soft cotton, but it's also a surprisingly durable fabric thanks to the long, strong fibers produced during the manufacturing process. All this, plus bamboo clothing doesn't hold odor like synthetic textiles during exercise or after laundering, and it's naturally anti-static even straight out of the dryer! Bamboo is also a powerhouse when it comes to protecting the planet's resources. Maturing in only two years, it doesn't require fertilizer or pesticides to grow quickly and strongly. Make sure the bamboo clothing you choose has been produced from organic certified raw bamboo and that the fabric has been certified to the OKEO-TEX 100 standard. If you do, you will be certain your bamboo clothing is as eco friendly as possible.

Soy - good for you inside and out

For those who are trying to work a little soy each day into their diets, it may come as a surprise that you can also wear clothes made from soy! Soy fiber is a naturally occurring by-product of food production, so think of it as squeezing all we can out of the renewable resource of the soy plant. But you'll be happy to know that avoiding waste has never looked so good! Called the vegetable "cashmere", soy clothing is soft and luxurious - but you'll likely agree it's far better than cashmere because it's so easy to care for!

Hemp fashion - no longer an oxymoron

Earning a reputation as one of the most environmentally friendly fibers in the world, hemp is also one of the oldest plant fibers harvested for clothing, popular as far back as 8000 B.C. A particularly hardy plant, there's no need for pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers in its farming, and it needs very little water to grow. Strong, durable and naturally wrinkle-resistant, hemp clothing also offers the cool hand of linen and the softness of cotton. So forget what you thought you knew - hemp fashion looks great, feels good, and protects the planet, too.

Organic cotton - even better than the other cotton

While cotton has long been a natural fiber used in clothing production, chemicals and toxins used in its farming and manufacturing have turned it into nearly as bad an offender as the synthetic or man-made fabrics. Did you know that conventional cotton consumes 11% of the world's pesticides and 24% of the world's insecticides, despite the fact that cotton only uses 2.4% of total arable land? However, clothing made from organic cotton can bring you back to the true goodness of this staple fabric. Cotton produced organically avoids the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, instead relying on age old farming practices such as hand weeding and planting buffer crops to protect against pests.

Alpaca clothing - softer, lighter and warmer than wool

Alpacas are a free range roaming animal found primarily in South America. They are raised naturally in lush pastures that are rotated and they receive no hormones or chemical treatments. The soft fleece of the alpaca is lighter and softer than wool and extremely gentle on the skin, nearly hypoallergenic. Add alpaca clothing to your closet when you want to avoid chemicals in your clothing - many items don't even require dye to achieve beautiful colors! Over 52 naturally occurring colors lend beauty and diversity from pure white through shades of brown and grey to blackest black without relying on chemicals. This natural fiber is known for superb breathability while keeping you even warmer than wool.

Merino wool clothing - warmth without the itch!

This high-performance fabric hails from the softest of all wools, that of the merino sheep. Sourced from areas where sheep are bred for their wool rather than meat, merino wool is exquisitely soft and lacks the itch factor of lesser wools for all but the most sensitive skin. It's particularly comfortable for cold weather wear and offers superior breathability, temperature regulation, moisture control, and anti-microbial properties. If you've never worn merino wool before, it's time to check out this soft, eco-friendly fabric!

Tencel clothing - from nature to your closet

Proof that new doesn't always mean bad, this wondrous fabric has qualities you wouldn't have thought possible. Made with wood pulp from sustainable tree farms, tencel fabric is created though the use of nanotechnology in an award-winning closed-loop process that recovers or decomposes all solvents and emissions. Though it's certified by the international Forest Stewardship Council and 100% biodegradable, perhaps the greatest benefits are the variety and exceptional comfort you can experience with tencel clothing. Natural breathability and 50% greater moisture absorption than cotton help keep you comfortable while draping beautifully to flatter every figure. An extremely smooth, soft surface makes tencel clothing a great choice for sensitive skin.

Silk clothing - an ancient eco-friendly fabric still in style

Silk. Even the name of this stunning fabric seems to fall off the tongue lightly. The speculated origins of silk clothing are dated as early as 6000 B.C. in the wardrobes of Chinese kings. Today, natural, renewable silk fiber makes its way into modern apparel to add a soft, sheer touch. The natural silk protein fibers add luster to clothing by refracting light at different angles. To truly go eco-friendly with this fabric, choose silk fibers that are cultivated from the Bombyx mori silkworm, which is preserved during the harvesting of the fibers (bucking the typical approach that results in the death of the silkworms).

Once you try these eco friendly clothing options, I can assure you will never want to don another polyester or conventional cotton shirt ever again!

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6270810

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