Polyester fester

You might think your cuddle buddy is your spouse, boyfriend, or significant other—but in reality, your most constant cuddly companion is your clothing. Every day (unless you're a nudist), we wrap ourselves in fabric. It clings to our skin, moves with us, and essentially lives our lives alongside us. Given how close we are to our clothing - we need to be careful about what materials we surround ourselves with.

But have you ever actually looked at the fabric content of your clothing? Most people focus on appearance—style, fit, brand—but rarely consider health. It’s uncommon to see “clothes” and “health” in the same sentence. Yet the fibers we choose to wear don’t just affect our style—they impact our well-being and the planet.

My goal is to get you to hate polyester clothes, stop buying them, and to think more about natural materials such as cotton/linen/hemp.

Chances are you have polyester clothes, especially if you have participated in the Lululemon/ Outdoor Voices/ Athleta craze, or general fast fashion. Your comfy leggings are derived from crude oil. It's like the equivalent of dumping gas all over your legs while filling up your car next time. Okay not entirely.

But really polyester starts off as petroleum, it's then transformed into little plastic pellets (PET), and then melted into fiber (if you want a detailed explanation watch this video How Fast Fashion & (Recycled) Polyester Create The Microplastics In Our Blood)

Remember the BP oil spill? Disasters like that aren't just about fuel—they’re about fashion, too. Demand for crude oil isn’t limited to powering cars; it’s also what keeps the fast fashion machine running. Polyester manufacturing is a massive contributor. There’s never been a cotton spill, but polyester? It's global, political, and built entirely on a non-renewable resource.

Polyester is highly flammable, so it is treated with a flame retardant, increasing its toxic load that we then put on our skin. When you wash polyester, microfibers are released into the water which will come back to you hidden in your ahi tuna, and when you put them in the dryer they release toxins.

Some clothing brands promote the use of recycled polyester, but it's still posing the same threat - releasing micro plastics. It's better to completely avoid.

A surprising and disturbing study done on female dogs wearing polyester underwear experienced decreased progesterone levels and fertility issues, which normalized after removing the polyester: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...

While this was done on dogs and not humans, I'd still assume it's having an impact on us. Thankfully the symptoms were relieved when the clothing was removed, so maybe this doesn't suggest permanent issues, but we should still think that it's creepy they even show up. 

This study shows that when sweating in polyester, antimony oxide sb203 was released, which is a carcinogen: https://www.researchgate.net/p... (the definition of a carcinogen are substances that increase your risk of cancer)

Your #mycalvins are also your #myendocrinedisruptors.

DuPont - the American chemical company that has really not done much for the world aside from pollution. DuPont started off as a manufacturer for gun powder, then helped create the hydrogen bomb…it seems like everything with this company has been war and destruction driven, rather than a healthy skin conscious brand. It's not to say when buying polyester you're directly supporting DuPont, but I feel like knowing the origin of this material may help you reassess that skin and organs were not at the forefront of DuPont's thinking. 

Wearing this is obviously not going to kill you but a step towards good health would be to wrap ourselves in natural fabrics. I encourage you to check your tags and see what is polyester and what is not, and try your hardest to not purchase any more items. 

Alternatives to polyester are hemp, cotton, bamboo and linen. Yes all of these products are more expensive. But simultaneously we don't need much - choose one linen shirt to constantly wear over 5 cheap polyester shirts from a fast fashion brand. 

Remember in cartoons how the characters always are wearing the same clothes? And their single outfit in a way becomes part of their identity (like Timmy Turner)? What if we kept that for ourselves. Don't wear the exact same clothes everyday, please wash, but I want to push that we really don't need much to get by.

Avoid impulse purchases. If I'm in a store and I think I want something, I will pick the item up and carry it around with me for some time, then put it back. If I feel I miss it and disconnected when I put it back, it's a sign it could be something of value for my life. Think about what will serve you in the long run.

Instead of joggers and Lululemon pants I stick with all 100% cotton pants. Jeans/khaki pants are going to give you 100% cotton. 

Try a quilt instead of a blanket. The image below of these "extra fluffy" blankets that seem to circulate in everyones house are 100% polyester. Again, it's not going to kill you when you wrap yourself in this, but it really is just fluffy plastic. 

Anything linen as well will work wonders. Whereas polyester is melting plastic into fiber, linen comes from the fibers that grow inside the stalks of the flax plant. Wearing a plant sounds a lot healthier right? Linen has this magic versatility where it keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

Linen is harder to find so I would recommend doing a general google search and getting something shipped to you. One example I got from just a quick google search is: https://www.ecoaya.com/

Aside from that, check tags while you shop, always be asking yourself what materials you are inviting into your life, and enjoy your clothes :)