I started to make my dye free - bleach free cloths to help people who have textile dye allergies, also called "textile dye dermatitis". One of my dye free bleach free cloths is shown below. It is 100% cotton.
This made me think about the bigger picture. Why are we addicted to colour? Why do we go for the coloured yarn first? Why was it so hard for me to find a dye free bleach free supplier!? AND how much energy is used in the process of dying the cotton.
The plastic free movement is about more than cleaning up the ocean, human health concerns of microplastics and reducing landfill volumes. It is also about Green House Gases. How energy intensive is it to dye cotton?
The most common brands on the shelves are Bernat and Sugar'n Cream. They are dyed by Spinrite Yarns. Luckily they have shared a video on Youtube so we can see what happens in the process of adding colour. It is energy intensive.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPpjP-kRoZk
1) It is HOT. The yarn is in water >100 °C for hours, and the driers are very hot.
2) It uses a lot of water!
3) If we can accept things that are not coloured we might make a huge difference in our world.
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