This Repreve Fabric Will Make You Want to Wear Plastic
What is Repreve Fabric and how is it made?
Repreve is a fabric made of recycled materials, including plastic bottles.
Also, Repreve fabric doesn’t just include swimwear — it’s used for everything from jeans to car seats to backpacks and more.
The company that makes it, Unifi, has a super sophisticated way of producing this eco-friendly fabric.
Here’s how they do it: At a recycling facility located in North Carolina, plastic bottles are sorted, washed and chopped into flakes. Those flakes are then blended, melted and turned into Repreve “chips” and loaded into silos. One silo alone holds an equivalent of 27 million plastic bottles!
How does this process compare to the way that virgin fabrics are made?
First of all, you might be wondering what virgin fabrics are. This is just a term used for fabrics made from new/unused materials.
To understand how the process of making virgin and recycled fabric differs, let’s get specific about how each fabric is made.
Since most swimwear fabrics are made up of a mix of spandex with nylon or polyester, I’m going to focus on those types of fabric. (Natural virgin fabrics, like cotton and wool, are made a little bit differently. I’ll cover this topic more in-depth in a later blog post.)
Spandex, nylon and polyester — unlike natural fibers like wool and cotton — are all fibers that don’t exist in nature. Instead, they’re made in chemical plants from natural materials like coal and petroleum (nonrenewable fossil fuels).
Polyester, for example, is made through a chemical reaction between coal, petroleum, air and water. It then becomes a polymer that goes through an extrusion and spinning process that turns it into a usable fiber.
While this process has a lower environmental impact than that of natural fibers in terms of water usage and wastewater, it requires a much larger amount of energy.
According to Nature, textile production produces 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent per year. That’s more than international flights and maritime shipping combined! And in 2015, 778 million of those tons were just from the production of polyester.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I’m not saying that synthetic fibers like nylon and polyester are bad.
They’re actually great, long-lasting materials that can be used to make high-quality clothing. (The fact that they’re long-lasting, don’t biodegrade, and most often end up in landfills is a topic for yet another post. Read more about this phenomenon here in my post about the effects of fast fashion.)
What is “bad” or harmful, however, is the way these fibers are currently made. The process increases our dependence on petroleum-based substances, uses huge amounts of energy and emits greenhouse gases.
The process needs to change!
And that’s exactly what’s beginning to happen with recycled fabrics like Repreve.
In terms of chemical structure and quality, virgin fabrics and recycled fabrics are actually exactly the same. However, there are several differences when it comes to materials used and impact on environment:
- Repreve fabric is made of post-consumer plastic bottles that would otherwise be ocean-bound.
- The process of making Repreve fibers uses 45% less energy than the process used to make virgin fibers.
- 30% less greenhouse gases are emitted than in the making of virgin fibers.
- 20% less water is used.
What are some other benefits of repreve fabric?
Aside from all of the performance properties that make the fabric super functional and comfortable, there are other advantages too.
So far, Unifi has recycled over 19 billion plastic bottles. What kind of impact does that have on the world and the people in it?
Well, here are some numbers from the Repreve website that show just how much of a difference that recycling makes:
- It generates enough energy to power 133,000 homes for an entire year!
- It provides daily drinking water to 1.7 million people for a year.
- It also improves air quality by avoiding CO2 emissions equivalent to 385 million kilograms.
But is it comfortable? Does it feel different than regular fabric?
When I first decided to buy this fabric, I had my doubts about the comfortability level of a fabric made from plastic.
But when the fabric arrived, I was super surprised about how soft and smooth it is! It also has a nice 4-way stretch and is cool to the touch.
I will say that Repreve fabric is a little bit thinner than other swimwear fabrics I’ve used. So I’ve had to add an extra layer of lining to my swimsuits to ensure that they won’t be see-through. That’s just something to keep in mind if you plan on using this fabric for your own projects.
How functional is repreve fabric? How does it hold up in water?
In my experience, this fabric holds up just as well as regular swimwear fabric in water. I had no issues wearing it in a pool.
So, I’d say that Repreve is super functional and can be worn just the same as any other swimsuit you have. (Which makes sense, since the chemical makeup of this fabric is exactly the same as virgin swimwear fabrics.)
Where can I buy it?
If you’re looking to buy this fabric to use for your sewing projects/brand, there are a couple places you can order from:
- By the yard: Fabric.com (This is where I got mine)
- Wholesale: Pine Crest Fabrics
Which brands are already using repreve fabric?
There’s actually a long list of brands already using Repreve fabric, many of which you might already know. For the full list, check out Repreve’s website here. Otherwise, here’s a list of some you might have heard of before:
- Aeropostale
- Fitbit
- Ford
- Lane Bryant
- Patagonia
- And many more!**
Here are three of my favorite brands using Repreve fabric:
- Mara Hoffman — clothes and swimwear
- Vitamin A Swim — swimwear, coverups and accessories
- Rubberband — affordable, sustainable jeans
For more of my favorite sustainable and affordable swimwear brands, check out this blog post.
**Disclaimer: not all products made by the aforementioned brands use Repreve fabric. Be sure to look for products labeled “Repreve” or “sustainable.”
Is Repreve Worth Buying?
Absolutely!
There’s really no reason not to buy items made from Repreve recycled fabric. The quality and comfort-level is exactly the same as what we’re already wearing. Plus, prices really don’t differ much from items made of virgin fabrics.
The fabric I used for this swimsuit, for example, cost me $12.48/yard.
In comparison: regular red swimwear fabrics from one of my favorite stores, The Fabric Fairy, vary anywhere in price from $9.99/yard to $12.49/yard. So, there’s really hardly a difference in price, if any at all.
So, please, next time you’re making a clothing purchase, consider buying an item made of a recycled fabric like Repreve! It won’t hurt your wallet and will make for a purchase you can truly feel good about.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Love,
Emily
P.S. – Here are all of the sources I consulted while writing this post. Feel free to check them out to learn more.
Laura
I didn’t know about recycled fabric. Thanks for sharing!
emilystuebing
LauraNo problem! Thank you for reading 🙂