Post by @unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz

2026-07-30 10:38 UTC

@JoBlakely@mastodon.social @afewbugs@social.coop I might be wrong about this, but I have the impression that flax and bamboo fabrics are pretty different kettles of fish. - Flax is already sort of stringy and close to being a thread in the way it grows. - Bamboo is more like a raw material: you extract a liquid or sludge which can be used to make artificial thread, but you need possibly quite unpleasant chemicals to actually do the process and make the thread. So in my mind, flax is genuinely wonderful stuff & should have its praises sung more often, whereas "made from bamboo" sounds greener than it really is. Perhaps someone more expert can say if that impression is basically correct! #fabrics #environment #flax #bamboo

Replies (3)

@afewbugs@social.coop 2026-07-30 10:46

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz @JoBlakely@mastodon.social yes flax is actually very easy to process without needing much industrial equipment, https://www.flaxland.co.uk/processing I've even done it myself! Bamboo is extremely fast growing (it's the world's tallest grass!) so is a good quick source of cellulose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_fiber, but to get the cellulose out in a form suitable for making fibre out of does need some sort of chemical digestion process

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@quixoticgeek@social.v.st 2026-07-30 10:55

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz @JoBlakely@mastodon.social @afewbugs@social.coop basically all fibres we use for making clothes are a sustainability disaster to varying degrees. Cotton uses obscene quantities of water, and is often grown in highly inappropriate places (see Aral Sea), wool has all the animal raising ethics and environmental issues, esp as these days the sheep raised for wool, are not the same as those raised for meat, so your jumper is no longer a by product of lunch. Then we move onto the various manufactured fibres 1/n

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@TAV@mindly.social 2026-07-30 11:20

@unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz @JoBlakely@mastodon.social @afewbugs@social.coop maybe aiming to take care of the clothing we already have , repurposing /repairing existing damaged clothing to keep it in circulation would be a good direction to take. #learnToSew #hireASewist

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