I don't often get "face time" with our customers, mostly I am behind the screen, lurking on social media or trying to come up with fun posts to show our new products. But every now and then when I pull myself into the real world and finally get to meet our lovely customers, I hear a common comment. 

"What is viscose?" or "Viscose is not for me, it is synthetic." I made a post about this topic a couple of days ago but felt that it deserved a little more explanation, as quite frankly I did the research and now I need an outlet for my hours of "nerding". I would love it if you hung around for a bit, if you want the abridged version check out the post on Facebook or Instagram. I won't be offended. 

History

Ok so let's start at the beginning. England jumped aboard the silk trend in about the 1300’s but silk was incredibly expensive, it still is, and was reserved for the only the “hoitiest of toities”, so let's take a little jump forward now to 1664. Robert Hooke and English naturalist and nemesis of Newton, theorises that we could make artificial fibres using cellulose (wood pulp) and spin them into fabrics similar to silk.  Then came French, Hilaire de Bemiguad, (try say that 5 times fast) in 1889 created a fibre that would pave the day for viscose, he called it “Chardonnay Silk”, his process wasn’t viable though. It would take more years and a few more men to get the process down to what in 1905 was called “Artificial silk”. I will pop a link at the end if you are curious about the who’s and when’s…

What is Viscose really?

As Hooke theorised it is possible to make fibre from cellulose. Viscose is just that, made from wood pulp, usually from species such as Eucalyptus, beech, bamboo, sugar cane and even soy. The wood is then treated and spun to create fibres which can be woven together to create fabric. So, it is a natural fibre, right? Wrong, since the wood pulp is treated, we technically can’t call it natural. So, it is synthetic? Wrong again? Synthetic tells us that the fibres are made using chemicals and we have just learnt that Viscose is made from wood pulp. Where the heck does this leave us? Well chemically is similar to cotton and linen, but those don’t need the “extra-help” becoming their best selves. The term I have seen being thrown around is “Man-Made Natural” fibre, and I don’t know about you but this seems to make the most sense, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck…

Why we love it

This may be easier as a list.

• Viscose is a breathable fabric, it doesn’t trap body heat.
• It has a good fall, meaning that it hangs well.
• It is strong and durable
• So soft and smooth
• No static build up
• Good colour retention when it is printed.

Let’s talk sustainability!

There are a few factors at play here, lets start with the fabric its self. Viscose is made from a renewable resource- plants, which can be grown. We would love to see more bamboo being used as we know how fast that plant grows. The con to this is when “Big Fabric” start using land that was once forest for this purpose. I have found there are so many organisations involved in preventing this. The next factor is the processing, it uses chemicals in the processing from wood to pulp, bleaching and then to create the fibre. This process has become significantly cleaner over the years and the chemicals used have become safer producing very little waste. According to the research it has been cited that is an Eco-friendly fabric. I was then curious about the chemicals used in creating cotton, that is a dark rabbit hole that I do not wish to venture down, it is called the “Dirtiest crop” I feel we may need to choose our battles here.

Final thoughts

If you have got this far, yay! We need to be mindful of the choices we make, so we don’t fall into the “Fast fashion” trap. We don’t want to be adding to an already devastating problem. We will make you this promise, we will ensure that quality is of the utmost importance and that our pjs last a long as they possibly can. We ask that you wash your pjs on a cool or even a lukewarm wash, avoid tumble-drying as it will prolong the life of your pjs.

If you have any questions or further information, please pop me a mail.

Love,

Kim

kim@touslesjours.co.za

 Links to extra info:

https://bit.ly/3RzsrpI

https://bit.ly/46T6bv8