What not to wear/wash? Say NO to fleece.

Lemongrove, I agree. At least you had the courage to say what you think.

Don't forget that fleece clothing is made from recycled plastic. Swings and roundabouts ?

Thanks nanarayner.

would washing a fleese inside a pillowcase work at catching the particles do you think? What do you do with the particles afterwards ?

Thanks for the link tizliz.

Perhaps the problem is more our throw-away society, rather than what we are actually throwing away.
Only a generation or two ago, people generally had far fewer clothes than they do now.
I’m as guilty as anyone

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3808980/Washing-clothes-artificial-fabrics-releases-700-000-plastic-fibres-environment.html

It's an old article from 2016 but it might interest some.

Oh the moral maze that surrounds what was once pleasurable.
Now not only
1) do I need this?
2) can I afford this?
3) does my bum look big in this?
but also
4) is it environmentally friendly?
?

Maw,

The environment isn't very friendly towards us. We'd perish without food, shelter and warmth, all of which until recently we've had to wrest out of the environment (and it killed a good proportion of us in the process).

I think the environment will survive. Whether we do is another matter.

Shearing sheep is far from cruel , leaving them with heavy woolly coats is cruel , it weighs them down in wet weather and overheats them on sunny days

I prefer natural fibres for everyday use, but fleece has a huge advantage if you are out of doors, in that it will keep you warm even if it gets wet - this was its original selling point back in the 80s when it first started to appear in camping shops. If your woolen sweater & socks and cotton trousers get soaked you will freeze!

Tim Severin, author of The Brendan Voyage disagrees with you there about wool, henbane. The book is about a reconstruction of the sailing by Irish monks to Newfoundland in the sixth century. They did not have cotton, of course, but they did have wool and apparently the modern sailors who tried out the voyage using only materials that would have been available to sixth century monks, found that wool retained warmth even when wet (and in perishing cold North Atlantic water at that!). The wool would have still contained its lanolin so would be somewhat water repellent, like traditional fishermen's jumpers.

I have never found fleece as warm as wool and it is certainly not as breathable as any natural fibre whatever the advertisers of it say.

Also, I climbed Suilven on a cool and drenching day and stayed warm in my hand-spun, hand-knitted, Jacob's (sheep) fleece jumper under my less than waterproof kagool so I'm with Severin. My jumper did not contain the original lanolin so it got wet (though I had spun it with the lanolin still in it; spinning's easier that way. I washed the wool in skeins before knitting it up).

That's interesting Baggs - I know my cotton trousers don't keep me warm when wet, but have never actually got a woolen jumper really soaked, because they are usually under a goretex jacket in bad weather!

Well done for climbing Suilven btw, I don;'t think I could have done that even when fit enough for serious hill walking! (though I did manage Goat Fell on a a holiday many years ago...)

Baggs. No, I can’t even wear wool with a cotton shirt underneath! Somehow bits poke through somewhere. Even Lambswool which feels lovely and soft to the touch, when I put my face against it, feels scratchy. I wonder if it has something to do with body hair as it’s ok to my fingers.

Socks for walking boots used to be a big problem as they were always wool, but cotton is now available. Not as warm though.

I used to knit Aran sweaters for the Black Sheep Shop in Norfolk. Natural wool with it’s lanolin and I could knit it ok as long as I was wearing thick denims. I made one for my DH but he never wears it as its too hot!

Cotton's rubbish for cold, wet weather, isn't it?

I don't think Goretex had been invented when I climbed Suilven, or if it had it was out of my price range.

nfk, I've noticed that about alpaca, even baby alpaca: it feels lovely in my fingers but very scratchy on my neck. I can wear an alpaca jumper with a cotton polo shirt or rollneck underneath though, and for eight or nine months of the year up here that's what's needed!

Went round the foot of Suilven last week and my OH looked longingly but don’t think he will ever get up it and I certainly can’t so will never test my new Barbour properly

Baby alpaca. You would think wouldn’t you that that should be ok! The funny thing is I can cuddle a lamb or alpaca and it’s lovely and soft against my face, just not when its off the animal. Eureka moment! Perhaps its in the processing then!

My further research into the question of how does a person dispose of fleece is complex.
If you have a progressive recycling program in your area, you best choice may be to include it into your home recycling bin.
The only real company attempting to curve this trend is in Canada at Mountain Equipment stores wherein they ship to a recycler in Japan, see this link www.newswire.ca/news-releases/recycling-program-will-turn-fleece-jackets-into-raw-fibre-533771481.html
or read this:
"Teijin Fibers through the textile manufacturer's Eco Circle(TM) recycling system. Teijin's fibre-to-fibre recycling system breaks down polyester garments by crushing them, turning them into granules and then running them through a chemical process to remove dyes and other chemicals. The resulting monomers are then repolymerized into raw polyester."

However obviously such advance recycling is not available yet to all of us, I welcome input into additional solutions. But for now, the recycling bin is likely the best option.

Thank you all for thinking of ways we, a small group, can make an impact. I am not an environmental "cause" agent, but do care. If one can do little things then maybe we can help educate and change things for the better.

wot thank you, I always say what I think on here, that’s what forums are for, our own true opinions, and there is enough having to pussyfoot around in real life, with family and friends and committtees and so on without doing the same on forums.Nice to see you posting again and hope things are well with you.Remember the music game?

I'm another one who has no intention of giving up wearing fleece. We work outside in all weathers and a fleece jacket, jumper or body warmer is lightweight, warm, easy to wash and quick to dry.

Same goes for throws and dog bedding.

nananancy have you done any research into what happens to cotton fibres that come off towels and sheets when they’re washed?
Serious question.

I can't see the point of putting them into the recycling if someone else is going to end up wearing them or they go to landfill.

More likely they’ll be incinerated and chemically pollute the atmosphere instead.