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The Basics of Textile Recycling

• What Is Textile Recycling?

Textile recycling is the method by which old clothing and other textiles are recovered for reuse or material recovery. It is the foundation for textile recycling manufacturers. Your best heavy duty home sewing machine won't have any issues with this type of stuff. The fundamental steps in the textile recycling process involve the contribution, collection, sorting, and processing of textiles, and then the following transportation to end-users of used garments, scraps, or other recycled materials.

• The Urgency to Recycle Textiles

The significance of recycling textiles is increasingly being recognized. Over 80 billion garments are produced annually globally. According to U.S. EPA, around 16 million tons of textile public solid waste (MSW) was collected in 2015, about 6.1% of total MSW production. The rate for textiles obtained from clothing and footwear was 14.2%, while the restoration for sheets and pillowcases was 16.3% for the same year. As such, textile recycling is a vital challenge to be discussed as we strive to move closer to a zero-landfill society.

Once in landfills, organic fibers can take hundreds of years to decay. They may release methane and CO2 gas into the environment. Additionally, manufactured textiles are designed not to crumble. In the landfill, they may release toxic elements into groundwater and surrounding soil. It's time for any sewer to think about a sustainable purpose when sewing.

Check this guide Which Is The Best Heavy Duty Sewing Machine if you want to find a powerful sewing machine that can help you in recycling fabrics and old clothes.

• Sources of Textiles for Recycling

Textiles for recycling are generated from two primary origins. These sources combine:

1. Post-consumer, including garments, vehicle filling, household items, and others.
2. Pre-consumer, including scrap produced as a by-product from yarn and fabric production, as well as post-industrial scrap textiles from other activities.

• Wearable and Reused Textiles

According to a U.K. industry expert, about 50% of collected textiles are reused, and about 50% are recycled. About 61 percent of recovered wearable garments are exported to other nations. In some African countries, as many as 80% of people wear adopted clothing. The issue of sending used clothing to Africa has made some degree of a dispute as to the benefits of such initiatives, where it can harm local textile industries, native dress, and domestic waste generation.

• The Recycling Process

For textiles to be recycled, there are primary differences between natural and synthetic fibers. For natural textiles:

• The incoming unwearable stuff is sorted by type of material and color. Color sorting results in a material that does not need to be re-dyed. Color sorting means no re-dying is required, saving energy and dodging pollutants.
• Textiles are then drawn into fibers or shredded, sometimes introducing other textures into the yarn. Materials are shredded or pulled into fibers. Depending on the end use of the thread, other fibers may be incorporated.
• The yarn is then cleaned and mixed through a carding process
• Then the thread is re-spun and ready for subsequent use in weaving or knitting.
• Some fibers are not spun into yards, however. Some are compressed for textile filling such as in futons.

As a home sewer, the best way to deal with recycled fabrics such as jeans, denim, and leather is to use a good heavy duty sewing machine that can sew through layers of thick fabrics. You can save lots of money buying new clothes with this heavy duty sewing machine.

In the situation of polyester-based textiles, garments are destroyed and then powdered for processing into polyester chips. These are finally melted and used to create new fibers for use in new polyester fabrics.