What are fibers?  Fibers are in our life everyday?  Fibers are what we wear on our bodies.  Fibers are what we use in a coffee filter, a tea bag or toilet paper.  Unless your running free and naked on a nude beach the human body is in constant contact with fibers. Fibers are being used for your everyday needs either on your body or being used for everyday items like writing on a paper notebook.  I am going to try and break down and bring an awareness as to why what types of fibers or materials we use on the daily and how it can affect our physical health.  Hopefully this post will inspire you to make healthy choices in the clothes you purchase and the linens you use for your home.

My First Experience With Fibers

About ten years ago I was booked a job at a trade show.  Normally when I work in trade shows we are usually a crew of about 3 girls and or guys minimum.  In this show I was booked alone and the client wanted to meet me and train me the day before the show started.  I did not know what I was getting into. So I proceeded to find the booth location at the Miami Beach Convention Center and met with the client.  The client was a man around 50 years old and he was from the United States.  The company was from Germany the this client was a manager from North Carolina.  So this man proceeds to explain to me about the company and he has a little hesitation as he is saying what the company does.  Finally he just says the awkward, we are the largest manufacturer of tampons in Germany. We are at capacity in sales and we have our booth here at this show to visit our existing clients. We need you to stay at the booth when we have our meetings.  We want to train you a little on fibers so that you can answer questions and look knowledgeable.

Well that was it a fast crash course in fibers and now I am representing the company.  I met the next day with their lead scientist and he explained to me how fibers work and what different types there were and the scientific names of these fibers.  I learned a lot about working this convention such as a water soluble fiber like a tea bag or coffee filter is called Poseidon in science terms. Also the US had two companies that made fire retardants for mattresses and right after the companies merge the federal government made it mandatory to place fire retardants in all mattresses being manufactured.  The tampons that this company manufactured were made from Eucalyptus trees.  Basically they trim down the branches and make a pulp and then break that down more and spin into a fiber which created the material to make the tampon. (Never knew the brand of these tampons but I worked for them)

Learning to Sew

Fast forwad a few years later and I relocated to Los Angeles California.  When I first moved to the new city I enrolled in a sewing class at Mood Fabrics.  I started to learn to design patterns and sew and I loved it.  My sewing teacher https://linda-tidwell.square.site/  linked here for reference made a comment that once you learn how to sew you never will look at material the same again.  She was right.  You can see quality fibers and material and quality stitching and design in clothing and anything sewn.  So at this time I became invested in working only with natural materials.  Meaning for me the fibers that come from nature which are: silk, cotton, wool, linen, bamboo, hemp and some forms of rayon.  Here is a list of the derivatives of these fibers if you are interested:

• SILK – SILK WORM
• COTTON- GROWN IN FIELD
• WOOL-SHAVED FROM LAMBS FUR
• LINEN-SPUN FROM FLAX SEEDS
• BAMBOO-BAMBOO
• HEMP-HEMP
• RAYON-EUCALYPTUS TREES
• ALSO PERSONALLY I LOVE WORKING WITH LEATHER MAINLY COWHIDE

So these are the natural fibers that I started shopping for and paying attention to.  A couple of years later I got into home decor and had now relocated to Miami Florida.  I had heard about linen sheets and how good they were for you but at the time I couldn’t exactly explain why?  I invested in a queen size sheet set of linen top and bottom and two pillow cases.  The day after I first slept on my sheets I found a video that explained materials and fibers and there frequencies.  To sum it up an Israeli scientist measured the frequencies of fibers and it is broken down as this:

• HUMAN BODIES FREQUENCY IN A HEALTHY STATE IS 100
• ORGANIC COTTON AND HEMP FREQUENCY IS 100
• REGULAR COTTON FREQUENCY IS 70
• HUMAN BODIES FREQUENCY IN A DISEASE (NEAR DEATH STATE) IS 15
• SILK, POLYESTER, ACRYLIC AND RAYON HAVE A FREQUENCY OF 20 (NEAR DEATH FREQUENCY)
• FREQUENCY OF LINEN IS 5000
• FREQUENCY OF WOOL 5000

Notes:

1) If you wear linen and wool together they cancel each other out and the frequency becomes 0.  The scientist believe this is because the frequency of linen spins one way say, to the right and wool to the left.

2) Hospitals back in the 50’s used to have linen sheets.  Linen is very healing to the body giving the high frequency of the material that helps your body to heal and restore as you sleep.

3) Polyester, Nylon and Acrylic are synthetic fibers.  Low frequency  of around 20 and you can notice when doing laundry that static shock you get when pulling these items out of the dryer?  That is because this material is very electrically charged which is harmful to the body as it can disrupt the bodies natural electrical field.

4) Fire retardants are an unnatural chemical very harmful to the body.  Why it is required in mattresses while you sleep and restore?  Also a lot of manufacturers use in children’s clothing.  In a landfill in San Francisco where mattresses were dumped a lot of the women who lived close by they found fire retardants in the women’s breast milk.  (Double note:  If you were wearing fire retardant pajamas or sleeping on a fire retardant mattress you would more than likely die of smoke inhalation if you can make it that far into a fire without burning on your mattress or in your pajamas. Maybe quick question, why is this a required ingredient in all mattresses?

5)  I’ve know that polyester comes from crude oil.  Imagine rubbing crude oil on your body and walking around all day.  That is what these fibers essentially do and many manufacturing of woman’s bras, the main material used is polyester.

Fibers Effects on Physical Body

Just a quick example here from studies that have been done.  A lot of the dry fit materials or work out wear is made from synthetic fabrics like Spandex, nylon and polyester, all of which are essentially plastics. These materials are made from petrochemicals and are often formulated with harmful chemical additives like phthalates and bisphenols. Now, research has been shown that sweat leaches chemical additives from plastics and those chemicals are then available to be absorbed through our skin.

So imagine we have been taught that when you sweat it is a great way to detox and get toxins out of your body. So know were wearing mainly polyester and plastic fibers in our workout clothes.  So what is happening is those fibers have chemicals in them.  So you go out and have a great sweat session.  The moisture from your sweat causes these chemicals to release from the clothing onto your skin.  What do you think will happen?  Your skin will absorb these chemicals.  Reintroducing new toxins right back into your body.

This is why for over 10 years I am always looking for cotton workout clothes and especially leggings.  They may fade in color or not last as long but I am happier wearing something not made of a synthetic fiber.  Not easy to find we definitely have a ways to go on this topic but its a start to bring the awareness.

I also want to point out about the bras.  I have been looking for cotton bras for many years.  I am not sure if anyone noticed but they brought back cotton bras but if you look in the cup it is a polyester material?  Really doesn’t make sense as that is the part that is touching your skin.  I have been on a mission to wear cotton bras for more than 10 years pretty much cotton everything.  Why?  Because the materials that touch our skin really actually go into our pores. In the last year I have been looking for organic cotton and linen more so as fabrics to be wearing.  I have found some companies that make organic cotton bras and also a women who sews linen bras.  Let me find some links here for you.  I will keep this post open and ad links as I find more alternatives.

• https://www.etsy.com/listing/1577406211/custom-size-bra-linen-bra-linen-bracette?ref=search2_top_narrowing_intent_modules_personalizable-1&logging_key=f7692ecd57aa084697f7ca60c6d3769ccd04060a%3A1577406211
• http://thirdlove.3anx.net/aOeREY
•  Once on link type in Organic Cotton on search and the bras come up

Note, Third Love is an affiliate link and there is no added cost to you but a commission to me if purchased.  Very amazing bras that add half cup sizes so if you are looking for a good fitting bra, this company definitely can help you.

Also note, when you first buy clothing I would suggest always washing it before you wear.  I’ll probably have to do a major post on laundry detergent too.  But a lot of clothing has formaldehyde and chemicals on it from the boxing and shipping process so again you will be wearing those chemicals until you wash the item.

Conclusion

We use fibers in our clothing and our everyday usage,  including sheets and towels.  Basically anything that is touching or comes into contact with your skin is affecting your health.  I wanted to create this post because this is how I have been living my life for well over ten years.  I am not just a food ingredients reader I am a label reader.  You will find me in any clothing store looking for the tag, normally found on bottom right side of item on the inside.  I will read the label and if it says polyester or any derivative I will pass.  Does it take longer to shop?  Yes, but I am willing to take that time.  If this subject is all new to you but your feeling motivated feel free to search my suggestions and I will be adding more.  Clothing manufacturers need to be held accountable but also companies too.  Especially when it comes to work uniforms or kids school uniforms.  Were literally getting exposed to chemicals.  Lets put our dollars to work to let people know what we want more of and what companies you are choosing to support.

I am going to put some reference links here and you can learn more about fibers and natural materials and your health.  As always any questions or comments feel free to leave a comment or use the contact form.

References

https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2023/nov/02/workout-clothes-sweat-chemicals-cancer

https://gaiaconceptions.com/pages/the-frequencies-of-natural-fabrics

Check out the podcast on Spotify The Hannah Dunning Project.  She talks about all things materials.