It almost seems to have become a question of faith: Natural fiber or synthetic. No matter what I read or what article I publish about so-called sustainable materials, there's always someone who knows better. One post about insulation fabrics and the next comment is: "Why don't you write about material XY, it's much more sustainable and produces less microplastics!" The next person feels offended by merino wool because it comes from Tasmania, and the one after that? Who knows. I know that sustainability is a difficult - i.e. very personal - topic. It affects your own lifestyle. There's always some run-of-the-mill hack who doesn't do everything perfectly himself, but then wants to tell you what you can do better in life. That's why I would like to say directly on today's topic: regardless of whether you prefer to buy fabrics made from natural fibers or synthetics, you can't do it perfectly. That's something, isn't it? We can buy whatever we want and can happily choose between more or less pesticides or more or less microplastics. Or am I making it too easy for myself?
How natural and synthetic fibers work
Well, let's just start with how the materials work. Synthetic fibers have always been popular as functional fabrics. Polyester and polyamide hardly absorb any moisture, but can transport moisture away from the body particularly quickly depending on the weave. In addition, their insulating properties can be varied using special spinning processes and they are particularly skin-friendly thanks to their smooth surface. Unfortunately, this also means that bacteria adhere better and the fabrics can smell more quickly without special chemical treatment. Since natural fibres are very versatile and include everything from cotton to hemp and wool, it is difficult to generalize how they work. While merino wool, for example, is very suitable as a functional material and can absorb moisture well, cotton, for example, cannot. Cotton is very skin-friendly, whereas merino wool can scratch sensitive skin. There is probably no winner on points here either. But what about the environmental balance sheet?