water pollution and the textile industry

The textile industry has a big pollution problem. The World Bank estimates that 17 to 20 percent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment. They’ve also identified 72 toxic chemicals in our water solely from textile dyeing, 30 of which are cannot be removed. This represents an appalling environmental problem for the clothing designers and other textile manufacturers.

With consumers eager to purchase eco-friendly products, water pollution from dye houses and coloration treatments could be a major hurdle for apparel manufacturers. How can a company claim to sell a “green” shirt if the dyeing process used to color the garment wastes and pollutes water? Some companies have taken action and removed dyes from certain garments, but it seems unlikely that everyone would be happy with off-white or beige as the only choices at the store. Consumers want color and variety in their clothing.

Fortunately, for companies producing goods with synthetic fabric there is a solution: AirDye®. AirDye is a dyeing process that uses air instead of water to dye garments, allowing companies to create garments with vivid designs and colors, without polluting our water and environment.

Here are the facts about AirDye technology:

• Uses 95 percent less water
• Emits 84 percent less Green House Gases (GHG)
• Requires 87 percent less energy
• Reduces damaging of goods (Up to one percent of goods are damaged using AirDye compared to 10 percent of traditionally dyed garments)
• No Rules Wash®.  Wash at any temperature, with whites or colors, with or without bleach
• Allows for new designs. Dye different sides of a single piece of fabric different colors or designs

When creating eco-friendly clothing, drapes, or even carpet, it is important not to forget the role dye plays as an environmental ill. Consumers are becoming quite conscious of how bad traditional textile dyeing is for the environment but have put up with it until now because there has not been a viable alternative. AirDye is that alternative.

Here’s an example of how AirDye compares to the traditional wetdye process for 25,000 medium mens t-shirts:

This unique dyeing process is already used to create vibrant, double-sided swimsuits for Miss Peaches Swimwear, used with 100% recycled PET for eco-chic t-shirts by A Lot To Say, ground-breaking hospitality industry window coverings from Hunter Douglas Hospitality, designer handbags by JulieApple, and mostly recently, the runway fashions of New York design house Costello Tagliapietra.

In the race to “go green,” companies need an advantage. The companies above have found theirs. What will yours be?

Learn more about AirDye’s environmental benefits detailed in our Environmental Profile / Life Cycle Assessment.