COTTON Recycling

Cotton is recycled in these steps:

1) Garments and scraps that have been collected are sorted by color, this reduces the need to bleach or dye later.

2) Like-colored textiles are put into a large shredder to cut the fabric into very small pieces. This is called "shoddy" and is similar to the consistency of shredded paper.

3) The shredded material is combed and carded to get the fibers back to a fluff stage similar to raw cotton. This process helps to clean, soften, and organize the fibers lengthwise. If fiber for upholstery or batting is needed, the fiber is ready for this purpose now.

4) If the recycled fibers are intended to be reused in clothing, the recycled fibers are mixed with new fibers then spun into thread and multiplied to form yarns again. Due to the shredding in the recycling process, the cotton fibers are shortened, which makes them less strong. For this reason, it is optimal that only about 30% of fiber used for clothing is recycled to ensure durability.

POLYESTER Recycling

Polyester follows a similar process as cotton and is recycled by:

1) Sorting collected garments and scraps by color which prevents the need to bleach or dye later.

2) Like-colored textiles are then put into a large shredder to cut the fabric into very small pieces. This is called "shoddy" and is similar to the consistency of shredded paper.

3) The shredded material is melted into granular pellets of plastic, which are then cut into smaller chips.

4) The plastic chips are then melted back into a liquid form which can be processed into a filament (meaning continuous) fiber. This filament can then be spun into thread or yarn as needed. 

Several large clothing manufacturers are making fleece fabrics from recycled plastic bottles, which goes through steps 3 and 4 as well.