Tencel Lyocell

Materials & Process

Source: Plant
Main Material: Hardwoods (Eucalyptus, Birch, Oak)
Secondary Material: Amine oxide, lubcricants (silicone, soap)

Process

Wood is chipped and loaded into a vat of chemicals to soften the wood chips into a pulp. This is washed with water (and sometimes bleached) before being dried into a sheet and rolled into spools. The sheets are broken into squares in pressurised, heated vats of amine oxide (recoverable). Having dissolved into a clear liquid, it goes through spinnerets to be turned into long fibers. The fibers are run through a vat of diluted amine oxide before being washed in water, dried and lubricated with silicone or soap before being carded.

Unlike similar textiles, lyocell production employs a "closed loop" extraction process, which means that the same batch of amine oxide is used to extract multiple batches of Tencel.

Ethics

Biodegradable	Kind
Unknown	Semi-synthetic

Wardrobe