At Spinloom, we are working to build a transparent and environmentally responsible supply chain.
We all leave an impact on the planet, so we should all play a part in cleaning up our footprint. Businesses especially must help lead the way. At Spinloom, we are working to do our part by building an ethical supply chain that creates high-quality, low-impact, long-lasting products. We carefully consider our materials and work with our production partners to reduce waste, chemicals, and plastics that endanger our planet’s ecosystems. Our timeless basics are designed to last—so making the right choice by the planet can be as simple as putting on a T-shirt.
The world needs to move fast to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.
At Spinloom, we measure profits purely by the wellbeing of the planet. We use textile waste, an otherwise valueless material and recycle it into sustainable products. We chose to concentrate on cotton because it’s the most used, yet least recycled fabric and it demands an unbearable amount of water to grow.
Spinloom offers sustainable clothing that is influenced by the circular models of fashion. We develop products made of pre and post-consumer recycled materials. It does not only look good, but most importantly, feels good. Consumers are ever more concerned about their environmental impact. With the necessary impetus for positive change, we have the capability to secure the future of our planet, our home, for generations to come.
Our promise is to use materials that are recycled, sustainable or which go to waste. Spinloom is recycling upgraded, our vision is to recreate the fashion industry and lead it into the future of sustainability.
Spinloom’s goal is to ensure our production methods are rooted in ethical manufacturing and our garment designs are essential & comfortable. We connect with our customer & differentiate one motion, curated on trust.
Sustainable materials
Of the fabrics we use, 100% is made of recycled fibres. Pure Waste fabrics are a blend of two raw materials – mechanically recycled cotton collected from sewing factories and polyester manufactured from PET bottles. As a rule, we work with one material consistency and have developed the quality of fibre far enough to allow us to make fabrics for several purposes. We are constantly developing our materials. Thus, the cotton-polyester ratio in our yarns has changed over the years. After years of testing, we have decided on the current 60/40 ratio (60% mechanically recycled cotton and 40% recycled polyester). Of the fabrics we use, 100% is made of recycled fibres.
Cotton
The cotton we use is cutting waste from sewing factories in India. After the raw material is collected, the cutting waste is sorted by quality and colour. The colour of the finished product is determined by the material collected, so no dyeing is needed. After sorting, the cotton is mechanically broken into fibre, which can then be used again to manufacture yarns. We measure the water savings in our production by comparing our products with equivalent ones made from virgin cotton.
Polyester
We use recycled polyester as an addition to short, recycled cotton fibre, to make the yarns strong and standard-compliant. Disposable PET bottles are used as the raw material for recycled polyester. We believe that sustainable products are the most environmentally friendly option. Mechanically recycled cotton fibres are usually too short to provide sufficiently durable yarns. Yarns which cause pilling and snapping would also make our products short-lived. We use polyester to make our yarns more durable.
We work with recycled polyester because we do not yet have a better replacement for recycled polyester fibre. We are constantly searching for a better alternative to polyester so we can reduce our use of oil-based fibres and replace them with other fibres in the future. Fortunately, there are several promising solutions under development. We also hope to find recycled cotton fibre long enough to eliminate the need to blend other fibres in our products. That would also make recycling our products easier in the future.
Finishing, labels and symbols
We are making constant efforts to make the details of our products more sustainable and responsible. All our hang tags are made of recycled cardboard. All the cords are made of the same 100% recycled yarns as the fabrics in our garments. The care symbols and product labels are primarily printed directly onto the product. However, this is not possible with all products (such as sweaters). The product labels and size tags for these products are currently made of 100% polyester. We are, however, taking steps in a better direction. We are making efforts to have all our labels made of recycled material by 2022.
Chemicals
We use no harmful chemicals at all in our processes. The raw material, i.e., the cutting waste, that arrives from contractual factories already contains dye. Material batches are checked at random for chemicals. The factories which supply us with cutting waste conform with the requirements of the REACH chemical regulation. REACH forbids the use of such chemicals as azo dyes, formaldehyde, chromium, cadmium and nickel, nor do we use any of them at the manufacturing stage of our product. Spinloom products do not contain fluorocarbon (PFC) or phthalates, which are generally present in products such as rain jackets, plastisol transfers, and plastic consumer goods. Our collection does not contain such products.
Certificates
We believe that transparency and openness play a key role in improving the working conditions and environmental impact of the textile industry. Openness alone is not enough, however; third-party audits allow operating methods to be controlled against shared criteria. For us, both certificates and openness are important. We endeavour to share information on our social media channels, website and newsletters. In addition, we have been awarded certificates, which are explained in more detail below.
Certifications:
- REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) certified
- ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) contributors
- GRS (Global Recycling Standard) certification of recycled materials
- OEKO-TEX® (Sustainable Textile Production) certification of environmentally friendly and socially responsible production factories
- SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) certification of social and ethical performance factories https://www.sedex.com/
- BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) promoting workplace conditions in accordance with human rights, ILO conventions and national labour law. https://www.amfori.org/