Recycled Fabric Suppliers: Ultimate Guide 2023

Recycled fabric suppliers disrupted the fashion scene around 2017 for good reason. They provided a sustainable manufacturing solution that performance brands had been craving. For years, the green advice was to switch from petroleum-based synthetics like polyester and nylon to more natural fibers like cotton and hemp – bonus points if organic. But those fibers don’t hold up for swim, winter jacket, and yoga brands in wet, harsh conditions. Recycled polyester finally offered a sustainable alternative without sacrificing quality.

However, if you have been keeping up with the news, you’ll know that recycled polyester isn’t the cure-all once hoped. But it did spark a movement. Thanks to increased demand, other sustainable options became popular. 

In this article, I will talk about all the recycled textile options available and share some of the best suppliers in the industry.

BUT BEFORE WE START

Have you heard about the super secret document that everyone in the fashion industry uses, but no one is talking about? Probably not. That is because you can’t find it on Google or Instagram (believe me, I’ve tried).

It’s a form I have used for over 13 years at every job I have ever had. Literally everyone from brands to fabric suppliers, use it, but you can’t find it anywhere publicly.    

The best part? It can cut your sourcing time in half, and save you tons of money in product development! This is the kind of info consultants charge the big bucks for. And, I’m giving it away for free until the end of the month. 

So, get ready to make fashion startup life a whole lot easier, and GRAB YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE NOT SO SECRET SOURCING DOC HERE.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

Let’s start! By the end, you’ll understand recycled fabrics and know the best suppliers for you. 

WHY ARE RECYCLED FABRICS SO POPULAR? 

CONSUMER DEMAND

While it might seem like the fashion gods determine all trends, industry insiders know that progress is comes from customer demand. On the day-to-day fashion level, trends use sales data. If a new style doesn’t sell, the brand will make less of it. If a new style sells well, brands won’t just make more; they will make multiple variations of it. Recycled fabric suppliers have seen record sales because consumers are wanting environmental change. And brands that adopt these trends faster are gaining the most.

A PRACTICAL SOLUTION

Recycled fabrics perfectly suit performance brands. And part of the reason recycled fabrics have become so popular is largely thanks to the rise in athleisure styles. Typically, these types of designs need polyester and nylon for moisture management and durability. Natural fibers just don’t perform as well. Period. 

Now, without quality tradeoffs, performance brands can offer high-performing products with diverse fiber options, all while making a positive environmental impact.  

TBH, I am still on the hunt for a good pair of cotton workout leggings that last and don’t stretch out. If you know any, email me. While there have been advances, to my knowledge, they just can’t compete with the synthetic stuff.

BETTER TECHNOLOGY 

Recycled fiber technology has been around for a while – since 1993, to be exact. But, early recycled fabrics felt pretty gross, like squeaky styrofoam. 

Back then, the technology just wasn’t there to create a product that consumers actually wanted to buy. Yea, it was cool that they could make fabric out of old water bottles. But, no one actually wanted to put it on their body.  

Thanks to decades of increased demand, fiber suppliers invested more and more money in recycling technology to continue to improve the feel of the fibers. And, today, many recycled fabrics match or exceed virgin textile quality. 

And this is really what I want you to take away from this story… 

People can demand sustainable options all they want, but there needs to be financial investments into technology to actually make it happen. 

WHAT IS RECYCLED FABRIC? 

In its simplest definition, recycled fabric takes waste, breaks it down into simpler components, and recreates new sustainable fabrics. 

The most mainstream recycled fabric is polyester, which is made from ocean plastic, specifically plastic bottles and fishing nets. However, suppliers can also make recycled fabrics from many different sources.

Waste can be pre-consumer or post-consumer. Pre-consumer waste is factory waste that the customer never sees. Examples of this would be textile mill remnants, factory cutting room scraps, and even unsold inventory from retail stores. Manufacturers collection post-consumer waste from customers. Examples of this would be a shirt you no longer want anymore or other clothing on its way to the garbage.

RECLAIMED VS. RECYCLED

The terms ‘recycled’ and ‘reclaimed’ are sometimes used interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. 

RECLAIMED TEXTILES

Reclaimed textiles are fabrics or clothing originally destined for the landfill. But, designers and brands rescue and repurpose them. Think of reclaimed textiles as the step before recycling. They work well for small, limited runs and one-of-a-kind pieces.  

Finding a roll of vintage fabric at an estate sale and using it to create a small collection of shirts would be a perfect example of this. Garments made out of deadstock are also technically reclaimed fabric. 

PROS: 

• More sustainable than recycling – because it does not use all the resources needed to create new fabrics.
• Unique – especially if you are using vintage textiles.
• Affordable – generally, these fabrics are heavily discounted. When fabrics go to recycling, suppliers know they will get pennies on the dollar. If they can sell them as reclaimed fabrics, they can make a bit more money than with recyclers. But it will still be a great deal for the brand.

CONS:

• Once it’s gone, it’s gone – if you find a fabric that your customers love, once once you use it all up, that’s it.
• Not scalable – designers who use reclaimed fabrics are constantly on the hunt for the next best fabric. Because they can not reorder like in traditional supply chains, they are left constantly sourcing.
• Quality – because fabrics are old or rejected, there might be flaws like discoloration, degraded strength, and other abnormalities.

RECYCLED TEXTILES

As I mentioned earlier, recycled fabrics are collected items that are broken down and made into something new. 

For example, did you know that fabric performance degrades over time? Because of this, deadstock fabric or reclaimed fabrics might not be the best fit for performance items. For example, a highly technical jacket for Olympic athletes would likely use recycled polyester because it would give the manufacturers more control over the quality any performance of the textiles.

PROS:

• Consistent quality – the same fabric can be re-ordered, and brands know what type of quality they are getting. 
• Scalable – because re-orders are possible, it is easier to make more
• Simplified sourcing – think SOPs (standard operating procedures). The process of ordering new fabrics and making more units is easily repeatable, saving time and money.
• Tested performance – most recycled fabric suppliers will invest in testing their top fabric qualities. This means that brands are able to receive a test report to know how fabrics will perform under different conditions like sun, chlorine, and even physical stress and abrasion. 

CONS:

• High energy use – suppliers need a lot of energy to break down the used materials and turn them into something new.
• Potentially expensive – especially for low MOQ. Generally, MOQs are higher with recycled textiles than with virgin textiles. To use these types of materials, brands will either need to increase product prices or accept lower profit margins.
• Ongoing environmental issues – the juice might not be worth the squeeze. There are lots of problems with recycled fabrics (like microfibers – I’ll get to more on that in a minute) that we are only just learning about now. Between the increased price and negative environmental impacts, they simply might not be as great as we once thought.

WHICH IS BETTER?

Well, that is really up to you! But for me, the biggest reason I lean towards recycled fabrics over reclaimed is scalability. With reclaimed fabrics, you will always be on the “I need to find more fabric” hamster wheel.

Brands like Christy Dawn and Reformation are both proof of this. Both brands started with deadstock fabrics and, as they gained popularity, had to change their supply chains to use recycled and other eco friendly fabrics. 

HOW ARE RECYCLED FABRICS MADE?

Many people don’t realize there are different fabric recycling methods. There are two main types, each with its own supply chain and each with its own set of pros and cons. 

PHYSICAL / MECHANICAL RECYCLING

Here’s how mechanical recycled fabric suppliers create new fabrics:

1. Old textiles collection – These fabrics can come from consumers throwing old garments away or from other supply chain partners.

2. The material sorting – The materials are divided by fiber content and color. 

By sorting by color, suppliers are able to create colored fabrics that do not require an additional dye process (read: are extra eco-friendly).

It is also important to note that for high-quality fabrics to come out on the other side, pure garments need to go in. So, shirts that are 55% organic cotton and 45% polyester are generally not suitable for the recyling process.

3. Materials prepping for the recycling process – Suppliers remove trim like elastic waistbands, labels, buttons, and zippers from the garments.

4. Material breakdown – Everything is put into basically a giant blender, to breakd down the garments into their fiber state.

5. Yarn spinning – I think this one is self explanitory .

6. New fabric creation – And, just like in virgin fabric manufacturing, suppliers then weave and knit the yarns into fabrics.

CHEMICAL RECYCLING 

Chemical recycling uses, you guessed it, chemicals to break down fabrics, garments, and even the fibers themselves to then create new fibers and fabrics. The main difference between mechanical and chemical recycling (aside from all the chemicals used) is that mechanical recycling reuses the natural fibers, whereas chemicals completely break them down to their molecular components and create new ones.

Chemical fabric recycling is typically done at a completely different facility, and usually by a completely different company.

Here is how chemically recycled fabric suppliers make new fabrics: 

1. Steps 1-3 are the same – as mechanical recycling. But this time, it is extremely important that all the fiber sources are pure. Because a chemical reaction is taking place, and different chemicals react differently with different fibers, we need to make sure only 100% cotton, or 100% polyester sources are going into the recycling system.
2. Chemicals are added – in the case of 100% cotton recycling, the chemicals used will break down the cotton fibers into a solution that is similar to rayon. In the case of 100% polyester recycling, the chemicals will break down the plastic into a liquid that is almost identical to virgin polyester.
3. Yarns are extruded – because chemical recycling creates new fibers, those fibers need to be made from the liquid solution. AKA the extrusion process.
4. And just like in mechanical recycling, the yarns are spun, and then knit or woven into fabrics. 

PROS AND CONS OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL RECYCLING

From the description of how recycled fabrics are made above, I bet you are probably thinking that mechanical recycling sounds like a much more eco-friendly process because it does not use heavy chemicals. And, you are right.

However, because mechanical recycling breaks down the fibers, the fibers become weaker, creating lower-quality fabrics. While mechanical recycling has come a long way, and some suppliers have gotten really good at it, there will always be a slight loss of quality every time those fibers pass through the recycling system.

With chemical recycling, as long as the new fibers do not mix with other fiber types like spandex for stretch fabrics, they can technically go through the recycling system forever and create the same standard of quality every time.

RECYCLED FABRIC SUPPLIERS TO TRY (BY FIBER)

Here are a few of my favorite recycled fabric suppliers that are worth working with:

RECYCLED POLYESTER FABRIC SUPPLIERS AND RECYCLED NYLON FABRIC SUPPLIERS

Recycled polyester (aka rPET) and recycled nylon are two very similar fibers. Both are petroleum-based. Generally, manufacturers that make one will also make the other.