Question from Brittany
Hi Debra,
I am just learning about the toxins in our clothes. Are there any retail stores that follow these guidelines?
It’s just overwhelming! Don’t even know where to start. Everything is polyester.
Where do you shop?
Debra’s Answer
I wish there were such a store, but I haven’t found one yet. There may be boutiques and your can find such places online (see Debra’s List: Clothing page), but I can’t direct you to any major clothing store, And yes, I agree, it seems like everything is getting to be polyester again. Not too long ago there were a lot more natural fibers.
I buy all my clothing in retail stores, but I have to choose carefully.
I live in Florida so most of the time I am wearing cotton capri pants and tank tops. These are easy to find almost anywhere.
I would buy organic natural fibers if I could find and afford them.
But my general rule of thumb is to buy natural fibers—cotton, linen, silk, wool—and in particular no permanent press because it releases formaldehyde. No synthetic fibers, not even 1 percent. My favorite fabric is linen, which is perfect here in my tropical climate.
I also have been known to make my own clothes and have been considering having others make clothing for me. I have made evening gowns and wedding dresses out of beautiful natural fiber fabrics because I refused to wear the synthetic fabrics most formal wear is made from.
I live in Florida so my stores may be different from yours. And I don’t have a lot of choices. I look at Sears and Penny’s and Dillards and Macy’s. Often these stores will have natural fibers, but mostly not. I find things at Ross and TJ Maxx. Just great random pieces that are inexpensive. But they are getting harder and harder to find.
Readers, what is your shopping experience? Where and how to you buy your clothes?
Once in a while I can find button down cotton shirts without non-iron finish for my husband at Walmart. I also found some button down cotton Columbia shirts online at Amazon. I knew they would be ok when the reviews complained that they needed to be ironed! Cotton flannel shirts seem to be quite easy to find for those of us in cold winter climes.
I love cotton flannel shirts and have never had a problem with them. Also cotton flannel sheets are wonderful and have no finishes.
I am unable to go into department or other large stores. I am limited to smaller stores that have good air flow and are in outdoor malls. The chemical stew from the larger stores and/or the indoor malls are deadly to me.
When I am having a good spell and need clothing I can go into j jill, Ross or Marshall’s (only because I know exactly where the women’s clothing is) I find I can not buy anything made of cloth from China.
The insecticides and fungicides (and whatever else) that are sprayed or worked into the cloths never washes out enough for me to be able to tolerant. I have the most success with things made in India, Pakistan, Kenya and Thailand. Even still, I have to soak, wash multiple times and put the clothing out int he sunshine for at week or 4 before I can successfully wear the them.
I have been having a hard time finding clothes also. I had a complete wardrobe broken in that I loved but my closet got contaminated with caulking and I had to toss everything out. Even after dry cleaning and letting them hang outside they were toxic.
Lately I have been buying linen clothes from a place called JJill and some cotton sheeting Capris and cotton tops from Fresh Produce. They are sometimes needing 2 washes to get the fabric right for me but so far no problems. I am running from spandex, tencel etc. I really have to wash jeans about 4 times to be able to wear them. I do not know if it is the dye or what. Most of the stuff now comes from China and India.