Question from Leslie
Hi everyone,
There’s a company called “Cuddledown” with great products. However, I found some sheets on their website that are 400-ct. cotton/sateen with a wrinkle-resistant finish – yet they are Oeko-Tex certified. I thought when sheets were essentially “permanent press”, they were toxic.
Cuddledown’s rep said that the wrinkle resistance comes from the type of weave (?) and not from a finish, but they had nothing in writing regarding this.
What do you think, Debra? Thanks so much!
Debra’s Answer
Since the beginning of permanent press, all permanent press finishes have been toxic. However, in recent years, new technologies have become available where formerly toxic things are now available nontoxic. This is especially true in Europe. It’s in the realm of possibility that there could be a nontoxic permanent press finish, and if there was and the label said it was Oeko-Tex certified, then it would be nontoxic. More specifically, formaldehyde is the chemical of concern in permanent press fabric finishes, and formaldehyde is one of the chemicals for which the Oeko-Tex 100 certification tests.
Now, that said, yes, fabrics can be wrinkle-resistant because of the type of weave. Cotton flannel sheets, for example, do not wrinkle. Neither do cotton knit sheets. So there may be other weaves that do not wrinkle as well.
It used to be that “permanent press,” “no-iron,” and other such terms indicated a formaldehyde-based finish. Nowadays, some fabrics with weaves that don’t wrinkle have labels, as you saw, which indicate they don’t wrinkle and are not toxic.
The important thing to check is if the sheet is wrinkle-free because of the weave or a finish. Weave is OK, finish is not, unless it carries a certification, such as Oeko-Tex 100 that indicates it has been tested and certified to be nontoxic.
I know that Oeko-Tex approves of Tencel, a fabric made with nanotechnology. I do not have a good feeling about nanotech molecules which are not found in nature except under extreme conditions and in certain rare forms. I won’t go into that discussion here, but suffice it to say that I bought some “wrinkle resistant sheets” from Target that were 400 count and sateen but they were made in China, and after washing them three times, including in baking soda they seemed rough to me and sort of itchy. They were this way both before the baking soda wash and after. I am going to put them on the rinse cycle with a bit of vinegar to see if that helps, but I also contacted OekoTex since on the package it said Oeko-Tex Standard 100. I am awaiting the reply. My question to them was simply, do some of your wrinkle resistant sheets use nanotechnology. Nanosilica especially is documented on the web as being used in textiles for wrinkle resistance. Search Results
Web results
(PDF) Influence of Nano Silica Coating on the Functional …www.researchgate.net › publication › 250357479_Influen…
… to observe the special properties such as anti-bacterial, wrinkle resistance, etc. The amorphous nano silica particles were prepared from the natural resources …
Handbook of Renewable Materials for Coloration and Finishingbooks.google.com › books
By certain traditional wrinkle-free solution, wrinkle resistance is achieved … and nano-silica to improve the wrinkle resistance of cotton and silk respectively.
Mohd Yusuf – 2018 – Science
Indeed the ash from rice hulls and other “organic” substances is undergoing high heat (such as you find in electric arc welding) to turn these into ash and that is treated chemically or with sound etc to form nanospheres – I researched this. Read page 75 of this book on Google Play – Washing one’s skin to get these substances off makes them penetrate even deeper. I bought sheets that were Oeko-Tex approved for their Standard 100 level and I itched after sleeping on them. They are a sateen finish “wrinkle resistant” labeled on the package and from China. They indeed may have this type of coating or polymer added to the cotton fiber (several methods exist for doing this in cotton). Please warn your readers. Thanks so much! P.S. I may hear back from Oeko-Tex but I would not trust them anymore if they are approving this technology in textiles.
https://books.google.com/books?id=OsdWn9E0JNoC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=can+a+molecule+60+nm+go+through+skin&source=bl&ots=L4Q8J1CvW_&sig=ACfU3U1wI5LNtvKiaOkmCuPyA0CS5FS2Gw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk58SR6cfpAhXyUN8KHTGSBHkQ6AEwAXoECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=nanosilica&f=false
Please do let us know if you hear back from Oeko-Tex and their explanation for why this technology is allowed in their standards.
Donna received this response from Oeko-Tex
“Wrinkle resistant” refers to a product property and is therefore not part of the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. For more information regarding product properties we recommend to get in touch with the manufacturer directly. We from OEKO-TEX® guarantee with the STANDARD 100 that no harmful substances are found in the textile. Details about which substances we test for can be found on our homepage in the Downloads section (https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/downloads) if you select Standard in Category and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® in the Service field.
We do not generally forbid the use of nanoparticles or nanotechnology, but every active chemical product is evaluated by two independent toxicologists before its use is allowed and adequate limit values are defined for each of our four product categories.”
I will look further into nanotechnology in fabrics.