For consumers, the most common way to recycle textiles is to reuse them or donate them to charity, so that those most in need can take advantage of these garments; but you can also choose an industrial process.
Although there are manufacturing companies that are receiving clean clothes for recycling, some only receive their garment. Recycling fabrics requires highly efficient equipment.
The options once the brands receive the clothing are several:
Resale: After they collect the textiles, the workers sort and separate the garments by colour, size and quality, then they are packaged and sold as reusable clothing. Shoes are also resold; this process allows job creation and stimulates small economies.
Converting Into Rags: Damaged textiles are classified to make industrial cleaning cloths and other objects.
Convert Into Other Clothes: some textiles can be used to turn them into other pieces of clothing.
The Textile Recycling Process
The T-shirt printing Sydney is generally made from cotton, which is a biodegradable material, and from synthetic plastic, the textile composition will affect the durability and the recycling method.
The clothes are classified by colour; this avoids having to be dyed again, which means savings in energy and pollutants.
The textiles are shredded into low-quality fibres or mixed with other selected ones, depending on the final intention of using the piece. The blend is carded clean, and the fibres are mixed and are ready to be spun or woven. The fibres can also be compressed for the production of mattresses.
Another option for using recycled textiles is that they are used as part of the insulating material of vehicles, roofing felt, wall covering and furniture padding.
For clothes that are the only polyester, the process is different, the first thing that is done is to remove the buttons and zippers, the clothes are cut into small pieces, these are granulated, and then small pellets are formed. The pellets polymerize and turn into small pieces of polyester, these melt and are spun into a new fibre used to make new polyester fabrics.
Some companies worldwide are creating new pieces of clothing, from old garments; they do it by combining and adding new fabric.
