finley_shah64•1mo agoProlific Poster

Just realized how much water one of those viral linen sets really uses

I saw a huge haul for a brand called 'Linen & Co' on TikTok and got curious about the fabric. I looked it up and found a study from the University of Cambridge that said making just one kilogram of linen (like, enough for maybe a shirt and pants) can take over 6,500 liters of water to grow the flax. That's a crazy amount for something sold as 'eco-friendly' just because it's a natural fiber. Has anyone else dug into the water use for other 'green' fabrics?

4 comments

4 Comments

jordan_henderson131mo ago

Right, and that's just for the raw material. The water used to dye and finish the fabric adds even more. A lot of brands don't count that in their footprint.

ruby6591mo ago

Wait 6,500 liters for one little outfit? That's actually insane. I always thought linen was the good guy fabric. Makes you wonder what else they're not telling us.

owens.blair1mo ago

Saw a thing about how bamboo fabric processing uses a ton of chemicals and water too. It gets labeled sustainable but the manufacturing part is pretty rough.

brian_taylor1517d ago

Yeah that study is a real eye opener... makes you think twice about any fabric called "green" without seeing the full picture. Ruby659 is right, it's wild how much water goes into just growing the flax before it even becomes fabric. After learning that, I started looking for brands that actually share their total water use, not just talk about the fiber type. It's a lot harder to find than you'd think... most just say "natural" and leave it at that. Really makes you question the whole "eco-friendly" label on everything now.