The Complete Guide to Clothing Fabrics: What You're Actually Wearing
Understanding material choices from a manufacturer's perspective
Pick up any piece of clothing in your closet right now and look at the tag. What does it say? "60% Cotton / 40% Polyester"? "100% Polyester"? "Cotton Blend"?
Most people have no idea what they're actually wearing. Not the brand. Not the style. But the material itself—where it comes from, how it's made, what it does to your body, and what happens to it when you're done with it.
As a manufacturer that's been producing apparel since 2008, we've worked with dozens of different fabrics. We've tested cotton from multiple sources, experimented with blends, and evaluated synthetics. Through all of it, we kept coming back to one conclusion: for elevated basics meant to last years, nothing beats 100% cotton.
This isn't marketing. It's material science. And in this guide, we'll break down exactly what different fabrics are, where they come from, and why the fiber content tag on your clothing might be the most important label you've been ignoring.
Natural Fibers vs. Synthetic Fibers: The Fundamental Difference
Before we dive into specific fabrics, you need to understand the two categories all textiles fall into: natural fibers and synthetic fibers.
Natural Fibers
Source: Plants, animals, or minerals
Examples: Cotton, linen, wool, silk, hemp
How they're made: Grown or harvested from nature, then processed
Natural fibers have been used for textiles for thousands of years. Cotton dates back 7,000 years. Linen is one of the oldest textiles in human history, found in Egyptian tombs. These fibers exist in nature—we just harvest and process them.
Key characteristics of natural fibers:
Biodegradable (break down naturally) · Breathable (allow air circulation) · Moisture-absorbent (pull sweat away from skin) · Renewable resources (can be regrown) · Require minimal chemical processing · Feel natural against skin
Synthetic Fibers
Source: Petroleum, coal, or other chemicals
Examples: Polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex/elastane
How they're made: Synthesized in laboratories from petrochemicals
Synthetic fibers are entirely man-made. They don't exist in nature. The first synthetic fiber, nylon, was invented by DuPont in 1935. Polyester followed in the 1950s. These are industrial products, not agricultural ones.
Key characteristics of synthetic fibers:
Non-biodegradable (persist for 20-200+ years) · Hydrophobic (repel water) · Trap heat and odor · Made from non-renewable petroleum · Require extensive chemical processing · Shed microplastics when washed
Cotton: The Original Performance Fabric
Cotton gets taken for granted because it's so common. But there's a reason it's been humanity's fabric of choice for 7,000 years: it's genuinely excellent.
What Cotton Actually Is
Cotton is the fiber that grows around the seeds of cotton plants. The fiber is almost pure cellulose—the same material that makes up plant cell walls. Each cotton fiber is a single plant cell that grows in length, creating a natural tube structure.
This microscopic structure is what gives cotton its unique properties: the hollow tube wicks moisture, the twisted structure traps air for insulation, the cellulose is naturally soft, and the fiber is strong despite being flexible.
Cotton Production Process
Growing (5-6 months) → Harvesting cotton bolls → Ginning (separating seeds) → Carding/Combing (aligning fibers) → Spinning into yarn → Weaving/Knitting into fabric
No chemical synthesis required. No petroleum processing. Just agriculture and textile manufacturing that's existed for millennia.
Types of Cotton (Quality Matters)
Not all cotton is equal. The quality depends on staple length (fiber length):
Short staple: <1 inch — lower quality, rougher
Medium staple: 1-1.25 inches — standard cotton
Long staple: 1.25-1.5 inches — higher quality, softer
Extra-long staple: 1.5+ inches — premium (Pima, Egyptian, Sea Island)
Longer staples create stronger, softer, smoother yarns because fewer fiber ends stick out.
Cotton Processing Methods
Ring-Spun Cotton: Fibers are continuously twisted and thinned, making stronger, softer yarn. This is traditional, higher-quality spinning.
Open-End (Rotor) Cotton: Fibers are twisted together by machine. Faster and cheaper but creates rougher, weaker yarn with more fiber ends sticking out.
Combed Cotton: Short fibers are removed before spinning, leaving only long fibers. Creates smoother, stronger, more durable fabric. More expensive due to waste (15-20% of fibers removed).
Why Cotton Performs
Breathability: The hollow fiber structure allows air circulation. Cotton fabrics let your skin breathe, preventing the clammy feeling you get with synthetics.
Moisture Management: Cotton can absorb 27 times its weight in water. When you sweat, cotton pulls moisture away from your skin and allows it to evaporate. This is actual moisture-wicking, not the synthetic fabric marketing version.
Temperature Regulation: Cotton's breathability and moisture absorption help regulate body temperature. It keeps you cool in summer and provides insulation in winter.
Durability: Quality cotton gets stronger when wet (unlike many synthetics) and becomes softer with each wash. Cotton garments you've worn for 5 years feel better than new ones—that's rare in textiles.
Skin Health: Cotton is naturally hypoallergenic. It doesn't trap bacteria or require antimicrobial chemical treatments (which synthetics often do).
The Cotton Paradox
Cotton is "cheap" in that you can get a cotton t-shirt for $5. But that's exploitative labor and low-quality, short-staple cotton.
Quality cotton costs money: longer-staple varieties are more expensive to grow (lower yields), ring-spun and combed processing adds cost, organic certification requires investment, and paying workers fairly increases labor costs.
When you see a $5 cotton tee and a $90 cotton tee, they're not the same material. The fiber length, spinning method, fabric weight, and labor conditions are completely different.
Polyester: What Petroleum-Based Plastic Actually Means
Let's be direct about what polyester is: plastic thread made from oil.
What Polyester Actually Is
Polyester is the most common synthetic fiber, making up over 50% of global textile production. The full name is "polyethylene terephthalate" or PET—the same plastic used in water bottles, food containers, and synthetic carpets.
How Polyester Is Made
The polyester production process is industrial chemistry, not agriculture:
Step 1: Petroleum Extraction — Crude oil is extracted from the earth and refined.
Step 2: Chemical Processing — Two petroleum byproducts are combined: Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and Monoethylene glycol (MEG)
Step 3: Polymerization — These chemicals are heated to 260-290°C (500-554°F) and undergo polymerization—chemical bonds form long chains of molecules. This creates polyester polymer.
Step 4: Extrusion — The molten polymer is forced through tiny holes (spinnerets) to create filaments.
Step 5: Cooling and Drawing — Filaments are cooled and stretched to align molecules, creating the final polyester fiber.
Result: Plastic thread identical in chemical composition to plastic bottles.
Why Brands Use Polyester
Let's be honest about this: polyester is cheaper.
Compared to cotton: 30-50% lower material cost · Faster production (no agricultural growing time) · Consistent supply (not weather-dependent) · Lower shrinkage (less size variation) · Easier to work with (doesn't wrinkle, holds shape)
When a brand uses polyester or poly-blends, they're choosing profit margin over material quality. Period.
The Polyester Problem: Environmental
Carbon Footprint: Polyester production releases 2-3 times more CO2 than cotton production. A 2020 study by the Stockholm Environment Institute found that polyester's greenhouse gas emissions are significantly higher across the entire lifecycle.
Non-Renewable Resource: Every polyester garment requires petroleum—a finite resource that takes millions of years to form. Global polyester production uses approximately 70 million barrels of oil annually.
Microplastic Pollution
This is the problem nobody talks about: every time you wash synthetic clothing, it sheds microplastic fibers.
Research Findings
A single synthetic fleece jacket releases 1.7 grams of microfibers per wash (UC Santa Barbara, 2016)
These fibers are 100-300 micrometers—too small for wastewater treatment plants to filter
An estimated 500,000 tons of microfibers enter the ocean annually from washing synthetic textiles (IUCN, 2017)
These microplastics enter the marine food chain (eaten by plankton, then fish, then humans), have been found in human blood, placentas, and organs (2020 studies), persist indefinitely—they don't biodegrade, just fragment into smaller pieces, and are present in 83% of global tap water samples (Orb Media study, 2017).
Landfill Persistence: Cotton biodegrades in soil in 1-5 months. Polyester takes 20-200 years to decompose. Every polyester garment produced in the last 70 years still exists somewhere—in landfills, oceans, or fragmented into microplastics.
The Polyester Problem: Health and Comfort
Breathability: Polyester is hydrophobic—it repels water. Sweat sits on your skin instead of being absorbed, fabric doesn't breathe (traps heat), you feel clammy and uncomfortable, and your body sweats more trying to cool down.
Odor Retention: Because polyester doesn't absorb moisture, bacteria multiply on the fabric surface. This is why polyester workout clothes smell terrible after one wear, the smell doesn't fully wash out (trapped in plastic fibers), and brands have to add antimicrobial chemical treatments.
"Recycled Polyester" Is Still Polyester
Some brands now use recycled polyester (rPET), made from recycled plastic bottles. While this is better than virgin polyester (uses 59% less energy to produce), it still sheds microplastics when washed, still doesn't biodegrade (plastic is plastic), still doesn't breathe or absorb moisture, often requires additional chemical processing, and typically can only be recycled 1-2 times before fiber quality degrades.
Recycled polyester is harm reduction, not a solution.
When Polyester Makes Sense
To be fair, there are legitimate uses for polyester: technical outdoor gear (waterproof, windproof when needed), athletic wear for specific sports (swimming, cycling where wet cotton is dangerous), safety equipment, and industrial applications.
But for everyday basics—t-shirts, hoodies, casual pants? There's no legitimate reason to use polyester except cost savings.
Other Common Fabrics Explained
Linen
Source: Flax plant stems (natural cellulose fiber)
Extremely breathable (even more than cotton), highly absorbent, naturally antimicrobial, gets softer with wear, wrinkles easily (this is natural, not a flaw), very durable (linen garments can last decades).
Environmental Impact: Low—flax requires minimal water, pesticides, or fertilizers. Biodegradable.
Wool
Source: Sheep fleece (animal protein fiber)
Excellent insulation, moisture-wicking (can absorb 30% of its weight), naturally odor-resistant, temperature-regulating, flame-resistant, elastic and wrinkle-resistant.
Environmental Impact: Renewable resource, biodegradable, but sheep farming has methane emissions.
Silk
Source: Silkworm cocoons (animal protein fiber)
Luxurious feel and natural sheen, lightweight but warm, strong (strongest natural fiber), moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic, expensive.
Hemp
Source: Cannabis sativa plant stems (natural cellulose fiber)
Very strong and durable, becomes softer with wear, naturally antimicrobial, UV-resistant, breathable.
Environmental Impact: Excellent—requires little water, no pesticides, improves soil health.
Nylon
Source: Petroleum (synthetic)
Very strong, elastic, dries quickly, wrinkle-resistant.
Environmental Impact: Similar to polyester—petroleum-based, non-biodegradable, sheds microplastics.
Why Fabric Blends Exist (Hint: It's Not Performance)
Walk into any clothing store and you'll see labels like "60% Cotton / 40% Polyester" or "Cotton Poly Blend." Brands market these as getting "the best of both worlds." The truth is less flattering.
The Real Reason for Cotton-Poly Blends
Cost Reduction
Polyester costs 30-50% less than cotton. By blending cheaper polyester with cotton, brands maintain cotton marketing appeal while cutting material costs.
Lower-Quality Cotton: Blends allow brands to use cheaper, shorter-staple cotton. The polyester stabilizes the weak cotton fibers. If they used high-quality cotton, no polyester would be needed.
What You're Trading Away
Comfort: Less breathable (polyester traps heat) · Less moisture absorption (you feel sweatier) · Less soft (plastic feels like plastic) · Doesn't improve with age (stays the same or degrades)
Environmental: Sheds microplastics in every wash · Won't fully biodegrade (polyester persists) · Higher carbon footprint than 100% cotton
Durability: The blend lasts longer than cheap cotton, yes · But high-quality 100% cotton lasts even longer · Quality cotton gets better with age; blends don't
The Environmental Reality of Fabric Choices
Fashion is responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions—more than aviation and shipping combined. A huge part of that is fabric choice.
Cotton Environmental Impact
Water Usage: Conventional cotton uses 10,000-20,000 liters per kg. Concern exists in water-scarce regions.
Pesticides: Conventional cotton represents 16% of global insecticide use despite being just 2.5% of farmland. Organic cotton uses no synthetic pesticides.
Positives: Renewable (regrows each year), biodegrades in 1-5 months, no microplastic pollution, carbon sequestration during growth.
Polyester Environmental Impact
Petroleum Dependence: 70 million barrels of oil annually for textile polyester, 2-3x more CO2 emissions than cotton production.
Microplastic Pollution: 500,000 tons of microfibers enter oceans annually, present in 83% of global tap water, found in human blood, placentas, organs, accumulates in entire marine food chain, no solution—too small to filter.
Waste Persistence: 20-200 years to decompose, 85% of textile waste in landfills is synthetic, cannot biodegrade—only fragments into smaller plastics, every polyester garment ever made still exists somewhere.
The "Least Bad" Approach
No textile production has zero environmental impact. The question is: which impacts are we willing to accept?
Our position at COMUNE: We chose cotton's water usage over polyester's microplastic pollution because water cycles—it doesn't disappear, it returns to the system. Microplastics accumulate permanently—there's no solution once they're in the environment. Cotton biodegrades—it returns to the earth when its useful life ends.
Fabric Performance: Breathability, Durability, Comfort
Let's objectively compare how different fabrics perform in everyday wear.
Breathability
Best: Linen > Cotton > Wool > Rayon
Poor: Polyester, Nylon, Acrylic
Moisture Management
Absorption: Wool (30% of its weight), Cotton (27% of its weight), Linen (highly absorbent), Polyester (hydrophobic—repels water)
Durability
Longevity in Real Use: High-quality cotton (5-10+ years, gets better with age), Linen (10-20 years), Wool (10-20 years), Polyester basics (1-3 years, pills and degrades)
Odor Resistance
Best: Wool, linen, hemp (naturally antimicrobial)
Good: Cotton
Worst: Polyester (bacteria multiply on surface, odor becomes permanent)
Why COMUNE Chose 100% Cotton for Elevated Basics
We've been manufacturing apparel since 2008. Over those years, we've worked with cotton from different sources, tested various blends, and evaluated alternatives. For our elevated basics collection, we keep coming back to 100% cotton. Here's why.
The Decision-Making Process
When we set out to create our elevated basics collection, we had clear priorities: longevity (pieces should last 5-10+ years, not 1-2 seasons), comfort (daily wear requires breathability and softness), environmental responsibility (minimize harm over garment's full lifecycle), authenticity (materials should match our "No Fluff, Just Results" philosophy), and manufacturing integrity (support ethical production practices).
We could have used cotton-poly blends (would cost significantly less, easier to work with, higher profit margins, industry-standard approach). We could have used recycled polyester ("sustainability" marketing angle, lower material cost, premium pricing opportunity).
Why Cotton for Everyday Basics
Breathability: Cotton's natural breathability makes it ideal for all-day wear. You can wear a quality cotton piece for 12+ hours and feel comfortable. Try that in polyester and you'll be sweating through it.
Comfort for All-Day Wear: Basics aren't fashion pieces you wear for 3 hours. They're daily uniforms—the t-shirt you wear for 12+ hours, the hoodie you throw on every morning. For that kind of extended wear, comfort isn't a luxury; it's a requirement.
Durability That Improves: We're not making disposable fashion. High-quality, ring-spun, combed cotton softens with each wash, develops character, gets more comfortable the longer you own it, and lasts 5-10+ years with proper care. This is the opposite of fast fashion's built-in obsolescence.
Our Cotton Specifications
We don't use just any cotton. Quality matters.
Ring-Spun Cotton: We use ring-spun cotton, not open-end (rotor-spun). Ring-spinning twists and thins the cotton rope until it's strong and soft. It's slower and more expensive but creates superior yarn.
Heavyweight Fabric: Our hoodies and sweatshirts use heavyweight 100% cotton—French Terry for the Luka collection and Brushed Terry for the Duke collection. These aren't thin, see-through materials. They have substance.
Garment-Dyed: Our pieces are garment-dyed, which means the entire finished garment is dyed rather than just the fabric. This creates richer, more authentic color with a vintage, worn-in look from day one.
Pre-Shrunk: Our cotton is pre-shrunk during production to minimize shrinkage after purchase. You might see 2-3% shrinkage over the garment's lifetime, not 10-15% after the first wash.
What We're NOT Claiming
We're not claiming cotton is perfect. Cotton agriculture has environmental issues. We're claiming it's the best available option for our specific use case.
We're not claiming to be the cheapest. We're significantly more expensive than fast fashion. The value proposition is longevity, not low upfront cost.
We're not claiming everyone should only wear cotton. There are legitimate use cases for other materials—technical outerwear, athletic wear for specific sports, etc.
The Long-Term Value Proposition
When you buy a garment, you're voting with your wallet for which materials get produced (petroleum synthetics vs. natural fibers), which production methods are viable (exploitative fast fashion vs. ethical manufacturing), and what kind of consumption you support (disposable vs. durable).
We make 100% cotton basics because we believe this is the material choice that best serves the person wearing it (comfort, durability), the environment (biodegradable, no microplastics), and the industry (requires skilled labor, supports fair practices).
How to Choose Fabrics for Different Garment Types
Everyday Basics
Best Choice: 100% cotton
Why: Worn most frequently, for longest duration, washed most often. Prioritize comfort, breathability, longevity.
Warm-Weather Clothing
Best Choice: Linen, lightweight cotton
Why: Maximum breathability and moisture management are priority in heat.
Cold-Weather Layers
Best Choice: Wool (especially Merino)
Why: Wool provides warmth even when damp, naturally regulates temperature.
Athletic/Workout Wear
Yoga, Pilates, Barre: Cotton with 2-5% spandex (stretch with breathability)
Running, Cycling: Technical synthetics have advantages for specific outdoor needs
Gym/Weight Training: Cotton or cotton blends work well
General Rule of Thumb
When natural fibers work, choose them. Cotton, linen, wool, and silk have been used for thousands of years because they perform well. Modern synthetics are solutions looking for problems in most everyday wear.
When synthetics serve a technical purpose, use them judiciously. Waterproofing, extreme weather, specific athletic requirements—these are legitimate use cases.
Avoid synthetics in basics. If it doesn't have a specific performance requirement, there's no reason to choose plastic over natural fibers except cost savings.
Reading Fabric Labels Like a Pro
Every garment sold in the US is required by law to have a label disclosing fiber content with percentages, country of manufacture, company name or RN number, and care instructions.
Fiber Content Examples
"100% Cotton" ✓ Clear: This is all cotton
"60% Cotton / 40% Polyester" ⚠ Poly-blend: Significant synthetic content
"Cotton Poly Blend" ✗ Vague: Could be 51% cotton or 90% polyester
"98% Cotton / 2% Spandex" ✓ Acceptable: Minimal stretch fiber for functional purpose
Reading Between the Lines
"Performance Fabric" — Usually means polyester or synthetic blend. Marketing term with no legal definition. Question: What performance? For what use?
"Moisture-Wicking" — Natural fibers (cotton, wool) actually wick moisture by absorbing it. Synthetics spread moisture on surface (feel clammy).
"Quick-Dry" — Means doesn't absorb moisture (because it's synthetic). Not a feature for everyday basics.
"Wrinkle-Resistant" / "Easy Care" — Usually means contains polyester or has chemical treatment. Natural cotton wrinkles (this is normal).
Red Flags in Care Labels
"Dry Clean Only" on Basic Items: If a cotton t-shirt or simple dress says "Dry Clean Only," question why. Often it means poor dye quality, cheap construction, or liability avoidance by manufacturer. Quality cotton basics should be machine washable.
Missing Information: No fiber content or country of manufacture is illegal in the US. Vague fiber content is legal but suspicious.
What COMUNE Labels Say
100% Cotton
Machine Wash Cold
Tumble Dry Low
Do Not Bleach
Why ours are simple: We use 100% cotton (no blend ambiguity), pre-shrunk and garment-dyed (standard care works), quality construction (doesn't require special handling).
Sources and Further Reading
- Textile Exchange (2023). "Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report"
- Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). "Environmental impacts of the fashion industry"
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (2017). "Primary Microplastics in the Oceans: A Global Evaluation of Sources"
- University of California, Santa Barbara (2016). "Microfiber Pollution and the Apparel Industry"
- Environmental Science & Technology (2020). "Detection of Microplastics in Human Placenta"
- Orb Media (2017). "Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Global Drinking Water"
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017). "A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future"
- World Resources Institute. "Apparel Industry Lifecycle Analysis"
- Federal Trade Commission. "Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts"
