The future could well see people growing and recycling their own materials for clothing at home, or at the very least have them made locally, using black tea and sugar, and kombucha, suggest scientists from the Manchester Metropolitan University.
- The conditions needed to grow the material can be created at home and so a laboratory environment isn’t necessary.
- The challenge as of now is to find a way to solve the issues around water absorbency, without compromising the biodegradability of the fabric, says the research published in the Textile Research Journal.
- The research, led by Dr James Redfern, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, and conducted by Jane Wood, Manchester Met PhD student, analysed how suitable the material would be for use to make clothes and found it to be highly resistant to scuffs and scratches, making it ideal for use as protective clothing, including motorbike leathers.
The research: The way to make sustainable fabrics at home is by using a material called bacterial cellulose (BC)—a biodegradable, biomaterial produced by bacteria—which can be grown in a solution of black tea, sugar and kombucha (popular health drink containing a range of yeasts, bacteria, and cultures).
- The kombucha-grown textile has a variety of properties that would make it an ideal alternative to conventional textiles, specifically leather, having demonstrated it is stronger, more durable and easy to mould into shape to create different garments.
- The material is also compostable and in pure form, doesn’t consist of impurities usually found in textiles such as waxes and other chemicals, which are energy and chemically intensive to deal with.
- However, little research has been done to assess how well the material performs in comparison to conventional textiles, particularly for use as clothing, until now.
- For the study, researchers tested the most effective solutions for growing BC sheets, which form as a biofilm on top of the liquid solution.
- After testing a variety of readily available liquids, including tea, beer and coconut water, they found that a solution of sterile black tea and sugar worked best with kombucha culture—making it possible to grow BC sheets easily at home in the right conditions.
- Researchers also tested how effectively the material performed as clothing once it was grown, including analysing how strong and durable the fabrics were and how water resistant they were.
- Findings showed that the home-grown BC was extremely resistant to abrasion, even more so than some animal leathers.
However, when it came to resistance to breaking under tension, the BC sheets were not as strong as conventional animal leather. BC sheets were also found to retain more moisture than other clothing materials. - Scientists concluded that based on these findings, clothing made from BC would be best suited for protective outerwear, potentially with applications for work wear, or motorbike leathers.
- The material could have other potential uses, including as absorbent medical dressings, in beauty products, and as filters.
WHAT THEY SAID:
When we consider the damage that is being caused to the environment by the fashion and textiles industry, it is vital that we find alternative materials and processes to make a positive change. Our study has found that it could be possible to grow sustainable materials in our own homes, ideally using items which can be bought over the counter such as kombucha, tea and sugar.
— James Redfern
Senior Lecturer in Microbiology and Molecular Biology,
Manchester Metropolitan University
