Uses:
upholstery
Specifications:
- abrasion test results: 22,000 Martindale
- certification: GOTS, the Global Organic Textile Standard
- content: 100% organic line
- weight: 14.8 oz yd2 / 440 gm m2
- width: 54" / 137 cm
Care:
Washable in cool water and low/air dry. Does not shrink unless washed and dried on hot, which causes shrinkage of about 8-10%.
About:
Like its namesake, this sturdy linen fabric is designed to be useful. Its durability makes it terrific for upholstery, but you can use it for anything that requires a soft yet substantial fabric: even dresses, throw blankets, baby blankets, towels, etc.
Eco Facts:
Cedar is GOTS certified.
What does it mean for a fabric to be GOTS certified?
It means a whole lot, including requiring that at least 90% of fibers be certified organic (ours are 100%); no chemicals can be used which have been proven - or are suspected - to harm humans or the environment at any stage of the textile production process; water treatment to a very high standard is required; and certain worker safety and rights issues are honored, like no child or slave labor and certain minimal level of safe working conditions (These are still huge problems in textile mills outside of the "developed" countries. Many mills are still in the 19th century.) Although it does not explicitly address carbon footprint, a GOTS certified FABRIC is the best choice by far, carbon wise right now - exponentially better than recycled polyester, for instance, or of conventional cotton fabric.
Fabric made from organic cotton which is produced conventionally can be — and almost always is — full of residual toxic chemicals, and its production released chemicals into our groundwater; its carbon footprint stinks and worker safety was not considered.
Buy safe fabric and know it is safe because you have a strict, reliable, third party certification.
The Fabric Name:
Cedar is named after the Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata, a tree native to western North America. It is among the most widespread trees in the Pacific Northwest. Some northwest coast indigenous peoples refer to themselves as "people of the red cedar" partially because of their extensive dependence on the tree for basic raw materials: roots for baskets, bark for clothing and canoes, and wood for shelter.
Cedar is a fabric certified to The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) which is your assurance of many important things that can make you feel great about your fabric choice, including:
- SAFETY: No known or suspected toxic chemicals have been used in the manufacture of the fabric, so you won't find them residual in the fabric you are using. Among the prohibited chemicals:
- All Flame Retardants: Brominated or Chlorinated
- All Endocrine Disruptors
- Formaldehyde and other short chain aldehyudes
- Halogenated solvents
- Fluorocarbons (PFC's)
- Heavy metals (i.e., lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic)
- Chlorophenols (TCP, PCP)
- Aromatic solvents (benzene, toluene)
- In fact, all the chemicals that are the subject of Greenpeace's very important DETOX Campaign are completely prohibited. For a complete list of the toxic chemicals prohibited and restricted by GOTS, click on the link below. The Link will open to the title page of the current, 4.0, GOTS standard. You want page 8, section 2.3.1: Prohibited and Restricted Inputs: http://www.global-standard.org/images/GOTS_Version4-01March2014.pdf
- WATER TREATMENT: GOTS requires thorough water treatment at each step of the manufacturing process. This is especially important with fabric because the production of fabric uses copious amounts of water, indeed, the textile industry is the #1 industrial polluter of water in the world.2 And this chemically filled effluent enters our groundwater, circulating around the world. Since, as Gene Lisa says, there is not a no peeing" part of the swimming pool: the toxic chemicals being dumped into the Irawaddy or the Yellow River in China affect us all.
- CARBON FOOTPRINT: A GOTS certified fabric is the best choice if you're concerned about carbon footprint issues - even though the GOTS standard does not directly address carbon footprint. Please click HERE for a discussion of that topic.
- WORKER SAFETY AND WORKER RIGHTS: GOTS also assures workers of safe and hygienic working conditions in the mills, and fair wages. Child and slave labor are prohibited; among many other requirements and prohibitions.
2Cooper, Peter, Clearer Communication", Ecotextile News, May 2007. Please note that some sources say it is #2. Whether #2 or #1, the textile industry uses gargantuan quantities of water. Everyone agrees that agriculture is #1. If you want to count agriculture as an industry then ag is #1 and textiles is #2 - or #3 according to some sources. Here again, at a rank of #1, #2, #3 or #4, the textile industry uses and pollutes gargantuan quantities of water. Please click here to learn more about water use in the textile industry.
