Four Recycled Polyester-Related Questions for Your Clothing Supplier

Ever since COVID-19 has made its way into our everyday lives, we’ve noticed one peculiar trend with the enquiries that landed in the company inbox. They’re all interested in making clothes from recycled polyester. We don’t know whether the world is slowly taking a u-turn when it comes to its relationship with mother Earth or the people have realised that sustainability sells…

Recycled polyester fabric caveat

Before we move on with the four questions, let’s make one thing clear. Polyester fabric, even made from recycled PET is still a pollutant. Mainly because of the microplastics it creates. Unfortunately, the best fibre when it comes to moisture-wicking properties is still polyester. All major sportswear and gym wear brands are not going to stop using this unless a ban on PET fabrics suddenly becomes a reality. Either way, we’re seeing more and more of them looking to turn water bottles into running tees, which is a start. Also, there’s a way to reduce our microplastics contribution on an individual level. Read a blog post explaining some of the solutions for the issue of microplastics.

What’s next?

So what is the situation of a clothing brand with an activewear collection? It wants to know whether or not its supplier(s) “walks the talk” about using recycled materials for their fabrics and being transparent about how they conduct their business. Here are the four questions that can help you with that:

1. 1. Ask if suppliers would knit their fabrics. That way, it’s easier to follow the production process
2. 2. Ask if suppliers are certified by the Global Recycling Standard (GRS) or if they can at least provide a GRS certificate for their yarns and fabrics
3. 3. Ask if suppliers have dye sublimation printers and whether the final product can be OEKO-TEX-certified (sublimation inks can be potentially harmful if not water-based)
4. 4. Ask if they allow factory visits and, if so, under what conditions (if they don’t, that’s a sign of a criminal organisation, and you don’t want anything to do with them)

Having said all this, it’s prime time you learn that FUSH˚ ticks all these boxes. Plus, we’ve got ISO certificates for the 9001:2015, 2014:2015 and 45001:2018 standards.

We knit your fabrics

We’ve got eight circular knitting machines and a knitting expert carefully tending to them. We can supply you with ultra-light fabric for running wear, weighing around 50% less than an average running tee fabric.

Some of the circular knitting machines you can see if you visit our clothing factory in south-eastern Serbia

We buy rPET yarns from a certified yarn manufacturer

We buy all our 100% recycled polyester yarns from a UK-based company Martin Bunzl. You can find them in the Textile Exchange’s database of certified suppliers by entering “Martin Bunzl” under the Certified Organisation Name tab.

Manufacturers earn a GRS certificate through rigorous third-party audits that determine whether the raw materials are recycled plastic and not their virgin counterparts.

Keep in mind that whenever you order a batch of recycled polyester t-shirts, you’re removing around eight bottles of water from an ocean or a sea with each tee.

We offer ecological colouring options

We are one of the first companies that tested the Epson SureColor SC-F9400H dye sublimation printer, and we only use their water-based inks. This printing method is the perfect alternative to fabric dyeing, which consumes ridiculous amounts of water.

The difference is stark – dyeing needs 200 l of water to dye one 1 kg of clothes. Dye sublimation needs 5 ml of water-based ink to colour 1 kg of clothes. And with this method, the colours won’t fade, regardless of the number of times the clothes get washed. We have made tonnes of sportswear since 2005 while applying this colouring method for the most part.

Epson SureColor SC-F9400H dye sublimation printer at FUSH˚ facilities

FUSH˚ factory tours

We have five apartments at the factory grounds in Oraovica that can make your factory tour longer and more comfortable. That way, you can immerse yourself in the production process and enjoy the lovely nature of South-Eastern Serbia.  If you’re too anxious to see the factory, here’s a virtual tour to get you through the day 😀

GRS certificates are available upon request, to allow you to see the most recent ones.

Fill out the brief contact form with as many details as you can so that we can give you the best ballpark figure for our pricing.