Small Fibers, Big Problem: Cleaning Up Fashion From the Inside Out
Originally published in The Rockaway Times, September 25, 2025
Picture yourself at dinner: a plate of perfectly seared salmon, crisp calamari, perhaps a bowl of mussels in white wine. It all looks fresh from the ocean. Yet alongside that seafood, there’s an invisible passenger: microplastics. These tiny fragments slip down with each bite, travel through your digestive tract, cross into your bloodstream, and even reach your brain.
It sounds like something out of science fiction, but it’s real. In a Nature Medicine study, researchers from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center detected microplastics in human liver, kidneys, and brain tissues. No organ was spared.
Here’s the twist: many of those plastics may have begun in your closet. Every time you launder synthetic garments, microscopic fibers—aka microplastics—shed from your clothes, flow down the drain, and enter rivers, lakes, and oceans. There, plankton absorb them. Fish eat the plankton; we eat the fish. The cycle returns to our own dinner tables.
How Fabric Structure Makes a Difference
While it’s well known that polyester and other synthetics are major contributors, new research suggests how fabrics are made matters just as much as what they’re made from. Whether a fabric is knit or woven, smooth or fuzzy, tightly bound or loose—all these structural aspects influence how many microfibers it will shed.
During a summer research internship through the Talaria Summer Institute, under Dr. Izabela Ciesielska‑Wrobel (URI), I ran a home laundry experiment with 21 swatches spanning seven fabric types (from smooth wovens to plush chenilles). I washed them under two conditions (a standard cycle and one using a microfiber-capturing bag), repeating each three times. Then, I collected and measured the released fibers.
Findings included:
Knits shed more than wovens, thanks to their looped, looser structure.
Fabrics with plush surfaces, like velvet, chenille, fuzzy knits, or textured denim—shed even more.
Sweater knits with fuzzy or loose surfaces were especially prolific fiber releasers.
Using microfiber containment bags reduced, but did not eliminate, the number of fibers entering the wash water.
These results show that wearing smooth, tightly woven fabrics (e.g. jersey cotton or plain-weave linen) can help reduce microplastic shedding. On the flip side, we should think twice about fabrics with plush surfaces, heavy textures, or loose fiber ends.
What You Can Do to Help
Even though microplastic pollution is a global problem, individuals can take action starting at home:
Choose your fabrics wisely. Opt for smooth, tightly woven natural or low-shedding synthetics.
Wash smart. Use cold water, gentle cycles, and wash less often.
Contain fibers. Use microfiber-catching bags, filters, or devices that trap fibers before they reach wastewater.
Support better methods. Back brands, innovations, and policies pushing for fabrics engineered to shed less and last longer.
The trail of fiber pollution runs from your closet to the fish on our plates, and even into our own brains. The science is clear. Our responsibility is just as clear: it’s time to clean up fashion from the inside out.
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This article reflects Smart Fashion’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, textile science, and informed style. Let’s keep pushing the industry forward.
