Blankie, Blankies and Baby Blankies - 101 Guide to Baby Blankets

I recently reviewed a natural products industry proposal for standards for “organic” cotton and was dismayed to see the heavy-handed corporate assault on what should be a cut and dried issue: the naturalness of organic cotton and wool.

The creation of natural and organic textiles is really a very basic concept, not unlike the process of growing, harvesting and preparing organic foods. Take organic cotton for example. The cotton should be grown and harvested and processed without harmful chemicals in accordance with the principles of organic agriculture and organic food preparation. Wool from sheep or other animals can be “harvested” from animals that are free-range, organically-raised and humanely sheared. Simple.

For millions of years humans experimented with the colors from plants that grew around them and painted their bodies and textiles with natural pigments. Today, many craftspeople still practice natural dyeing techniques with beautiful and unique results.

There are hundreds of plants that can be grown easily, organically and sustainably to produce a wide range of lovely colorings.

So what´s the problem? As peaceful and pretty as organic cotton sounds, the ugly truth is that, with the infiltration of the giant corporate interests, the organic cotton industry is very dirty indeed. Many companies flaunt the rhetoric: no pesticides, no herbicides and low-impact dyes. Low-impact dyes? Hold on here. We need some additional information. But before we expound upon dyes, let´s fill in the gaps between the harvesting of cotton and the dye processing. Keep reading →