Introduction to textile

Introduction

Textile waste

Current society has created a system in which we need to consume and keep up to date with new and improved items. People purchase things they don’t need or use and cheap, breakable and fad focused items litter the market and our landfill. Unfortunately many cheap and low quality items are not easily recycled and this is incredibly true for textiles. Most fast fashion items are unable to be recycled, upcycled or even re-used by those in need due to how low quality the fabric is. When textiles are able to be recycled, the act of breaking down the materials creates fibers that often need added virgin material to be useful for new garments or products. This recycling process also excludes the use of small offcuts of fabric, a unavoidable byproduct of garment making. Recycling cotton and polyester using current methods (often chemical solvents) creates overall weaker materials that degrade faster. People living in small spaces, particularly shared spaces have to be very careful with the things they bring into their homes. Smaller spaces are often more economical, however privacy and noise pollution from within the home, and from the city can be a huge issue. I want to explore how one could improve small indoor spaces by re purposing material waste from fast fashion. In particular I am interested in easy to create and install soundproofing panels created from textile waste.