Polyester and cotton are the most popular fibers for making garments and home textiles. However, as they are often used in the same applications, there has been a question for decades about which one is better. This article will look inside the differences of their origins, properties, usage, and life-cycled and prove why polyester has advantages over cotton.
Polyester is a synthetic fiber derived from petroleum, water, and air. Years later, recycled polyester was invented to reduce global warming by using post-consumer plastic waste as raw material rather than fossil fuel. The plastic is flaked into chips, melted to liquid form, then forced through a spinneret to make the fiber.
Cotton is a natural fiber derived from harvesting raw cotton from its' tree, cleaning, carding, combing, then spinning it into the fiber.
Fiber strength is a priority to consider which fiber you should use in your industry. The strength is measured by the number of pulling forces that could break the fiber called "tenacity" and has g/denier as the unit measurement.
A fiber with more tenacity means that it is very strong. For example, a good fiber for making textiles should have a tenacity of over 2.5 g/denier for weaving into pieces without breaking apart.
Polyester is high strength fiber (Staple: 2.5-5.5 g/denier, Filament: 6.3-9.5 g/denier) Cotton is medium strength fiber (Staple: 3-5 g/denier)
Polyester is wrinkles-resistant. It's hard to get wrinkles on polyester clothes even after washing. However, if there are any wrinkles on the clothes, you can stretch the clothes a little to make them smooth like new ones.
Cotton wrinkles very quickly. You can see many wrinkles on cotton clothes when the clothes are wet or filled with your sweat. Water or your sweat has the same hydrogen bonds linked as cotton fabric, so when water or your sweat penetrates the fabric, it changes the formation of hydrogen bonds in the fabric and makes new shapes or wrinkles on the clothes.
Polyester is acid and alkali resistant. The fiber is tolerant to sunlight more than other materials. Cotton is not getting along well with acid. It makes spots and destroys the structure of the fabric. Besides, it is poorly resistant to sunlight. Cotton clothing's color fades far faster than polyester when it is touched by ultraviolet rays.
Polyester is suitable for many kinds of textiles, such as garments, home textiles, interior decoration, automotive, soft toys, accessories, etc. The fiber has high tenacity, durability, and moisture resistance, which are ideal properties in most textile industries. Cotton is usually used in garments, home textiles, and interior decoration. There are many concerns about using cotton as a material, such as it is highly flammable, easily moldy, holds moisture, and takes a long time to dry.
There are many topics said that polyester is more polluting than other fibers. This topic will look exactly inside the details of polyester's life cycle from the process of production, weaving, and usage compared to cotton to see what the facts are.
| Consumption | Polyester | Cotton |
|---|---|---|
| Energy (megajoules) | 97 MJ. | 60 MJ. |
| Oil or gas | 1.5 KG. | - |
| Fertilizers | - | 457 G. |
| Pesticides | - | 16 G. |
| Water | 17 Liters | 22,200 Liters |
| CO2 emissions | 2.3 KG. | 3 KG |
Polyester is a far lower impact in terms of water pollution. A kilogram of polyester fiber production needs only 17 liters of water, but cotton needs about 22,200 liters.
In terms of air pollution, polyester needs fossil fuel and more energy than cotton by 37 megajoules, but polyester releases carbon dioxide lesser than cotton by 0.7 kilograms.
Regarding soil pollution, recycled polyester can reduce about 30% of plastic waste from landfills. In contrast, virgin cotton needs fertilizers and pesticides to grow, causing chemicals to contaminate the soil. Furthermore, recycled cotton has low life span than recycled polyester.
| Consumption | Polyester | Cotton |
|---|---|---|
| Energy (megajoules) | 33 MJ. | 40 MJ. |
| Water | 1,291 Liters | 3,900 Liters |
| CO2 emissions | 1.5 KG. | 2.3 KG. |
The weaving process of polyester fiber is less polluting than cotton in all dimensions; less than 7 megajoules of energy, 2,609 liters of water, and 0.8 carbon dioxide emissions.
| Tests | Polyester | Cotton |
|---|---|---|
| Shrinkage (100 washed) | - 4% | - 7% |
| Loss of Strength (100 washed) |
- 8% | - 17% |
Polyester and cotton need equal energy per wash compared to the same condition. But due to the differences in their properties, polyester is two times more durable than cotton.
Ref: page 18 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262946333_Natural_Plant_Fibers_Production_Processing_Properties_and_Their_Sustainability_Parameters
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