Ignorance is bliss but not when it comes to what’s best for our babies. Organic baby clothings seem to be a luxury item and not a necessity. I used to be that blissful mom. I figured it is good enough to just feed my baby organic foods as that goes directly into the body. A newborn baby’s skin is thin and porous which means it is more fragile to absorbing toxins. Alot of moms realize that baby skin is just as sensitive if not more sensitive than adults. When I first had my baby, I was expecting my baby to have “babyskin” all the time. Afterall, that’s what I see on those cute babies in magazines?? Dry, red rashes, flaky and irritated skin were definitely not what I expected.
Cotton is the largest used crop for making garments. Due to the fact that it is not a food crop, there is no regulations on the amount of pesticides used. Infact, it was estimated that about a third pound of pesticides is used for making one cotton t-shirt!!! However, you may still think, that’s ok as its not like we are consuming the pesticides. We may not be directly but according to an article from Pesticide Action Network North America ( PANNA), we ingest more of the harmful pesticides than we realize. Pesticide run-off leaches into our water and our livestock ingest contaminated cotton straw and cottonseed in their fed. So it goes back to we need to wear organic and eat organic… to be on the completely safe side!
As if that is not enough, during processing of the garment, harsh bleaches (like chlorine), formaldehyde (preservative) are added to make the products nice and soft. Can we wash the clothes a couple of times before putting it on to wash off all that chemicals? According to another article on Organic Consumer Association (OCA), cotton is a fiber designed by nature to absorb, and heat is used to lock finishes like formaldehyde into the fiber. When heat is applied, this molecule expands and becomes permanently bound in the fiber. That is why it (chemicals) cannot be washed or dry cleaned out.
Certified organic processes do not add any of the above harmful agents to their products. Alternatives such as natural spinning oils that biodegrade easily are used to facilitate spinning; hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine is used for bleaching; organic color grown cottons, low-impact dyes and earth clays are often used for coloration; and natural vegetable and mineral inks and binders are used for printing.
Organic clothings is the way to go when you want to minimize toxin exposures, create a healthier enviroment and give a safer work place to cotton farmers. We are not quite there yet to wear organic cotton all the time but perhaps at least as much as we can for the little ones…….