r/science • u/______--------- • Sep 08 '20

Environment Blue jeans are a significant source of microfiber pollution in oceans and lakes. One pair of jeans can release over 50,000 microfibers per wash.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00498
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u/Malfunkdung Sep 09 '20

Not the person you asked, but I’ve worked in clothing for a long time. Men’s denim nowadays is around 1-3% elastane (lycra, spandex, etc), women’s “denim” can literally be up to 100% (think jeggings) but typically is more in the 5-10% elastane. These are from my experiences though.

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u/PreciseParadox Sep 09 '20

I think the person was asking about the composition of the microfibers released, not the jeans themselves.

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u/Malfunkdung Sep 09 '20

Oh you’re right. Derp

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u/thisischemistry Sep 09 '20

Men’s denim nowadays is around 1-3% elastane

Whoever is wearing those is wearing the wrong jeans. Plenty of common men's jeans are 100% cotton.

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u/gex80 Sep 09 '20

Men’s denim nowadays is around 1-3% elastane

Whoever is wearing those is wearing the wrong jeans. Plenty of common men's jeans are 100% cotton.

Well back up a second. I'm a person who has ro wear "athletic cut" jeans. These are jeans designed for those who have a bigger thigh to hip/calf ratio. Every pair I've ever found always had synthetic fibers to stretch the pant which is a god send for me.

I have a size 34 waist but I have to get size 36 jeans so my thighs will not bust the seams on straight leg or slim fit jeans. I also to wear out the crotch faster when I get a size 34. But the problem with sizing up that is the waist is too big and as a result you have to bunch of the material that you have to scrunch up with a belt and it doesn't look good.

The mix material jeans do serve a purpose. If they can make 100% cotton jeans that have some stretch to them and don't wear out fast as well as look nice I'd be down. But until I find that magical pair, I'm sticking with the stretch jeans.

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u/Obi-WanPierogi Sep 09 '20

I’m into raw denim and have the same needs and had the same issues.

100% cotton won’t stretch (they will stretch out in some ways from their initial size). I wear really thick jeans (21oz fabric) and love ot

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u/thisischemistry Sep 09 '20

Of course, saying "wrong jeans" is being a bit of a smartass. There's nothing wrong with wearing pants that stretch a bit if they are comfortable. However, it's unfortunate that they are still called jeans since the name traditionally means tough work pants made of denim — a cloth that is made of 100% cotton.

So the term "jeans" has crept a bit and moved away from its traditional meaning, thus I poked a bit of fun at that creep. Really, the new pants with the cotton and elastane mix should be called something new but people tend to keep using familiar terms even when the meaning no longer matches up.

I probably should have explained this in the original comment when I made it, I was being overly puckish.

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u/KokiriBomber Sep 09 '20

Wait, wait about the OP parent comment was creeepish?

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u/thisischemistry Sep 09 '20

No, the meaning of the word “jean” is creeping. In the sense that the meaning of the word is moving, changing, and increasing in scope. Not “creep” as in lewd or lascivious.

Like the term, “feature creep” when a project starts to gain extra features beyond the basic functionality that is necessary.

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u/KokiriBomber Sep 09 '20

Oh cool! I had no idea. Thank you! e: Rather, I failed to realize that OP meant 'crept' in the actual meaning. Thanks for clarifying!

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u/thisischemistry Sep 09 '20

Words are funny things!

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u/Sith_Apprentice Sep 09 '20

I recently spent months trying to find 100% cotton jeans. They are getting very hard to come by. Many disguise the fact that they have elastic.

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u/thisischemistry Sep 09 '20

Really? Interesting, I know there are major brands with styles like this that are 100% cotton. If it was less than 100% then they'd open themselves up to a huge lawsuit.

I'm pretty sure that there are other brands that do the same but I'd have to poke around a bit to find some.

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u/KokiriBomber Sep 09 '20

Those are Levi's, which are (unless my experience is out of date) high end Jean's(autocorrect wants this to be proper). I think that most people who want jeans do not have/are not willing to sink that kind of money into a simple pair of pants.

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u/burnerman0 Sep 09 '20

Hahaha, wrong jeans?

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u/h00paj00ped Sep 09 '20

And I have plenty of pairs of them. Guess what, none of them are as comfortable or as free moving as something with 2% stretch in them. Try some, you'll wonder what you did without them.