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About
Process
Resources
Information
Tags
LookBook
Garments:
Waste Coat Suit
Tyvek Trench
Cork Chaps
Shoddy Vest
Utility Bags
About
Contact
Insta
Waste Coat Suit
Recycled Denim Insulation
Sat Nov 18 2024
A jacket and pants made from 100% recycled denim building insulation. Instead of sitting in landfills, denim can now be up-cycled and used as a healthier alternative to the leading fiberglass building insulation option. Not only is it healthier for the dweller, it is more enviromentally sustainable and keeps the material in a cycle of use instead of discard.
What is Denim Insulation?
The product that launched this entire thesis is upcycled denim now being used as a healthier, more sustainable building material alternative to industry standard materials like fiberglass and mineral wool insulation. To be suitable for insulating buildings and meeting fire code, the denim pulp is treated with a borate-based flame retardant. It has a comparable R-value to Fiberglass Insulation at R-13. And as it is 100% cotton, it is safe to touch with bare hands and to breathe in, unlike its toxic market competors of traditional insulation. Imagine; we use that in our homes!
How is Denim Insulation Used? / What is it used for?
The denim insulation is from the brand “Frost King” and comes in batting sheets of 48”L x 16”W x 1”D. These dimensions are made for wall paneling, but also perfect sheet size to cut up and turn into pieces for garments. The product is typically used for insulating, cushioning, and noise reduction.
Material Properties
It is insulative, very warm, and non-itchy recycled denim. To meet building code compliance as insulation, the denim pulp was mixed with boron-based mixture, making it fire retardant. Though the material is not waterproof, the boron treatment also impedes the growth of fungus and mold.
Recyclability / Sustainability
One step ahead, this material is already madeof recycled material—recycled denim—and can still be recycled! Or, you could tear up the suit when you’re done with it or outgrow it, and use it as stuffing for projects/pillows/cushions.
Alternative Uses
Many makers are using recycled denim for alternative products. Inspiring examples for this project are LikeMindedObjects, started by Elise McMahon in Hudson, NY, using recycled denim to make furniture and created pulp/”shoddy” out of discarded clothing to make sustainable stuffing and fluff (also used in the “Shoddy Vest”!)
Probably the easiest next step for most textile waste is to be shredded and turned into “pulp,” which has historical precendence in “Shoddy” — a natural decomposing stage for wool pre industrial revolution, where pure wool clothing items would be worn til threadbare, then discarded in a pile in a field where the fibers would naturally decompose to a state of pulp where they could be re-spun into new yarn and re-woven into new garments.
Pulp is being used as an alternative for any synthetic stuffing in clothing and up- holstery. It can also be treated like paper pulp and made into cotton paper.
Denim Insulation as a Garment… The “Waste Coat” Suit
This suit will keep you warm in winter. It’s just like wearing your favorite Texas Tuxedo, but warmer and sustainably made and sourced.