For anyone trying to buy products that are animal-free. How do you go about this, when so many have animals without directly saying they do? Being American, with more material objects, it seems difficult to always know what's in a product. I try to buy vegan clothes when possible, but so much, I've no idea about. Was examining my hair scrunchies, n they have glue. Another thing that often contains animals, n Icant know for sure. Is there a directory for hard-to-find items that are animal free?

intrstelr Wrote:
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Was examining my
> hair scrunchies, n they have glue.

You could bind your hair up with rubber, metal clips, and/or threads. Most products which are supposed to be vegan and "green" earth savers aren't.

I know. I just bought an aller-ease pillow, supposed to be organic cotton n all that. The tag says contains recycled polyester fibers. While that's good that they're recycling, it still isn't completely ecofriendly. Was trying to find something to sleep on that is, because I had seizure activity from a pvc airbed I had. Tons of clothes n other products say ecofriendly n they are not.

intrstelr Wrote:
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> I know. I just bought an aller-ease pillow,
> supposed to be organic cotton n all that. The tag
> says contains recycled polyester fibers. While
> that's good that they're recycling, it still isn't
> completely ecofriendly. Was trying to find
> something to sleep on that is, because I had
> seizure activity from a pvc airbed I had. Tons of
> clothes n other products say ecofriendly n they
> are not.

One of the best things I have done is to buy organic natural retted, (grey color only - the other "natural" has been bleached), 100% flax/linen bedding made at the Orsha Linen Mill in Belarus. Nothing else comes close.

This link is not vegan but has a good list of products which have endocrine disrupters in them. And, crap, Teva sandals and Thomasville furniture are on it. I didn't know about those before this...

[www.dianesays.com]

We all are.. what we say we ourselves to be..but behind closed doors we may not always have integrity.

It's hard to 100% on anything. 100% vegan company, for example.. I wind myself up in circles in my mind, just what's 100% raw. To the microscopic measure...

Just do the best you can! Hope companies mean what they say, and do what they say they do.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2014 11:02PM by coconutcream.

Since when do clothes have animals in them?

SueZ Wrote:
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> One of the best things I have done is to buy
> organic natural retted, (grey color only - the
> other "natural" has been bleached), 100%
> flax/linen bedding made at the Orsha Linen Mill
> in Belarus. Nothing else comes close.


One things I was concerned about with buying linen bedding from Belarus was, of course, Chernobyl fallout's effects on the fields but I did my research and test my purchases for radiation and they have all come out clean.

Hoko, some clothes and clothing items are made with silk, wool, leather, fleece.

As for the OP's question, you can shop at all-vegan stores. For things like glue, it is hard to tell the source. There is supposedly no such thing as a vegan computer (yet), so do the best you can. Where there's a vegan option, buy it.

Utopian Life Wrote:
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>
> As for the OP's question, you can shop at
> all-vegan stores.


Even the peta store lists are unreliable - at best. If you don't know manufacturing processes and don't mind very high priced non-vegan products shop at all-vegan stores.

I dont check the PETA list. Vegan Essentials is reliable as is Pangea. Those are US based. They have plenty of personal care items and most from 100% vegan companies.

Utopian Life Wrote:
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> I dont check the PETA list. Vegan Essentials is
> reliable as is Pangea. Those are US based. They
> have plenty of personal care items and most from
> 100% vegan companies.

I just checked those two out and can see there is nothing earth, plant, animal, or human being friendly about their clothing. Just more of the usual overpriced toxic junk like the peta stores sell.

Some brands have a few vegan n cruelty-free products, n then have some that aren't I've noticed. Not sure the brand, but some vegan floss was like that. Sold at earthfare.Had 2 boxes of floss that said it was both. Then a biodegradable silk floss. Silk from silkworms, didn't say crueltyfree or anything. So have to wonder if they hurt the silkworms like some places do.

intrstelr Wrote:
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Silk from silkworms, didn't say
> crueltyfree or anything. So have to wonder if they
> hurt the silkworms like some places do.

Among silks only wild beige "peace" tussah silk can be classified as cruelty free as the cocoons are gathered after the animal has emerged and can only be spun - which is fine for floss.

All silk from domesticated silkworms, (which is almost all silk), requires the animals to be killed before they emerge so the cocoons can be unwound and reeled. The spun domesticated silk that is sold is of much lower quality than reeled and is what is left over from reeling and is sold for floss and knitting, etc. The even lower quality domestic silk is that from the innermost part of the cocoons - next to the poor killed insects. That is the silk that is slubbed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2014 03:59AM by SueZ.

As for clothing, I haven't checked Vegan Essentials. I'm sure you can find something you are happy with on your own, Suez.

SueZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SueZ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > One of the best things I have done is to buy
> > organic natural retted, (grey color only - the
> > other "natural" has been bleached), 100%
> > flax/linen bedding made at the Orsha Linen
> Mill
> > in Belarus. Nothing else comes close.
>
>
> One things I was concerned about with buying
> linen bedding from Belarus was, of course,
> Chernobyl fallout's effects on the fields but I
> did my research and test my purchases for
> radiation and they have all come out clean.

I was also concerned the retting process may possibly leave some residual mold so in order to avoid that possibility, or any of the many other possible unwelcome "hitchhikers" arriving, I ordered larger sheets so I could boil them without worrying about shrinkage.

Happily, when I open the packaging of my linen sheets the only smell that greets me is the wonderful smell of newly cut grass - the tell tale sign of truly minimally processed bast fiber textiles. So don't worry about mold with them, intrstelr.

They sell pillow cases and other useful products, too.

SueZ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> intrstelr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Silk from silkworms, didn't say
> > crueltyfree or anything. So have to wonder if
> they
> > hurt the silkworms like some places do.
>
> Among silks only wild beige "peace" tussah silk
> can be classified as cruelty free as the cocoons
> are gathered after the animal has emerged and can
> only be spun - which is fine for floss.
>
> All silk from domesticated silkworms, (which is
> almost all silk), requires the animals to be
> killed before they emerge so the cocoons can be
> unwound and reeled. The spun domesticated silk
> that is sold is of much lower quality than reeled
> and is what is left over from reeling and is sold
> for floss and knitting, etc. The even lower
> quality domestic silk is that from the innermost
> part of the cocoons - next to the poor killed
> insects. That is the silk that is slubbed.

I just did a new fact check for you, ( my personal experience with silk buying was old time from memory), and apparently "peace silk" is no longer.

Wild silk is being farmed and instead of waiting for the insects to emerge the cocoons are being slit open and the insects dumped out in order not to have to deal with their excrement. So silk is now officially out for serious vegans unless someone out there is harvesting the cocoons in the wild - which I doubt can occur any longer.

Did you find any of this helpful, Intrstelr?

intrstelr Wrote:
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> For anyone trying to buy products that are
> animal-free. How do you go about this, when so
> many have animals without directly saying they do?
> Being American, with more material objects, it
> seems difficult to always know what's in a
> product. I try to buy vegan clothes when possible,
> but so much, I've no idea about. Was examining my
> hair scrunchies, n they have glue. Another thing
> that often contains animals, n Icant know for
> sure. Is there a directory for hard-to-find items
> that are animal free?

One year my brother gave me a PETA book that listed all the hidden by-products of various items and literally it was in just about everything. Bike tires? OMG! You're an evil non-vegan! I have read comments to Harley pointing out that his bike tires are not kosher. Glue on shoes, even ones with manmade uppers. The list goes on and on. Are we trying for sainthood here? I contend that there is an element of internalized guilt masquerading as concern for animals.

Maybe I'll start a thread on vegan and earth friendly textiles so people who are interested in leaving a less bloody footprint on the world will have an easier time of selecting textiles throughout their lives.

It truly can make a vast difference, in many ways, to buy responsibly in this area which, as it stands today in most respects, is a very toxic and polluting slice of modern life. The solutions are still available, cost effective, and so much better for everyone's individual health, too.

Never let the whining trolls convince you that it's just too hard to make improvements. It isn't.

Thanx. I will have to check some of this out.