Choosing healthy window coverings and textiles

 You Asked . . .

Our topic this month is window coverings! Below are our recommendations for choosing healthy window coverings and textiles, including an interview with Marlys Wiegand of Adrette Window Coverings. Following the interview are recommendations, a summary of health-based certifications we look for when choosing fabrics and resources for healthy textiles.

From a Building Biology Perspective

The ideal window covering from a Building Biology perspective would:

  • mitigate visual stress caused by glare from harsh streaming sunlight.

  • enable bedrooms to be safely darkened for optimal sleep.

  • be free of toxic chemicals.

  • be derived from natural sorptive materials that would contribute to good acoustics, a neutral electro climate and humidity balance.

  • be naturally textured, dyed or undyed so as not to contribute to stress through visual monotony.

  • be hard wired (if automated) to avoid the use of wi-fi.

  • cause no harm to the environment at any stage in its lifecycle.

    More about choosing healthy window coverings follows our interview with Marlys below.

Interview with Marlys Wiegand

We interviewed Marlys Wiegand who along with husband Jens Wiegand, a Building Biologist, founded Adrette Window Coverings. They specialize in custom made, healthy and natural window coverings and upholstery.  They are our “go-to” for fine organic natural textiles.

Marlys & Jens Wiegand. Courtesy of Adrette WIndow Coverings.

What are your thoughts on the various certifications for textiles that you may now find on some window covering fabrics?

There are three certifications that you can now find on the fabrics that we use to create our window coverings (Refer to certifications in the notes above). GOTS is our go to, when we can find it because we appreciate that GOTS certification takes into account the entire life cycle of the fabrics from the farming practices where the fibers are grown, to the mill that weaves the fabric, to the dye houses. It assures that the textiles are free of flame retardants and endocrine disruptors as well as a comprehensive list of chemicals of concern. The other certifications only certify the end product. 

Why should someone choose to pay more for custom-made window coverings as opposed to ready-made panels?

Consider investing in custom-made for exactly the same reasons as one would invest in high quality clothing. Have you ever had a garment that you really loved and have worn for decades and seems to get better and better as it patinas with age? That is quality!  Off the shelf silk or linen draperies often use thin linings that don’t protect the natural face fabric from harsh UV. Top stitched silks will also break-down more quickly with UV light exposure. The result is that the fabrics will wear badly and end up as landfill after a brief service life. In contrast our custom-made products have features like a double bottom hem, high-quality lining, lots of hand sewing and are never top-stitched. If fabricated right, they can last and look good for decades.

Black-out shades are one of the hardest things to find with healthy, zero VOC materials. Tell us about your custom-made solutions.

Our products are considered “room darkening” and not “black-out” because small amounts of light can travel in through top, bottom and sides of the panels depending on how they are hung. Standard black-out products use rubberized blackout lining that is full of chemicals. They can be quite odorous and are often intolerable to people with chemical sensitivities. We achieve our opacity by using multiple layers sewn into the panel. The exact construction will depend on the characteristics of the chosen face fabric.

What advice do you have on caring for natural fabric window coverings?

You can’t just throw real natural fabrics into a washing machine and expect good results since they don’t contain wrinkle resistant chemical treatments and unlike synthetic fabrics they may shrink. Window coverings will remain cleaner far longer in a clean home. Our advice is to create a clean home . . . vacuum, vacuum and vacuum. (ENA: We would add to vacuum with a high-quality HEPA vacuum in order to pick up and contain the dust and grime in the cannister or bag effectively.) Clean drapery will not only look better it will last many years longer. The panels can also occasionally be hung outdoors to air-out and be sanitized by sunlight when weather permits.

Some locations within the home are far more challenging than others. For example drapery in or near kitchens will tend to pick up cooking grime and odor. Drapery in bathrooms can be challenged when there is elevated room humidity. Good housekeeping hygiene practices for your health will also benefit your window coverings. Turning on kitchen and bathroom fans and airing the spaces out will contribute to reducing humidity and dissipating odors quickly.  

Courtesy of Adrette Window Coverings

What is new and exciting for you in healthy window coverings?

We are very excited about our newest endeavor: We can now offer a custom design “Print on Demand Program” which uses digital printing.  The sky is the limit to what we can create together in healthy window coverings. You imagine it and then together we can bring your dream to fruition with GOTS certified Cotton Duck or Cotton Sateen fabric and GOTS certified inks.

There is a plethora of fabric and ink colors to choose from.

 

Choosing Healthy Window Coverings and Textiles

Most window coverings are made of synthetic fabrics and dyes, treated with fire retardants, and various other chemicals to make them wrinkle resistant. The recommended dry-cleaning process further contributes to the chemical load.

The textile industry also has high environmental costs associated with it. According to Climate Seed, “With 1.7 million tons of CO2 emitted annually, accounting for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the textile industry is a major contributor to global warming”.[1] 

When manufactured with care and quality, even natural and delicate materials such as silk will last much longer even when exposed to ultraviolet light. The breakdown of low quality coverings can also create dust and the need for replacement.

Courtesy of Cottonbro Studio @ Pexels

Fortunately, we now have eco and health textile certifications that provide the consumer with the information they need to make more informed choices about the health and environmental costs of their selections. Along with consumer empowerment, options for healthy textile window coverings are now much more readily available.

Fabric Certifications

 Oeko-Tex® Certification:  Oeko-Tex® is the acronym for the International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology based in Zurich Switzerland. They describe themselves as “a portfolio of independent certifications and product labels (that has) enabled companies along the textile chain and all consumers to make responsible decisions in favor of products that are harmless to health, environmentally friendly and manufactured in a fair way”.[2] 

Their Standard 100 sets limit values for potentially harmful chemicals for human and ecological health and defines testing standards in order to meet their certifications.

There are four product classes, with Class 1 being the most stringent and Class 4 the least. Products are tested for several hundred individual substances including banned substances such as formaldehyde, nickel, cadmium and chemicals of concern as defined by a broad range of both European and American organizations as well as a number of as yet unregulated but suspect substances. 

The certification is used by more than 14,000 manufacturers in 100 countries and more than 160,000 certificates have been issued. Both organic and non-organic textiles may be Oeko-Tex® certified.

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Certification: From their website: “Our mission is the development, implementation, verification, protection and promotion of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).  This standard stipulates requirements throughout the supply chain for both ecology and labor conditions in textile and apparel manufacturing using organically produced raw materials. Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, organic production relies on adequate animal husbandry and excludes genetic modification.” [3]

Introduced in 2006, the Global Organic Textile Standard is the leading processing standard for organic fibers. They describe themselves as “a collaboration of leading standard setters with the aim of defining requirements that are recognized world-wide and that ensure the organic status of textiles from harvesting of the raw materials through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing all the way to labelling in order to provide credible assurance to the consumer”.[4] GOTS is backed by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain that includes ecological and social criteria. It limits the use of toxic bleaches dyes and other chemicals of concern during the entire textile production process.

The GOTS certification can be labeled on a fabric logo as “Organic” (or “Organic - In Conversion”, if applicable) ONLY if it is made up of at least 95% organic fibers (excluding accessories). If the fabric is made up of 70-95% organic fibers, it is labeled as “Made with (%) Organic Materials”.

GreenGuard and GreenGuard Gold: While GreenGuard is not specifically a textile certification, many textiles carry the GreenGuard and GreenGuard Gold certification. GreenGuard Certification Program for Low Emitting Products[5] was one of the first building materials health certification organizations, founded in 2001 by Dr. Marilyn Black.[6]

The certification is a voluntary program available to manufacturers who choose to submit their products for regular evaluation. The program is supported by fees paid by the manufacturers. Product criteria vary with the type of product, but in general a product must be tested and shown to release less than the pre-established very low levels of volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, formaldehyde, and styrene. There are even limits on the emission levels of 4-Phenycyclohexene (4-PCH), a major odorant VOC found commonly in sealants, adhesives, and the latex backing of carpets. An online library of GreenGuard certified products is maintained by UL Spot. There are two levels of GreenGuard certification: GreenGuard and GreenGuard Gold. GreenGuard Gold was created to ensure that products being used in education or settings where children are present had even lower emissions than GreenGuard certified products. A GreenGuard gold certification indicates that a product has total VOC (TVOC) emissions of 220 µg/m3 or less and formaldehyde emissions of 7.3 ppb (.0073 ppm) or less. We consider this to be to be a minimal requirement for building materials, including fabrics, located within the building envelope for a healthy home.

While GreenGuard certified products may be safer than many of the conventional products available, certification doesn’t guarantee that the products are free of all emissions or suitable for all people with chemical sensitivities. The products tested are only evaluated for VOCs, including formaldehyde, but there are many chemicals of concern, including some SVOCs such as phthalates, and heavy metals that are not taken into consideration. 

Other standards that must be followed for GreenGuard certification include:

  • Ingredients that are listed as chemicals of concern under California’s Proposition 65, the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency on Research on Cancer are not prohibited for certification but must be listed.

  • Primary or secondary outdoor pollutants cannot exceed concentrations permitted by National Air Quality Standards.

  • Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) must be less than one-tenth of the Threshold Limit Value set for industrial exposure by the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists.

Products are tested in a chamber following a set protocol. The tests use an amount of material with the same “exposed surface area to room volume” found in a typical indoor environment, so the results are intended to approximate an accurate picture of emissions in real-life situations. The tests reflect levels seven days after installation, but levels of emissions are higher when first installed, before the rooms are flushed out.

While this type of emissions testing is helpful, products are tested individually so test results do not accurately portray the total health impact of using several low-emissions products together.

Courtesy of Adrette Window Coverings

Non-fabric Window Covering Options

Naturally finished wood shutters, louvers, metallic venetian blinds, or bamboo roll- downs can be attractive solutions that avoid the problems associated with fabric window coverings however they must be scrutinized on a product-by-product basis. Wooden shutters are often finished with stains or varnishes that may contain hazardous chemicals and offgas indefinitely. Imported wood products such as bamboo may be fumigated prior to shipping.

A handful of window manufacturers including Pella and Anderson offer an option of integral blinds sandwiched between insulated glass panes. Integral blinds provide the advantage of dust-free and odorless window dressings and do not require regular maintenance.

Resources

Following are sources for organic window coverings.

·         Adrette Window Coverings: Organic draperies, roman shades, and wood shutters. Adrette’s full-service offerings include consulting, designing, handcrafting, and installing. Adrette Corporation, 19363 Willamette Drive PMB 221, West Linn (Portland), OR 97068 | Marlys: 503.703.4692 | Jens: 503.805.9584 | Website |   

·         Addvita Organic Fabrics: Sustainable healthy textiles. We source the fabric(s) needed to create home sanctuaries for environmentally sensitive folks. Available at Adrette Window Coverings (see above).  

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