Organic Cotton Damask Fabric
From LoveToKnow Organic
Organic cotton damask fabric is a popular choice for tablecloths and bed linens. It is beautiful as well as protective of the planet, because the cotton is grown using organic farming methods.
What is Organic Cotton Damask Fabric?
Organic cotton damask fabric is like any other damask fabric, only made with organic cotton.
A damask can be made of silk, polyester, cotton, linen or other materials. The term refers to the weave that is in the fabric. Often floral motifs, animals or other designs are included on a damask fabric, but they can also be simple designs with stripes or just a woven pattern made in a single color.
Damask is a popular choice for tablecloths and other tableware because of the glamorous, formal look that they give to the table. There are many damask tablecloths and napkins available today that are machine washable, meaning you can have a fancy looking table without having to send your linens to the cleaners.
Making Organic Cotton Damask
Like other forms of damask, organic cotton damask fabric is made by weaving threads of cotton together into a fabric. If there is a design motif in addition to the basic weaving, it is raised above the main fabric.
Traditional damask fabric is completely reversible and of very high quality. Damask can come in single or double fabrics; double has more threads per inch and is therefore softer and more expensive.
To qualify as organic cotton, the cotton must be grown under strict organic specifications that do not allow the use of any chemicals to control weeds or pests or to fertilize the fields. The cotton thread itself is also produced in a way that does not use chemicals.
Organic cotton should be unbleached and only natural dyes should be used. As a result, you'll get a lot of earthy colors in your organic cotton damask fabric. Don't expect to find fabric in wild or bright colors.
Buying Organic Damask Fabric
Organic cotton damask fabric hasn't exactly made it into every fabric store in the country. In fact, it can be quite difficult to find organic cotton damask that hasn't already been made into something else.
Of course that's not a problem if what you really want is organic cotton sheets. Organic sheets are a great choice because you're not exposing yourself to a bunch of chemicals when you lie down. Add a mattress cover and you'll be protecting yourself against allergens as well as locking some of the chemicals that went into your mattress inside the cover.
You might not think that your bedding choices make that much difference other than comfort, but you spend about a third of your life in bed. Give some thought to the fabric you're putting your body on for such a long time.
Organic sheets are comfortable and ease the pesticide burden on the planet. The most popular is a brand called Coyuchi, which makes an array or organic cotton bedding, including damask sheets with stripe or check motifs.
Here are some places you can buy organic cotton damask fabric bedding:
Organic cotton damask tablecloths are more difficult to come by. It's likely there are some specialty stores that have such products, but they are not easily available on the Internet. If you are looking for organic cotton damask fabric or tableware, ask at your local organic or natural foods store. Someone there might have an idea of a vendor you could contact.
Caring for Organic Cotton
Organic cotton is just the same as conventionally grown cotton when it comes to care and durability. Organic cotton damask fabric should be machine washable. It may benefit from light ironing.
The only difference between regular cotton and organic is that the organic products are made without the potentially harmful chemicals and pesticides that are used to make conventional cotton, which should have you and the planet breathing a little easier.
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This page has been accessed 3,111 times. This page was last modified 13:55, 5 October 2008.
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