What You Should Know About Tencel

In recent years, when it comes to soft and breathable clothing and bedding, the chances are that you will see a large number of them made of Tencel fabric, claiming incredible softness and eco-friendly process.

But what is Tencel, and why is it tied to environmental sustainability? Now let’s take a close look at this magic fabric.

What is Tencel?

How is Tencel made?

Viscose, modal and lyocell fibers are all made from wood pulp. Manufactures dissolve the wood pulp with a chemical solvent to produce a wet mixture and then push the mixture through the holes of an extruder to get the fibers.  

However, the productions of modal and lyocell require less energy and produce minimal chemicals waste than viscose.

The Tencel modal fibers are extracted from naturally grown beech wood through an eco-friendly pulp-to-fiber process. The lyocell fibers mainly come from sustainably grown eucalyptus wood (or birch, spruce, etc.) by a unique closed-loop system recycling more than 99% of the solvents and water used.

Therefore, producing these two fibers will save a lot of energy and minimize the environmental impact.

What are the characteristics of the Tencel fabric?

Tencel fibers are renowned for their exceptional softness. It’s believed that Tencel fabric is softer than cotton and cotton-blended fabrics. Fabric made of Tencel feels exceptionally soft and gentle on skin, so it is commonly used in intimate clothing such as underwear and loungewear.     

Tencel fabric has excellent drape and doesn’t wrinkle easily. It is also featured with high moisture absorption and strong breathability, which is conducive for temperature regulation. What’s more, its high color retention performance will help keep the dye well for vibrant colors. These characteristics have gained a good reputation for Tencel bedding such as Tencel sheets and Tencel pillows.

Standard Tencel fibers are also biodegradable and compostable due to their 100% natural original material and eco-friendly processing. It is a healthy and green fabric that can get back to nature and help reduce environmental waste.

How to clean and care for Tencel fabric?

Tencel fabric is not hard to clean and maintain. What you need is to try to make everything low and natural.

With high tenacity and flexibility, Tencel fabric can withstand repeated wash and dry cycles. This means that it is machine washable, indeed good news for most of us. However, it doesn’t like hot temperatures or rough cycles. Remember to keep low temperatures during washing, drying and ironing. It is highly recommended to hang your Tencel bedding or clothing dry because it can help eliminate creases and make it drape more naturally. Last but not least, do not bleach.

In short, follow the clean and maintenance instructions of your specific Tencel product or do as the guide below:

Do not bleach;

Dry clean or handwash recommended;

Do not soak for long;

Do not wring; hang to dry in shades;

Machine wash cold, gentle cycle;

Tumble dry low if needed; remove promptly;

Cool iron if necessary.

That’s all about Tencel, an amazingly soft and sustainably made fabric. If you’re obsessed with it, do not hesitate to explore and bring home the products made of Tencel fabric to enjoy their softness and comfort.