This Deep Dive has been generously sponsored by culthread, a brand that makes ethical, recycled, and cruelty-free coats, jackets and bags that are practical, stylish and comfortable.
It’s been disappointing how slowly the fashion industry is moving to get PFAS out of outdoor clothing like winter puffy coats.
This toxic class of chemicals (fancy chemical name: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) provides lightweight water and stain resistance. The industry has argued it’s a crucial ingredient for high-performance, comfortable outerwear for snow, rain, and ice.
But PFAS’s positive qualities are far outweighed by its toxic effects. Research has linked PFAS to a variety of cancers, reproductive disease, miscarriage, infertility, hormonal disruption, immune suppression and weight fluctuations, to name just a few things. And it’s persistent and bioaccumulative, traveling around the globe and building up in our bodies, as well as the bodies of wildlife.
You can bet that any “Durable Water Repellant” (DWR) finish, without a clear note that it’s PFAS-free, contains forever chemicals. In fact, I assume that any winter or raincoat that doesn’t say it’s PFAS-free has it.
PFAS can shed off of outdoor gear and into your home’s dust, which you can breathe in, or migrate from your clothing to your skin. (More research is needed to find out how much PFAS can be absorbed into the skin.) According to a 2022 study in Environmental Science & Technology, on average, children wearing stain-resistant school uniforms treated with PFAS would be exposed to 1.03 parts per billion of PFAS per kilogram of their body weight per day through their skin.
This scary information is starting to make its way into the public consciousness. I’ve noticed in group chats, my friends are freaking out about PFAS in their period underwear. A group of friends were lamenting PFAS’s ubiquity at a birthday party, of all places. (This was set off by a report that it’s in seltzer.) And on EcoCult, our guide to PFAS-free outdoor gear has consistently ranked in the top ten articles for the past couple of years.
Still, many North American brands have resisted getting it out of their products. The American Apparel and Footwear Association has consistently opposed legislation that would ban PFAS from everyday apparel, much less performance apparel, saying its brand members need more time. Despite this opposition, both New York State and California have both banned PFAS in everyday apparel by 2025, with performance apparel following not long after. Brands are going to need to figure this out soon.
Luckily, there are PFAS-free ways to add water-resistance to winter and rain coats! Just look at what the sustainable brand culthread has achieved.
What Makes Culthread Sustainable and Ethical
culthread is a woman-owned and run brand that takes a holistic approach to sustainability, ethics, and consumer health.
Until this year, all of culthread’s coffee-cycled leather coats and bags were made in its own atelier in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, the global capital of technical apparel manufacturing, so it has complete control over the quality and labor conditions. The director of the atelier, Jessy, used to work for Hugo Boss, and most of the jackets and bags are made by one craftsperson. Cultthread recently expanded to a partner factory to launch its new cult coat collection of puffers. Its parent company, Textyle, has a strong relationship with this factory, having worked with it for over 20 years.
Plus, culthread has visibility into its entire supply chain of materials — from the shell and fill to the thread and zippers — an impressive and exceedingly rare move. These materials are mostly produced nearby in Vietnam to keep the quality high and cut down on transportation emissions. The materials are recycled or deadstock, and if you want, you can download all the GRS certificates attesting to the recycled materials’ authenticity.
culthread’s products are 100% cruelty-free, including coffee-cycled vegan leather, which is waste coffee grounds combined with a corn-based polyurethane, which is then coated on top of recycled polyester. You can see this in action in culthread’s recycled vegan leather jackets.
That’s all amazing, obviously. But we’re here to talk about…
How Culthread Does PFAS-free Durable Water Repellent
Culthread uses what they call C0 coating on the outside of its coats. Where does this name come from? Well, all PFAS has a chain of carbon and fluorine atoms. The original version that you might have heard of were PFOS or PFOA, “longchain” or C8 fluoroalkyl substances, with eight carbon atoms.
Then the industry started phasing those out and switched to C6 or “shortchain” PFAS alternatives, under the assumption that these weren’t as persistent or likely to build up in the body, so they weren’t as toxic. But that wasn’t true — they just hadn’t been studied as much.
We now know that C6 versions are just as toxic. So, the only safe version of PFAS is no PFAS, hence the C0 coating.
Instead, the finish used on culthread’s coats is PHOBOTEX® RSH by the American company Huntsman. It’s a non-fluorinated durable water repellent finish made of acrylic ester (acrylic is what a lot of eco-friendly personal care product brands use for reusable packaging). It’s mixed with the dye to permeate fabric during dying and finishing.
A water-based polyurethane coating is also placed on the back of the fabric. Polyurethane is the safest, most sustainable type of water repellent, and it’s extremely effective. (Fun fact: it’s what was used to waterproof firefighting gear before PFAS became the norm.)
The dyehouse that uses these high-performance coatings to finish the fabric for puffers has Oeko-Tex safe chemistry certification. It’s located in China, and culthread provided its contact info as well as contact info for the representative of Huntsman. As we’ve stated before, it’s important for chemical safety that a brand know and share their suppliers down to Tier 3. We’re super impressed that culthread does this.
Don’t Choose Between Dry and Safe
You don’t have to sacrifice your comfort in order to be sustainable. culthread and its stylish winter and vegan leather coats is a package deal for people who care about the planet, their own health, people, and animals.
