Wash bag against microplastic

This wash bag is able to retain the fine, broken microfibers from textiles made of plastic or with plastic components. Although the fabric itself is made of plastic - untreated polyamide 6.6 - it is very strong, alkali-resistant and easily recyclable in its pure form. The monofilaments made from it are more like rods than threads and therefore do not lose any fibers themselves, so they do not produce any microplastics. On the contrary, the microfilaments are extremely fine and can be woven so tightly that the microscopically small synthetic fibers cannot penetrate the fabric. The bag catches 99% of the broken microparticles - but water and dirt particles can pass through. Even if the microplastic fibers are smaller than the openings in the fabric - the diameter of a microplastic thread is around 15 µm (1 mm = 1,000 µm) - they cannot pass through the small openings in the wash bag fabric. Although this would be possible in theory, it does not happen in practice, as the microplastic thread would have to pass straight and vertically through the fabric. Even if the thread sticks out of the fabric, it is pushed back in again. The edging tape is made from long staple fibers, so if some of them should come loose from the bond, it is unlikely to break.

Of course, this is not a carte blanche for synthetic clothing; in fact, you would have to do without synthetic clothing altogether. But it is a start towards reducing microplastics. And incidentally, another advantage has been identified: The wash bag extends the life of textiles and significantly reduces pilling during washing. This is because the forces responsible for breaking the fibers are reduced by the structure of the filaments and the surface of the fabric. The fibers, whether synthetic or wool, do not break off in such large quantities. The wash bag itself is of course also durable: after 50 washes, it and its edging showed no signs of damage. Using it is simple: fill the bag halfway with laundry and wash as usual, then remove the microplastics by hand - please do not rinse the bag! - and dispose of it in the garbage can. It may take some time for the fine fiber residues to become visible (they primarily accumulate in the corners and edges). The bag therefore does not need to be cleaned after every wash.

Functional underwear for sports, fleece pullovers and rain jackets are practical, comfortable and lightweight. However, they do not cut a good figure in the washing machine, where plastic clothing loses thousands of fibers with every wash, which then end up as microplastics in the groundwater and oceans and thus in the food chain, as neither washing machines nor sewage treatment plants can filter them out. The consequences of this are not yet foreseeable, but what is already known does not bode well. Fiber breakage also affects blended fabrics made of cotton or other natural materials with a proportion of plastic such as nylon, polyamide, polyester or acrylic. According to a study, in a city of 100,000 inhabitants, between 170 and 441 kilograms of microfibers can end up in the wastewater every day - the equivalent of 15,000 plastic bags. Two passionate surfers - and therefore owners of outdoor and functional clothing - were looking for a solution without having to do without their existing clothing. Because simply throwing them away was not an option either. With the help of researchers and financial support from crowdfunding, they developed this wash bag made from monofilaments, which can collect the fine, broken microfibers that are produced when washing synthetic textiles. This means they do not end up in the groundwater, but can be disposed of in the waste.