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I've been having trouble with this one, although I own several e-cloths as such. Tried asking the same question at another forum, but no one replied.

Is the e-cloth and other 'microfibre' cloth as eco-friendly as what it's made out to be?

It's selling point is you don't need to use chemicals with it. That is great. But I just discovered that it is made of a synthetic material and wonder: does it biodegrade after the fibres have worn out? The websites tell you much about how good it is, but not say what it is made of.

So, is cleaning with e-cloth and no chemicals really more eco-friendly than using an ordinary cloth, old face-cloth, rags, etc, with, say, vinegar and bicarb of soda, etc?

DO you have a link or something so we can see what is said about it?

If it is manufactured from synthetic fibre then a bit of old sheet and some vinegar, bicarb or lemon juice is definetly going to be more eco freindly. They will be selling eco friendly plutonium soon.

IF it's synthetic (as in chemically created), then I'd say no.

Best way would be to throw it in your garden and see what happens after its been exposed to the elements. If it breaks down and returns to the earth, then it's ok. If it refuses to, or just seperates into pieces that only break down so far, you can be pretty sure it contains chemicals.

If it won't break down, you could use it at the bottom of pot plants to slow drainage in plants that like heavy soil.

One old cotton towel can provide a years supply of dishcloths or mop cloths, and they break down fairly quickly. Those pretty printed velour towels don't though.

Andy Hamilton wrote:DO you have a link or something so we can see what is said about it?

I cannot give a specific link. Put 'e-cloth' in your search engine and you will find lots about e-cloth and microfibre technology, etc. Search for 'what is microfibre' and it clearly shows it is 'breathable polyester'.

In one of the product information booklets I was recently given about a very expensive version of this microfibre system, I am told that 'one single fibre is in fact comprised of 96 of the finest filaments made of polyamide and polyester'.

Immediately the alarm bells started ringing: polyester, polyamide, do I really want this? Hence this question in the first place.

O, just discovered this link: http://www.blurtit.com/q499065.html

i like microfibre undies, but i'm not sure i'd trust it to do all my cleaning without any kind of help.

Looks like it'll last a while (the undies do) sp its friendly in that aspect, but i'd rather go down the old cotton towel route personally.

Or..like my mum, use old terry towelling nappies. They're bigger than face cloths.

"It's basically more of a manufacturing technique than an exact type of textile. The artificial textiles nylon and polyester can be woven using very think strands (less than one denier)."

So made from hydrocarbons and not biodegradeable! Verrrrry ecofriendly.........

Nev