Length of red-dyed PET polyester fiber in sliver form, 2008
date: label: Date made
content: 2008
name: label: maker
content: Draper Knitting Company, Inc.
label: manufacturer
content: Draper Knitting Company, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: Length or bundle of red-dyed polyester fiber in sliver form; red, 100% PCR PET polyester, by Draper Knitting Company, 2008. Stage in the processing of plastic bottles into polyester fleece.
label: Description
content: First introduced by Malden Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1979, owner Aaron Feuerstein chose NOT to patent the invention, allowing it to be copied around the world. Malden Mills was devastated by a fire in 1995, and although Feuerstein tried to keep the company afloat and operating in New England until 2001, through some bankruptcies, reorganizations, and sale of assets, production was finally relocated to Tennessee and New Hampshire in 2015, under the name Polartec LLC.
label: Description
content: Polyester fleece from recycled plastic bottles was at first considered an ecological boon as it kept these plastics out of the landfills and the oceans. Recent scientific inquiry has found that the microfibers that are washed off of fleece materials in daily use find their way into the world’s waterways and since they do not degrade, have also begun to show up in fish. This is an important story of invention, evaluation, reassessment; the importance of science and scientific inquiry, and the importance of continued review of the impact of human actions on the environment.
label: Description
content: ATHM Collection - #2008.265.3; gift of Draper Knitting Co.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Canton
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: American Textile History Museum Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2017.0232.50
label: catalog number
content: 2017.0232.50
label: accession number
content: 2017.0232
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Sliver
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: polyester (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 1/4 in x 23 in x 18 in; 26.035 cm x 58.42 cm x 45.72 cm