"organic" fabric
 

Went to one of our LQS the other day and was blown away by the cost of "organic" quilting cotton. $16+ per yard!
Can't imagine anyone paying that, I'm having trouble with $10+/yd. Besides what's more organic than cotton? Wondering if there is anyone out there who would actually buy this..................

Not me - I don't even get organic with my food!

I wouldn't buy it either! Unfortunately I have heard that due to the severe drought conditions in parts of the US, cotton prices will be rising. Looks like I will finally have to dip into my stash. If the prices get much higher I will need to find another hobby,.but of course then I will need to pay for a shrink for my sanity!!

Organic Cotton, I dont think I have ever seen it in any of the LQS in my neck of the woods.

Um...organic isn't about it being cotton or not, it's that the cotton was grown with no pesticides and the fabric hasn't been treated with chemicals. I wouldn't be able to pay that either and since I prewash, I can live with 'normal' fabric. However, I do see the draw if you're making quilts for babies or people with low immune systems or you just worry about this issue. I know many people make their own cloth diapers and are using organic hemp fabric for that. So, there will be and is a market for organic cloth.

Sounds like another way to take our money.

Organic fabric, and organic yarn for knitting/crochet is all the rage now with young mothers especially who are insisting that everything their infants touch is totally untainted by any kind of chemicals during the entire production process.

The process has to be monitored and certified from the ground (literally) the cotton is grown on (can't have any chemicals used on it for several years before) clear through the looming, finishing, printing, etc.

Only "organic" dyes can be used, and the finishing chemicals also have to be a certain type. The entire process and sourcing of everything has to be monitored and recorded.

That's what makes it so expensive -- sorta like "organic" eggs and other food. They're double the cost of regular eggs.

I always wondered how a truly "inorganic" egg would taste, BTW. Maybe a little like plastic? :-)

Personally, I think the entire "organic" fabric and yarn thing is a bit overblown. It's not clear if there are any proven benefits to it. However, it apparently gives the buyer/user some peace of mind, so I guess in their eyes it's worth the price.

Cindy was required (by the DD) to use organic yarn when she crochet a baby blanket for our grandson when he was born. IIRC, the price of the yarn for the blanket was astronomical, like over 100 dollars. :-0

I realize it's all about the processing and everything, but I think people are going overboard with all this, unless they and theirs live in a bubble, they will run into undesirable things. Just seemed crazy to me to spend that much for fabric which will probably be washed in non organic detergent sooner or later!

Drought conditions in the US have pretty much nothing to do with the price of quilting cottons, nor does the price of raw cotton for that matter. The price of raw cotton, in fact is dropping like a rock...and has been since it's peak in March 2011. It's down 45% for the last year (7/11-6/12), down 19% for the last six months (1/12-6/12), and down another 20% in July. Today's price per pound is less than the July 2007 price.
http://www.indexmundi.com/commoditie...tton&months=60

Quilting cotton prices are affected by the value of the US dollar; the growing conditions in China, Pakistan and India; the duties placed on imports; the reduced number of print mills; all kinds of worldwide factors. Quilting fabric is neither milled nor printed in the US any longer. You have to look at the much bigger picture.

This article dates back to the high point last year, but the scope of the market remains the same.
http://www.americanquiltretailer.com..._Customers.pdf

Please note, I am not 'dismissing' any US drought conditions as unimportant, for clearly their impact on many millions of citizens is and will continue to be enormous in ways we don't even grasp yet. I just don't see how the price of a yard of Moda Marbles has anything at all to do with it.