Multilayered Cellulosic Material as a Leather Alternative in the Footwear Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a biodegradable material that could be used as a leather alternative material for the footwear industry, leading to reduce the negative environmental impact. Using an experimental research design, the researchers developed a multilayered cellulosic material (MCM) by bonding nonwoven cellulosic fiber mat, denim fabric, and hemp fabric and examined its properties compared with those of two-layered leathers, consisting of calf and pigskins (multilayered calf and pigskin leather [MCPL]), often used in the footwear industry. We hypothesized these two materials would have similar properties. No significant mean differences were found between MCM and MCPL in total heat loss and break force. The values of air permeability, evaporative potential, and permeability index of MCM were higher than those of MCPL. The findings of this study confirm the effectiveness of MCM for use as a leather alternative material when developing sustainable shoes and provide insights to the footwear industry.

Keywords

cellulosic fiber footwear sustainability practices leather

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adekunle

Cho

S. W.

Patzelt

Blomfeldt

Skrifvars

(2011). Impact and flexural properties of flax fabrics and lyocell fiber-reinforced bio-based thermoset. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 30, 685–697.

American Society for Testing and Materials. (2008). ASTM D 737 standard test method for air permeability of textile fabrics. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.

American Society for Testing and Materials. (2011). ASTM D 5034 standard test method for breaking strength and elongation of textile fabrics. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.

American Society for Testing and Materials. (2014). ASTM F 1868 standard test method for thermal and evaporative resistance of clothing materials using a sweating hotplate. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.

Aoyagi

McLellan

T. M.

Shephard

R. J.

(1994). Effects of training and acclimation on heat tolerance in exercising men wearing protective clothing. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 68, 234–245.

Braithwaite

(2014). Materializing fashion: Designers, materials, ideas and the creation of designer shoes. Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, 5, 53–66.

Cao

Wool

R. P.

Bonanno

Dan

Kramer

Lipschitz

(2014). Development and evaluation of apparel and footwear made from renewable bio-based materials. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 7, 21–30.

Carrillo

Colom

Canavate

(2010). Properties of regenerated cellulose lyocell fiber-reinforced composites. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 29, 359–371.

Chang

S. K.

Gonzalez

R. R.

(1999). Benefit of heat acclimation is limited by the evaporative potential when wearing chemical protective clothing. Ergonomics, 42, 1038–1050.

10.

Chen

C. K.

Shin

Jiang

S. X. K.

(2018). Development of tailor-shaped bacterial cellulose textile cultivation techniques for zero-waste design. Clothing and Textile Research Journal, 36, 33–44.

11.

Colt

(2016, 5 25). Nine West Fall 2016 Collection preview. Retrieved from http://fashionecstasy.com/nine-west-fall-2016-collection-preview/

12.

Dayal

M. S.

Catchmark

J. M.

(2016). Mechanical and structural property analysis of bacterial cellulose composites. Carbohydrate Polymers, 144, 447–453.

13.

Esa

Tasirin

S. M.

Rahman

N. A.

(2014). Overview of bacterial cellulose production and application. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 2, 113–119.

14.

Grahame

(2014, 10 9). The footwear industry is taking steps towards sustainability. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2014/oct/09/footwear-industry-shoes-trainers-japan-shinto-temples

15.

Habib

A. B.

Noor

I. A.

Musa

A. E.

(2015). Effect of some skin defects on physical properties of the leather. Journal of Applied and Industrial Science, 2, 112–119.

16.

Heale

(2013, 12 5). Corporate social responsibility in the fashion industry. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/corporate-social-responsibility-fashion-industry/

17.

Hong

C. K.

Wool

R. P.

(2005). Development of a bio-based composite material from soybean oil and keratin fibers. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 95, 1524–1538.

18.

Huang

(2006). Thermal parameters for assessing thermal properties of clothing. Journal of Thermal Biology, 31, 461–466.

19.

Huda

Yang

(2009). Feather fiber reinforced light-weight composites with good acoustic properties. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 17, 131–142.

20.

Ilyashov

(2015, 10 22). The average woman spends this many weeks of pay on shoes. Retrieved from http://www.refinery29.com/2015/10/96192/real-cost-of-shoes

21.

Kadem

D. F.

Saraç

E. G.

(2017). An experimental application on denim garment to give thermal regulation property. The Journal of the Textile Institute, 108, 353–360.

22.

Kadolph

S. J.

(2007). Quality assurance for textiles and apparel (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Fairchild.

23.

Kadolph

S. J.

(2010). Textiles (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

24.

Kalia

Kaith

B. S.

Kaur

(2009). Pretreatments of natural fibers and their application as reinforcing material in polymer composites—A review. Polymer Engineering & Science, 49, 1253–1272.

25.

Kan

C. W.

(2014). Colour fading effect of indigo-dyed cotton denim fabric by CO2 laser. Fibers and Polymers, 15, 426–429.

26.

Khalil

(2015). Sustainable and ecological finishing technology for denim jeans. AASCIT Communication, 2, 159–163.

27.

Kumar

Chatterjee

Padhye

Nayak

(2016). Designing and development of denim fabrics: Part 1—Study the effect of fabric parameters on the fabric characteristics for women’s wear. Journal of Textile Science & Engineering, 6, 1–5.

28.

Lee

Obendorf

S. K.

(2007). Barrier effectiveness and thermal comfort of protective clothing materials. Journal of the Textile Institute, 98, 87–98.

29.

Lee

Y. A.

Ghalachyan

Xiang

Ramasubramanian

Madbouly

Farr

(2014). Exploring optimal solutions for sustainable product development using renewable bacteria cellulose fiber and biopolymer composites. ITAA Annual Conference Proceedings, 71, 8–9. Retrieved from http://cdm16001.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16001coll5/id/17888/rec/186

30.

Lee

Y. A.

Nam

(2016). Consumers’ acceptance of sustainable apparel products made of bacterial cellulose material. ITAA Annual Conference Proceedings, 73, 1–2. Retrieved from http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1488&context=itaa_proceedings

31.

Tabil

L. G.

Panigrahi

(2007). Chemical treatments of natural fiber for use in natural fiber-reinforced composites: A review. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 15, 25–33.

32.

Liu

Misra

Askeland

Drzal

L. T.

Mohanty

A. K

. (2005). “Green” composites from soy based plastic and pineapple leaf fiber: Fabrication and properties evaluation. Polymer, 46, 2710–2721.

33.

Llanos

(2012, 6 20). Suzanne Lee and her celluloid clothing. Trendland. Retrieved from http://trendland.com/suzanne-lee-and-her-celluloid-clothing/

34.

Martin

B. H. D. V.

Goldman

R. F.

(1972). Comparison of physical, biophysical and physiological methods of evaluating the thermal stress associated with wearing protective clothing. Ergonomics, 15, 337–342.

35.

McCullough

E. A.

Huang

Kim

C. S.

(2004). An explanation and comparison of sweating hot plate standards. Journal of ASTM International, 1, 1–13.

36.

McQuerry

DenHartog

Barker

(2017). Evaluating turnout composite layering strategies for reducing thermal burden in structural firefighter protective clothing systems. Textile Research Journal, 87, 1217–1225.

37.

Mohanty

A. K.

Tummala

Liu

Misra

Mulukutla

P. V.

Drzal

L. T.

(2005). Injection molded biocomposites from soy protein based bioplastic and short industrial hemp fiber. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 13, 279–285.

38.

Motawi

W. K.

(2015). How shoes are made: A behind the scenes look at real shoes factory (2nd ed.). Lexington, KY: The Sneaker Factory.

39.

Mwaikambo

L. Y.

Ansell

M. P.

(2002). Chemical modification of hemp, sisal, jute, and kapok fibers by alkalization. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 84, 2222–2234.

40.

Ochi

(2006). Development of high strength biodegradable composites using Manila hemp fiber and starch-based biodegradable resin. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 37, 1879–1883.

41.

Premkumar

Thangamani

(2017). Study of woven and non-woven fabric on water retention property for effective curing of concrete. The Journal of the Textile Institute, 108, 962–970.

42.

Qiu

Netravali

A. N.

(2012). Bacterial cellulose-based membrane-like biodegradable composites using cross-linked and noncross-linked polyvinyl alcohol. Journal of Materials Science, 47, 6066–6075.

43.

Raj

Sreenivasan

(2009). Total wear comfort index as an objective parameter for characterization of overall wearability of cotton fabrics. Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, 4, 29–41.

44.

Rossi

(2005). Interactions between protection and thermal comfort. In Scott

R. A.

(Ed.), Textiles for protection (pp. 233–260). Cambridge, England: Woodhead.

45.

Slater

(1996). Comfort or protection: The clothing dilemma. In Johnson

J. S.

Mansdorf

S. Z.

(Eds.), Performance of protective clothing: ASTM STP 1237 (pp. 486–497). Philadelphia, PA: American Society for Testing and Materials.

46.

Stankovic

S. B.

Bizjak

(2014). Effect of yarn folding on comfort properties of hemp knitted fabrics. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 32, 202–214.

47.

Statistic Brain. (2016, 8 13). Footwear industry statistics. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/footwear-industry-statistics/

48.

Suresh

Kanthimathi

Thanikaivelan

Rao

J. R.

Nair

B. U.

(2001). An improved product-process for cleaner chrome tanning in leather processing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 9, 483–491.

49.

Takemura

Minekage

(2007). Effect of molding condition on tensile properties of hemp fiber reinforced composite. Advanced Composite Materials, 16, 385–394.

50.

Tarantola

(2014, 6 3). How leather is slowly killing the people and places that make it. Retrieved from http://gizmodo.com/how-leather-is-slowly-killing-the-people-and-places-tha-1572678618

51.

Wen

(2014). Physiological strain and physical burden in chemical protective coveralls (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

52.

Woodcock

A. H.

(1962). Moisture transfer in textile systems, Part I. Textile Research Journal, 32, 628–633.

53.

Yoo

Barker

R. L.

(2005). Comfort properties of heat-resistant protective workwear in varying conditions of physical activity and environment. Part I: Thermophysical and sensorial properties of fabrics. Textile Research Journal, 75, 523–530.

54.

Yuan

Lee

T. R.

(2013). Contact angle and wetting properties. In Bracco

Holst

(Eds.), Surface science techniques (Vol. 51, pp. 3–34). Berlin, Germany: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

55.

Zhan

Wool

R. P.

Xiao

J. Q.

(2011). Electrical properties of chicken feather fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 42, 229–233.

56.

Zhang

W. B.

Shi

Wang

Jin

Jiang

(2013). Nanowire-haired inorganic membranes with superhydrophilicity and underwater ultralow adhesive superoleophobicity for high-efficiency oil/water separation. Advanced Materials, 25, 4192–4198.