Textile Archive/Dress Shirt Redmond Bügelfrei (50% Cotton, 50% Viscose)

▼This page is part of the Fab Region Bergisch documentation initiative.

This page is open edit.

This white/blue dress shirt reached the archive straight from a used-clothing container (Textile Archive, 2026, canvas 14). Its fabric is poplin: tightly woven and finely ribbed, the classic shirt fabric (Fashionary, 2021, p. 086). Cotton, grown for over 6,000 years, is soft and breathable, but conventional cotton uses a lot of water and chemicals (Fashionary, 2021, pp. 018–019).

Viscose, the first semi-synthetic fibre (France, 1890s), is made from wood pulp as an 'artificial silk' – soft, but weak when wet (Fashionary, 2021, p. 046). Blends improve comfort or price, but are harder to recycle (Fashionary, 2021, p. 055; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). With no composition label, the NIR scanner (50% Cotton, 50% Viscose) is our only clue to what it is made of – infrared spectroscopy can identify fibres without a label (Riba et al., 2020).

The Redmond Bügelfrei label doesn't say where it was made. It was set aside because of a stain – but its fibres could go back into new yarn (R8 Recycle) and its fabric could become something new (R7 Repurpose; Potting et al., 2017). Care tip: Pre-treat stains with mild detergent (no bleach) and wash gently at low temperature (ISO 3758:2023; GINETEX).

A strong example of why NIR matters when the label is missing. Use it to show the path from garment back to fibre. Invite makers to propose a repurposing idea for it. Complete label language and 3D scan quality.

• Textile Archive (2026) Labels_Final – sample label sheets of the gesa measuring action, June 2026 [Canva design, 34 canvases]. Unpublished project data.
• Fashionary (2021) Textilepedia: The Complete Fabric Guide. Hong Kong: Fashionary International Ltd. ISBN 978-988-77110-9-4.
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017) A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion's Future. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy
• Riba, J.-R., Cantero, R., Canals, T. & Puig, R. (2020) Circular economy of post-consumer textile waste: classification through infrared spectroscopy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 272, 123011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123011
• Potting, J., Hekkert, M., Worrell, E. & Hanemaaijer, A. (2017) Circular Economy: Measuring Innovation in the Product Chain. The Hague: PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. https://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/circular-economy-measuring-innovation-in-product-chains
• ISO (2023) ISO 3758:2023 Textiles – Care labelling code using symbols; GINETEX care labelling system. https://www.ginetex.net/en/labelling/