How to THRIFT for NATURAL FIBERS / a guide to finding natural fabrics in the thrift store 

I check the sheets, curtains and table linens, too. They provide more yardage for the price, nice big rectangles. And people often leave the tags on so you can confirm the fiber content.

I have always shopped by feel first. I didn't realize for years that I was seeking linen, cotton, wool, and silk. Now, it is all I buy.

Good advice. I have a degree in textiles and can identify fabrics by sight and feel 99% of the time (some blends can be tricky and modern synthetics are much better than they used to be). Another thing with the burn test is the smell. Cellulose fibres (cotton, linen, ramie, hemp) will smell like burning paper and produce a soft brittle ash (viscose and rayon can be tricky here as they are technically cellulose). Protein fibres (silk, wool, mohair, cashmere, angora) will smell like burning hair and produce almost no ash. Synthetics, as you showed, burn easily (but so does cotton) and have an acrid stench of burning plastic. They will produce a hard bead that does not crumble into ash. Not ideal to burn plastics too often though as the fumes are also toxic. When I was at uni we had to be able to identify any given textile by a burn test! I still have my test samples ha

So funny how eyes see things differently. That shirt in the “terrible color” i found prettier than any of the ones you bought!

I’m a fool for natural fibers and I’m always looking for potential fabric in clothing. I found a linen comforter cover, chambray weave that I nearly screamed when I found it. It’s so much fabric!

Silk is made from incredibly long fibers and can be woven into an amazing variety of weaves. Not all will be crepes, which are woven from over twisted yarns. Silk charmeuse and silk satin will be very shiny and slippery due to the length of the fine warp threads. Silk Habotai is very light, and is a plain weave so it won't be as lustrous as a satin weave, and you may see it in slips and linings. Knitted silk jerseys can be smooth and dry to the touch, and will weigh slightly more than a cotton knits.

Dont forget to check table cloths, curtains, skirts and dresses for amazing yardage!

I absolutely love thrifting for linen, silk and wool. I snagged a roll of over 20 yards of embroidered silk shantung from a thrift store a couple of years ago for $6.99. I found it online for $85 a yard. Most amazing find ever. Like you, I screamed a little when I found it.

I learned my fabrics first by going through the fabric store and feeling everything, then checking the fabric content.

You can tea/coffee dye those bright colors - sometimes you get some nice tones that way. Great instruction - thanks!

Ok, you won me over by riding your unicorn to the thrift store. Not just thrifting , but also saving gas. Yay!!!

Thanks for this. My grandmother was an amazing seamstress & coached me on fabrics so I can pick them out, but I think most people under 50 can’t identify types of fabric. Regardless of eco-political views about fabric, chemicals etc., I just love the feel of natural silk, linen & cotton and it can be dyed more easily, doesn’t pill, etc.

what i love about natural fabrics is that they dye really well.. for those not so wonderful colors

Some people argue that because polyester comes from oil, it's natural, as oil is a natural resource, but polyester has always severely irritated my skin, and I have always detested the feel of it, even as a young child. I much prefer cotton, linen, hemp, silk, wool. I've heard polyester releases polymer microparticles (plastic) into the water supply during each wash. If governments and eco groups cared about microplastics, they'd ban polyester. Not to mention ban cigarettes, which produce about 3 trillion single-use plastic filters per year. I've also heard the argument that oil is recyled plants and animals, but I say, "no" to polyester. _Recently grown_ plant and animal fibres are best. Our skin knows, our instincts know, if we'll listen. Thanks for sharing this video.

Thanks great video. I’ve been teaching my 11 year old grand daughter to sew. Using the touch technique I have been showing her how to identify natural fibres. She’s quite proud when she is correct. I look forward to showing her your informative video.

Love the unicorn scene!! Made me laugh. 😂😊 Thanks so much for the silk id info. Very helpful when shopping for scarves... esp when most of them have the fiber-content tags removed.

Not hugely important, but an interesting fact is that rayon is actually not really synthetic fiber. It is made out of processed cellulose, kind of like paper products. It is sometimes called a "semi-synthetic" and most organizations concerned with plastic waste consider it to be biodegradable

Haha. I LOVE that neon melon colored button down you found. It's one of my faves. I have always been a feel shopper as well. When I find timeless and quality pieces that fit perfectly I have to stifle a scream. Example: 100% silk 80's long sleeve button down cheetah print blouse. I'll have it until the end of my journey on this planet. $12 I've had smoothies that cost more than that. I also started looking exclusively for 100% cotton denim jeans because I was paying $100+ for "designer" or high end denim that would stretch out and rip in all the wrong areas after 2 - 3 years of wear. Cotton is king for jeans, imo.

A few times I've found silk-wool blend garments. Absolute treasures.

My thrift store has a good selection of natural fibers in the bed linen and drapery section. If you’re lucky, the Selvedge edge will indicate the fiber content (often wool and linen fabrics will have this). Another tip to help determine if your fabric is a natural fiber: scrunch it in your hand for a few seconds and hold. When you release it if there are wrinkles then it is probably natural. If there are no wrinkles, then it is probably synthetic. This tip is from Evelyn Wood.

Great video! I’ve used this technique for years. More in the past than nowadays. Why? Back when I was having hot flashes, natural fibers, particularly silk and linen, were the only thing I could wear! I’d occasionally try putting on something else, like an acrylic or polyester sweater, and inside of five minutes I’d be changing back to something made of a natural fiber. There were some lightweight rayons that were ok too, mostly India prints and the like, which makes sense as they come from a hot climate. I also found that some polyesters have a feel that’s much like silk, enough to fool even the practiced hand in the touch test.

Burning fabric: natural fabrics will leave a fine ash. Synthetics will bead, like melting plastic, which they are, and leave a hard, stiff edge when the fire is out. Synthetic "ash beads" will also burn the heck out of you if you try to pinch the fire out, so be warned.

Decades ago, I could go to the mall and find tailored fashion pieces made in numbered sizes and from natural fibres. Cheaper, synthetics crept in but price points remained. Eventually, the cheaper synthetic fabrics replaced natural fibres in virtually all of ladies fashion options. Even the last bastion of cotton, the humble gym sock, is becoming more synthetic every year. Similarly, the wool sock is losing wool content more and more. Pure cotton garments are now marketed in niche stores and are notoriously recognisable as those shapeless tent-like pieces, devoid of any workmanship and distinguished only by S, M, L, deliberately styled so to sell to all body shapes, yet flatter none. Then there is this business of wicking, whereby synthetic pieces are promoted as being superior by virtue of new technology. They’re not superior in breathability to any natural fibre, however. The industry’s latest profit generator is achieved by exploiting the green movement by supplying garments made of recycled fabrics, even recycled synthetic garments. The fashion gods must be having a good laugh because we’re not only buying it but we’re paying full price! The US is one of the world’s largest producer of superior grade cotton fashion fabric (not to be confused with quilting cotton). Where is it going? Where are those fashions being made and where are they distributed? Why don’t we get those natural fabric fashions here in North America? Why aren’t we demanding better?

Another thing about the burn test is it help you determine the fabric content. Natural fibers leave ash, synthetic sleeve plastic. Sometimes it helps to determine what the blend is. Ask for natural fibers not having any stretch. That's kind of a misnomer. I have found silk cotton linen and wool in knits. Don't forget about cashmere sweaters.

I understand your concerns about rayon/viscose, but cotton isn’t much better for chemicals used in growing cotton and in producing the textile. If you are using thrifted fabric, rayon/viscose isn’t any worse for the environment. It is often blended with linen, so I wouldn’t write it off entirely in post-consumer use.

Thanks. I use the same techniques. Although rayon and tencel are from natural sources, and can have the "hand" of a natural fiber, they are highly refined and are considered "neither natural nor synthetic" or "hybrid". Angora, mohair and alpaca are fabulous but rare and I hope you can do a video on them some day and include wool!

I loved the one you called a terrible color lol goes well with my skin tone gess i thought it was beautiful lol

Girrrrrrrl!!! You stole my idea for MY first RU-vid video that I haven’t made yet. 😛 Thrifting for linen and wool is literally my favorite thing to do and I love testing my fiber discerning abilities. Here’s to another fiber snob 🥂 😁

I have always been mesmerized by people who could tell one fabric from another 99% of the time. This was very helpful and I'm going to spend some time in the thrift store the next time I have the car. Maybe you could do a video in the future about how to take these pieces apart effectively to have fabric. TFS!

Nicely done. I love the unicorn for transport

A note for those who think BAMBOO fabric is a good natural option; it's not, when it’s processed into fabric that’s advertised as “soft,” “silky,” or “cool to the touch,” it has likely been turned into rayon or viscose using toxic chemicals. This process is far from eco-friendly, and the fabric that it creates may not be better for the environment than other types of fabric.

The blouse you didn't Ike because of it's color is your opinion. I love that color. It looks great on me with my coloring.

Thanks for an interesting video! I find very fine linen that is very soft and fluid usually in the form or vintage table linens. These are very equivalent to fine cotton, but modern (2000s) linen in clothing is usually coarser as you describe. I buy the vintage table linens for clothing and pillowcases.

Very helpful, thank you!

I enjoyed your vlog and found it helpful. I can't wait to go thrifting.

Thank you so much for this video - I have never shopped for natural fabrics, but have been wanting to make a quilt with thrifted cottons and this was extremely helpful information on how to look for these fabrics.

Thanks for the tips! Going to try them next time I go to a thrift store.

Love your thinking and working!🎉

Great fabric tutorial!❤

I've sewn for years and didn't realize this handy trick - thanks for tips

Cool! That was fun! Thanks for the thrift store tour, too.

this is great! I really appreciate how you went through the thrift store and pointed out the different fabrics!

Nice video, very informative. I never find real silk in clothes but I have found it in scarves. And I have mostly found real linen in home goods decor.

This was wonderful, thank you!

Thanks! This was very informative and helpful.

great video. very helpful, exactly what i needed

what an informative and calm video, loved it! ty

Solid advice, I do the same thing when I'm thrifting - however even 100% natural fiber woven fabrics will usually have some stretch diagonally along the bias (where the warp and weft threads of the fabric cross over each other) + there's a lot more variety to be found in natural fiber fabrics than you talked about here! You got the most common ones for clothing, but there are also silk and cotton velvets (I've mainly seen these as home decor fabrics), heavy cotton canvas for workwear, smooth fine linen for dresses/undergarments, and so much more!

Really interesting. I really like your tips. I will certainly used them on my next thrit shopping trip!

Thanks! That was very helpful! I have always loved linen and natural fibers!

Interesting video. I love linen, cotton and silk. Thanks for the knowledge you share ❤

I love linens and reusing materials and really appreciate your video. Thanks

By far the most helpful video on identifying textiles I’ve seen! The real time look through the thrift store and giving us time to check it out with you and guess for ourselves was great practice. And oddly satisfying, like being on a game show 😄

This was very helpful, thank you!

Thanks so much for your explanation. I’m a big fan of fabric finds on thrift store but you opened my eyes about silk!!!!! I never knew how to look for it. Looking forward to put your tips into practice. And hoping for more of your videos soon 😊

I completely agree with you - this is the way to shop for natural fibers! It is crazy how easy it is after doing it for a while! Love your channel ❣

I understand your desire for natural fabrics. Buying thrifted clothing to upcycle or tailor to fit is a win win for the environment and your pocketbook. To keep the shedding down of your clothing, I tend to re-wear my clothes by spraying them with a vodka-h20-essential oil spray and air them out. Washers are too hard on clothing imo. I don’t mind a soak and gentle hand washing. Air dry is awesome, especially in our dry Alaska winters. I’ve even made thrifted cargo style pants waterproof by painting a mineral oil & paraffin wax mixture that I found thanks to a RU-vid video tutorial. I love the creativity of recycling what others have discarded to our advantage. And make it to suit our individual tastes and body shape 💕🙋🏻‍♀️🏔️

I love to up-cycle clothing 👕👚👗- I can’t wait to see all of your!!

This is such a useful video. I search for cottons for potential patchwork projects, and have only used visual searches to identify natural fabrics, but will now be able to identify good items by touch! Thank you.

Thank you for this! I have just recently begun thrifting specifically looking for natural fabrics, and I've had some good luck so far! Your helpful tips will help me find natural fibers even more quickly! Thanks again :)

Really good explanation. Liking your work👍

This was helpful. Thank you.

I love this topic. I seek out natural fibers in secondhand clothing.

I love to shop thrift stores for fabric, but always relied on looking at tags. I found this very helpful, so thank you!!!

Never heard of mohair, great video. I have wool tops thrifted or gifted from mom and they are the warmest w/o layering on. Now everything is a mix or a percentage of wool. Pure wool and well made products are hundreds of dollars. So girly, you're doing a really high end favor by thrifting.

hiiii !!!, this was a WONDERFUL video from beginning to end. SUPERRR informative, i'm actually thinking about cleaning out my closet with this method. please make more thrifting videos. I really enjoyed this.

Great explanation!

I have spent many happy hours following my mother and her sister up and down the aisles of the Mill Ends store in Milwaukee Or looking at fabrics, they touched and discussed the feel of each piece, how this one felt like it had a bit of rayon in it or cotton.. some of my best memories, both gone now to that great fabric store in the sky..😊 this brought back those memories, thank you. Great finds by the way..

Haha! I love that bright pink! I have kiddos though too so I grab that to make rainbow appliqués on pinafores and such:)

I have been wanting to find natural fabric but didn't know how and this really helps! Thank you so kindly for making this video

Good video, v clear & concise, but 2 things need addressing - 1) Rayon is a natural fibre, (cellulose/wood pulp) made into thread via a chemical process. It is NOT synthetic, just manufactured. The new closed-loop process trade-named rayons re-use their chemicals & don't pollute with them either, like the older ones did. 2) Your burn test was incomplete; you're also supposed to inspect the smoke & ash/residue to determine whether you have an animal/protein product, a plant fibre or a plastic. However, viewers will have learned more than if they hadn't watched your video at all & that's always a bonus.

just found you! This video was amazing! TY! ALSO~ your thrift store was amazing! (now to binge you for my monday break!) peace!

I’m always looking for wool linen and silk. My grandma was a seamstress and drafter of patterns. My sister and I can usually just feel fabric and know if it’s natural. Some of the synthetic fabrics now a days are pretty good dupes though.

Great video!

Great video! Reminded me of my young 4yr old, over 30 years ago, She would walk in the department store racks of new clothes & come out feeling the fabrics of the clothes & announcing which were Silk! Which always brought laughter!! I’m new to your channel & I like your presentation style -- thank you for an enjoyable video!!

When you are in the thrift store, don't forget to check the table and bed section for linen fabric. I have been able to find fabulous pieces there with yardage.

This video was super helpful. Just subscribed. Can't wait to see what you make.

Fiber enthusiast here: we also use the burn test. Same as you, I need to get my stash down before thrifting but the last time my dad bleached the window frames for mold, he got some of the solution on my good cotton sheets. I have save them, as it is only a small bit of a corner, with a plan to make pajamas. I haven't sewn since I was in middle school (crochet took over) but I have made them before and even if it looks ugly, no one else will really see them. If I do well on those, perhaps I will branch out to a few other clothing items until I run out of the sheet fabric and I can look to making something I can wear outside. I do have a fabric stash from when a sewing store was retiring but again, it has not been my primary craft. I have also saved my jeans when they wear out in the inner thighs to use as patches for later ones or for the bottom of bags. There are so many uses for make, do, and mend and with the current economy, I am happy I have a stash of things to do as many crafting hobbies can get expensive. As much as I want to be solely on natural fibers, I have to yield to acrylic for baby items. Some babies have an allergic reaction to wool and the parents have enough to do with their newborn than to worry about their 100% wool sweater not making its way into the dryer; I would use cotton but one wash could easily end its use before the baby can use it more than once due to shrinkage and I find they can fade much sooner than wool. My friend with a six-year-old had a wool sweater from me and it lasted almost until she outgrew it before it accidently made it into the dryer so I count that as a win.

Thanks foe sharing with others the skill of finding natural fabrics. I use this same technique. It helps save me time when I need to get in & out of shops so I can work on projects. 💖

This was really helpful! I’m so glad it landed in my feed. Subscribed :-)

I can't believe that you talked about the burn test and didnt mention the two most noteworthy aspects of it: the ash and the smell! Both cotton and linen have a very soft, "papery" type of ash that also smells like burning paper (no surprise, as they are cellulose-based fibers.) Silk also gives a sort of soft fragile ash. Synthetic fibers dont really give an ash exactly - they melt. And the smell is like burning plastic, because basically that's what they are. When you get around to testing for wool, etc., the ash will also be soft but the smell will be much more like burning hair.

Rayon is a natural fiber. It is wood pulp, originally only Mulberry was used, but now many different woods can be used. It is highly processed to create the fibers, but it is technically natural. The texture and drape is somewhere between cotton and silk. I personally like the feel of rayon, but find it and silk a little above my skill level when working with them.

Hi! I like your channel, your filming style, your music, sounds, demeanor... I'm excited to find linen and do some thrift uplifts. I've handmade costume skirts for little girls I know. Ive handmade a few funny dolls with clothes. I get bored easily. But I do need clothes so I'll focus on fabrics for a while. Plus I have a two year old grand daughter Ive made a few dresses for and that's fun. I like the idea of less expensive thrifted fabrics. Glad you found Mochi. I used to have a Tonkinese that looked a LOT like her. Her name was Oshi but we ended up calling her Nubby because her tail had possibly been slammed in a door as it was about 6" long and bent hence the nub! Haha. she acted a lot like a dog, growling at the door. She chased my daughters in their long, flowy nightgowns and bit their ankles. She had a lot of personality. TMI?! I look forward to more creative videos from you. I think you'll do very well. Congratulations! I'm from SC.

This confirms my experience. I also do this at new clothing stores, like Marshalls and TJ Max.

It took me many years. But now I can see silk/cashmere/linen and all premium fabrics just looking on a rack. I almost don’t touch. I just need to see them all. I even can tell a %-combo if it is. It is very helpful to have a skill. Yes good light needed. Sometimes is nice to have some lighter to test the thread if you know how to smell that natural fabrics. And I don’t care about size. I only care of quality ❤ and stitching.

Thank you great info

I look first, then look for a label. I'm going to try adding in the feel test also : ) Thank you : )

very nice😊

Thanks for this video. I'm really into natural fibers. I didn't know about linen until about a year ago and now I want to pursue getting some. I'm excited to check out the thrift stores. If you do a search about plastic fibers being toxic you'll see how bad they are.

useful, thankyou🥰

Rayon is made from celulose pulp, not plastic. But I understand why you mention it. I'm only dissapointed that there are only! three films on your channel.

Interested to see what you make with these fabrics!

Very informative video, next time im at a thrift store im gonna give this a try. Also the unitah ARC is always a good one!

@11:30 time mark..that floral Hawaiian on the right...I used to have that top lol. Great video...gonna try this on my next outing.

Ouu that beige linen Liz Claiborne top you left behind was cute! Huge fan of natural fibers, I learned how to spot them by thrifting while I was in high school and at college in a Textiles class. I think my favourite to find is raw silk, so rare but so so good.

I knew I recognized that Arc store. I have been there often for jewelry making parts for making second hand jewelry. That store is huge and has a lot of good items. I think I will return there this Saturday as you got me thinking I should now. LOL. Sorry to see you leave the Springs for Vegas. I hope you enjoy the weather there. I will look forward to your videos now because they are “just up my ally”. My kind of favorite things to do. You are very good at making your video’s interesting and fun. Thank you.

I just died laughing at the little unicorn moment. Subscribed 👌

During the shopping sequence, your calming voice over the jazz reminded me in the best way of a 90’s children’s show. I felt like I was watching Sesame Street, learning new things about the world to jazz music. Thank you!

Linen feels cool to the touch and is prone to wrinkle. This also helps make it easier to find when looking in thrift shops.

I'm also quite obsessed with materials when I shop for clothes and prefer natural materials over semi-synthetics like rayon (I avoid synthetic fabrics like polyester overall). But you were able to give me quite a few practical hints on the topic. Hopefully in the years to come consumers will start asking for more and more natural fibers and the market will make a switch back from plastics.