Clothes made with tea juice

According to the British Telegraph, UK fashion designers have teamed up with fiber scientists to develop clothes that are as light as leather and textiles. This fabric has been used to make shirts, jackets, womenswear, and even shoes. The British called it a "tea shirt." The reason is that it is made from tea beverages that British people love.

Scientists at the Emperor College in London have always been committed to fashion development and design. They collaborated with the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in the United Kingdom to develop this new type of fabric, tea shirt, which is believed to be highly practical and it can also be processed. Dyeing, thawing and creating new, different clothes is the charm of tea. They are convinced that this kind of innovative and sustainable fabric will become more and more important as the development direction of the textile industry. And raw materials such as traditional cotton, wool and leather will be increasingly limited.

The tea shirts they developed were made from special blends of waste green tea water, sugar and other nutrients. The green tea mixture stimulates the growth of Acetobacter-like bacteria to grow cellulose filaments. After two weeks of wearing, the clothes became more and more firm due to the action of cellulose. During this period, they also added a large amount of bacteria to the cellulose tea juice, which caused it to adhere to the clothes surface. After drying, the tea shirt clothes are transparent, similar to transparent grass paper.

The project was developed by a senior researcher headed by Su Zhanli, who worked closely with the designers of the Central Saint Martins Institute of Art and Design in the UK. Molecular Biologist, Imperial College London, Paul. Professor Freeman said, “Bacteria naturally grow cellulosic fibers, which are linked together into lumps. As a matter of course, lumps often cause the surface of the fabric to be uneven. Therefore, scientists can come up with solutions that make them strong and durable. The surface is smooth, and this kind of clothing is as firm as leather, and even if it is torn, there is no way to break it.

Su Zhanli met a biologist several years ago. They did not intend to have this idea in the conversation. She believes that microbes can circulate cellulose to produce textile-like materials. As a result, she also thought of how to dispose of waste when fashion clothes were thrown away after people were thrown away, and sustainability has become increasingly important.

After that, she found Professor Freeman and Professor Alexander of Materials Science at the Imperial College. As it happens, they are also working on biosynthetic techniques. That is, cellulose is made into a flake, making it a kind of fabric. When Su Zhanli proposed his own idea, he immediately attracted the attention of two scientists. Freeman said that Su Zhanli brought them room for imagination. The two scientists also put her wings in flight. The materials used by Su Zhanli also make them incredible, completely different from their original bacterial cellulose material. To this end, they jointly established this project, and then tried to enhance its new features.

As of today, to allow people to put on such clothes to take to the streets, they also face some challenges, such as the smell of such clothes is too strong, because the bacteria species continue to breed. To overcome this problem still needs research. Of course, setting standards is also required for large-scale production.

However, we have seen that in today's increasingly depleted natural resources, we are faced with shortages of materials and energy reductions, and bacterial species will not be reduced as long as conditions are met. Therefore, it is not far away that such clothes have entered the homes of ordinary people. (Hou Haiyan/China Fiber Inspection)