Handwashed Clothes: A Hidden Source of Microplastics

It's always something.

STARTER STATS

• ~35 % of ocean microplastics originate from textiles.

• ~60 % of clothing worldwide is made from synthetic fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic).

• Billions of people globally wash clothes by hand, not by machine.

---

A New Global Microplastic Culprit: Handwashing

Billions of people across the globe wash their clothes by hand, releasing microfibers — and the impact on human health and wildlife could be larger than we know.

Researchers have found that handwashing synthetic clothes in water with high mineral content ("hard water") releases enormous amounts of microplastic fibres. The University of Toronto study shows how ordinary handwashing may be a larger source of microplastic pollution than previously understood, especially for communities without modern laundry infrastructure.

“Most people around the globe handwash, yet nearly all the microfibre research focuses on machine laundering in high-resource settings."

— Amanuel Goliad, Master's Student

The Method: Mimicking Typical Washing Conditions

The team studied polyester fabrics with and without a silicone-based anti-shed coating, washing the clothing by hand in three types of water: deionized, tap, and Lake Ontario water. They used a bamboo washboard to simulate handwashing, then filtered and analyzed the wash water to quantify the microfiber content.

The Core Findings: Hard Water Woes

Coatings reduced fibre shedding in soft water but were far less effective in harder water, indicating that water chemistry strongly influences microplastic release. Harder water not only increases the number of fibres released but also produces shorter fibres, which are more difficult to remove by filtration and more easily ingested by aquatic organisms.

Until now, this nuance has been missing from most current environmental research and policy. The researchers highlight the need for more inclusive studies to improve water filtration solutions for communities at greater risk.

Read more →