How We Make Our Evolution Hoodie: Coffee Technology

The clothing industry has seen a dramatic change over the past 70 years. From exclusively using materials like polypropylene and polyester due to the convenience of plastic, to now making clothes from coffee grounds and plastic bottles, the industry has seen huge steps forward, in regard to helping and saving the environment.

So how did we go from polypropylene to coffee grounds and plastic bottles?

As technology, science and machinery improves over time, we are now able to make clothes from different materials, such as hemp, coffee, plastic bottles, sheep’s wool and cork (the list goes on and on). However, here at Coalatree, we use coffee grounds to make some of our clothing, one of which includes our famous Evolution Hoodie.

So you may be wondering, “how do you make a hoodie out of coffee grounds?” Well, I’m glad you asked.

Singtex and S.Café

Innovative textiles, such as fabrics made from coffee grounds are so important as they are the foundation of the fashion industry’s greener future. Created by Taiwanese textile company Singtex, this excerpt from their website sums up the process in a short and concise way:

“S.Café® consists of yarns made from leftover coffee grounds, where the low-temperature, high-pressure, eco-friendly patented process is applied to create S.Café® nano coffee grounds. Yarns infused with S.Café® nano coffee grounds benefit from increased surface area, resulting in the outstanding water dispersion performance; the micro pores on the S.Café® nano coffee grounds can constantly absorb body odours and reflect UV rays.”

Basically, coffee grounds are dried and mixed with recycled plastic bottles. From this process, small pellets are formed, which are then melted to make fibre and yarn.

As well as the material allowing clothes to be odour resistant, water resistant and UV resistant, clothing made from coffee grounds allow them to be lighter and wrinkle resistant, as well as allowing them to have a cooling function that helps keep you cool if you’re doing physical activity, or the weather is warm. Pretty much, it has a lot of benefits when compared to clothes made from polyester.

One interesting part of the process is to roast the coffee beans, before you dry them and separate them from their oils. This is a special part of the patented process used by Singtex, and it’s a fascinating one at that.

Coalatree and the Evoultion Hoodie

The main reason as to why we make some of our clothes out of this material, other than it having a lot of fantastic qualities, it because we believe in sustainability and helping to protect the earth, before it’s too late.

Since incorporating this technology at Coalatree, we have saved over 139,000 plastic bottles from being dumped into landfills, as well as over 80,000 cups of coffee grounds from going to waste. When we see figures and numbers like that, it inspires us to continue doing what we do best, and that is make fantastic, sustainable clothing.

Coalatree started out as a self-sustaining organic farm in Colorado, and the farm focused around a "reap what you sow" mentality, and integrated sustainable practices with quality products. Wanting to create our own workwear, we first launched a line of clothing in 2010, and have continued onto the outdoor industry, all while maintaining our roots in sustainably produced goods.

That’s why we made clothing items such as the Evolution Hoodie, which is our most innovative product to date. It has over 20 features for everyday wear, travel and adventure, as well as the zippered kangaroo pocket that keeps your items safe and secure, including your phone where it won't fall out and break. Obviously that’s the most important thing.

Final Words

We hope that we have provided you with some insightful information regarding coffee technology, as well as how we make some of our clothes, and hope that you continue to learn, grow and help the environment through new technology such as this.