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Selecting Safe Fabric For Babywearing

Any fabric used for babywearing should pass 4 simple rules for fabric selection. It must pass all four - if it fails just one rule, it should not be used. If you still feel overwhelmed by choosing a fabric based on these four rules, look for one of the "suggested fabrics" listed after the 4 Rules - just always go back to compare it to the 4 Rules to be sure.

The Four Rules of Fabric Selection

Fiber Content - Natural Fibers
Weave - Woven without stretch, thick visible fibers
Weight - Thick like denim or a sturdy tote bag
Care instructions - machine washable

Suggested Fabrics

4 Rules of Fabric Selection

Rule 1: Fiber Content

The "fiber content" of the fabric is what the threads are made from. This information should be listed on the bolt tag (or package, in the case of a tablecloth) in the form of percentages. It might say something like "100% cotton" or "55% linen, 45% rayon."

Fiber Type	Recommended?	Details	Exceptions
Cotton	Yes	Cotton is a common, inexpensive fiber. It is usually breathable and easy to care for. It will, however, shrink quite a bit, so always buy 20% extra.	n/a
Linen, Flax	Yes	Linen is a very strong fiber and, depending on the weave, typically the most breathable fiber for the heat. It is easy to care for but may get crunchy and stiff with over-drying. Recommended to tumble dry until 80% dry and then steam iron the rest of the way dry.	Always check the fiber content on linen. A lot of fabrics sold as "linen" or "linen-look" are actually cotton, rayon, or even polyester.
Hemp	Yes	Hemp is incredibly strong, and a great choice for a toddler-worthy wrap. It can be difficult to "break in" or soften. Often hard to find in a light enough weight to use.	n/a
Wool	Yes	Softness and breathability depends on weave. Can potentially be very soft and breathable for wearing in the summer. Much higher maintenance; cannot be machine washed. Must be gently hand washed and layed flat to dry.	n/a
Silk	Yes	Real silk made from the silkworm (such as shantung or dupioni) is safe to use.	Lightweight silks such as charmeuse are too light and slippery. "Silkessense" sold at JoAnn Fabrics and most "silk brocades" are actually polyester or rayon.
Rayon, Bamboo, Viscose	Sometimes	Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber. It can be made from a variety of plants, including bamboo. Rayon can be very strong and incredibly breathable, but it can also be thin and slippery. It depends on the weave. It is best to purchase rayon wear you can feel the fabric in person to judge it, and is prefered mixed with a "grippier" and stronger fiber like cotton or linen. It is praised for its breathability in the heat. Rayon is incredibly weak when wet. Note: All bamboo is rayon, but not all rayon is bamboo. This is a common misconception.
Spandex, Lycra	No	Avoid for use in woven wraps, ring slings, or structured carriers like mei tais and SSCs. Even 1% Spandex content is too much for these applications.	A small percentage is fine in a stretchy wrap. A water wrap worn like a stretchy wrap with 3 reinforcing passes can be made from 100% lycra.
Polyester, Nylon	No	Polyester is typically hot, sweaty, and not breathable. It does not hold knots well and slips through ring sling rings. It is "safe" for use in buckle carriers but will make the carrier extremely hot and sweaty. A blend of less than 40% is okay, but ideally polyester should be completely avoided.	Water carriers should be made from 100% polyester or nylon. They won't absorb water the way natural fibers will, and the moisture will help add grip to the rings or knots.
"Other Fibers" "mixed fibers"	No	No mysteries allowed in your carrier! If it doesn't list what the fibers are, don't buy it!	n/a

Rule 2: Weave

Fabric for most applications should have no stretch in either direction. A little bit of "give" along the diagonals is okay. This is especially important for structured, seamed carriers ilke SSCs and Mei Tais. Anything with "knit" in the name is going to stretch and shouldn't be used. Anything with "woven" in the description typically will not stretch. A ring sling or wrap may have a little bit of stretch from rail to rail, but should have no stretch from end to end.

Exception: A stretchy wrap can stretch it all four directions, but should always have 3 spread passes supporting baby to compensate and is never safe for back carries.

The weave should be made of thicker, visible fibers. You should not be able to see straight through the fabric.

Quilter's cotton and bedsheets have too small threads in too high of a threadcount and are therefore too likely to rip easily. Imagine - which will support more weight: one tow chain, or a dozen gold necklace chains? You want fewer, thicker fibers to your fabric. Fabric like flannel (with no visibly discernible fibers) has had the fibers distressed to soften them, making the fabric essentially pre-damaged and weaker.

Rule 3: Weight

Fabric for babywearing should be "bottomweight." If you are shopping by feel, they should feel equivalent to a pair of jeans, men's slacks, or a sturdy tote bag. Avoid fabrics that feel closer to a dress shirt, bedsheets or a handkerchief.

If the bolt tag lists weight (such as Waverly brand fabrics, Ikea fabrics, and some denims) it will be either listed in "oz per square yard" or "grams per square meter (gsm)." Ideal weight is 5-7oz or 185-220gsm. Heavier is okay but will take longer to break in.

If you are shopping online, look for "suggested uses" for the fabric. Look for suggestions such as "great for pants, upholstery and bags." Avoid fabrics recommended as "great for blouses, lingerie, crafts and quilting."

Care Instructions

A minor detail, but worth looking at. Ideally you want fabrics whose care instructions involve machine washing.

Fabric/tablecloths with the instructions "wipe with a damp cloth" have been treated to be water resistant; you probably don't want your baby chewing on those chemicals. This is true of many outdoor fabrics, which tend to hide with otherwise-safe duck cloth.

Fabrics that say "dry clean only" are kind of a gray area. You don't want to dry clean any of your carriers, since dry cleaning chemicals aren't baby safe. But if it calls for dry cleaning, it probaly means that machine washing may cause some undesireable fading or puckering to the fabric. Just be aware. "Fabric may crock" means that the fabric has an excess amount of dye that may rub off onto baby's clothes and skin. Some people avoid this; others just give it a few hot washes to remove the excess dye like you would with new jeans.

Suggested Fabrics

Obviously this isn't every possibility, but these are the most common and most easily located fabrics. If you are overwhelmed with the possibilities at the fabric and feel like everything you pick up fails the 4 Rules listed above, choose one or two of these to specifically look for to narrow down your search.

Osnaburg

Osnaburg is typically 100% cotton (although it can be linen, and some has a miniscule amount of polyester.) It looks similar to muslin, but the threads are much thicker. It comes in a natural off-white color with light brown flecks. It feels slightly scratchy/pilly when new. Once it is broken in, it is nearly as breathable as linen, a great option for hot weather, and blanket soft. It can be used natural colored or as a dye blank as it takes color like a dream.

It can be found at most fabric stores in the USA (JoAnn 's, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Hancock) but is notoriously difficult to find outside of the USA. Check the Materials Sourced by Country from the main page to locate a good source in your country. In most stores, it will be sorted with the burlap and other "utility fabrics." Most fabric store employees have not heard of it and will not be able to help you find it. Just search all the bolts for a fabric that looks right and check the bolt tag - osnaburg will be clearly labeled as such. One of its key selling points is the low cost. It can typically be found around $3/yard, although for stores like JoAnn 's or Hobby Lobby you'll want to use a 40% off coupon to get this price.

A note about osnaburg: most fabrics go through a lot of processing to get them bleached and dyed or printed. Osnaburg is sold in a very raw state, which means it is still gunked up with lots of mysterious chemicals and dirt. That simply means that osnaburg needs to be scoured before using or dyeing. It sounds more difficult than it is.

Also, osnaburg tends to shrink a lot, so always buy 20% more fabric than you need. 6 yards of osnaburg will easily shrink up to only 5 yards.

Duck Cloth

Duck is a type of canvas that is easy to find, affordable, and comes in a variety of beautiful prints. Some stores label it in its own section, and others will hide it near the upholstery and home decor fabrics. It will feel slightly stiff and canvas-y on the bolt. It should remind you of a sturdy tote bag or a pair of canvas shoes.

Printed, patterned duck cloth is usually in the 5-7oz range. If you are shopping online, as long as it is listed as "printed duck" or "duck cloth" or "duck canvas" then it is safe to use, even if it says "lightweight." Duck technically comes in a variety of weights all the way up to 17oz per square yard, so "lightweight" duck is still a "heavyweight" fabric in the grand scheme of things. Most fabric stores won't carry a "heavyweight" duck - it is designed for things like cots and sand bags - but most stores' solid colored "duck canvas," unlike their printed, patterned duck, is usually more in the 9oz range. It is still safe to use, just know that it will take longer to break in and soften.

Online, you can try sources like fabric.com or Cotton Candy Fabrics (but with fabric.com, keep an eye on the care instructions - they tend to have a lot of dry clean only stuff.)

Protip: if you have fabric and don't know what the fiber content is (such as fabric you bought ages ago, or a tablecloth from a thrift shop) you can determine a general fiber content by doing a burn test.

-- Alyssa Leonard - 2016-07-16

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Topic revision: r5 - 2016-07-29 - AlyssaLeonard

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