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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Synthetics

Peace.

I am really giving y'all blog this week.

I didn’t finish anything last night. I did like I thought I’d do. I went home and was in a deep coma-like sleep (brownie points if you know what movie that phrase was from) from 7:30 until 4 am this morning. I’m all rested up. And the DVR caught my shows. Yeah baby!

But yesterday’s post brought something to the fore front of my mind…. My inability to wear synthetic fibers. When I say I can’t wear them, I mean I can’t wear 100% of them. I had on a polyester blouse… one that I love and cannot discard…. for 5 minutes on Monday evening. (Had I worn it to the party I would have had to leave earlier) before the itchies set in. It felt like ants running up and down my arms, back and chest. That was 100%. If I wear say… 50% I feel better but not super. I can tolerate it for a short time. Enough for me to go to an event. 20% synthetic can get me through my work day. I can NOT sleep in polyester. At all; any percentage. So those silky nightgowns and teddys hurt. That was a reason I was looking to make my own lingerie. The more the fabric becomes something natural the longer I can wear said garment.

All this is a real pisser. I’m assuming that the combo of me having eczema and being a vegetarian has something to do with it. I have had eczema all my life, but I used to be able to wear what I wanted. But let’s be real, synthetics and all these mystery fabrics have changed through the years. I look at clothing labels like I/folks look at food labels. Some of this fabric I can’t even pronounce! When I was a kid, kids wore cotton. So maybe that had a lot to do with things. Even as an adult, I didn’t have a true problem wearing synthetics. And my eczema would only flare every few years. When I stopped eating flesh, I saw many changes. One was the synthetic thing. I have had to purge my wardrobe of most non-natural garments. Otherwise you can see instant inflammation on my skin. It is quick and nasty. I can’t even wear polyester headwraps.

I have noticed that the more natural and cleaner I eat, the greater the reaction to synthetics. Don’t assume all vegetarians are eating super healthy. We aren’t. McDonald’s fries are vegetarian, and BK makes a veggie Whopper. Coca Cola is vegetarian and I believe was in my baby bottle because I have an unhealthy affection for it. Bring a Pepsi in my house and I’m liable to shank you. So when I eat well, I become itchier not just to my clothes but to other environmental factors. Jewelry other than gold can only be worn is shifts. It’s just that the clothes are more intimate.

So that leaves me with pretty much cotton and rayon. Wool, some silks, and cashmere (oh the agony) cause me to itch as well. Sucks to be me. I can wear leather and other furs. My mother will buy me garments that have to be returned. She refuses to understand this. I won’t be tormented to make her happy. This combined with my control issues makes me the perfect candidate to sew my own clothes. What are you gonna do? I tried wearing undergarments to protect me from the synthetics. And that works from the inside. But what happens when my skin touches the outside of the garment? I will still itch. I don’t like to touch people because I can have reactions to the synthetics they wear. I swear I’m a canary!

The funny, no hilarious thing is…. My bras are polyester! When have you seen ones that aren’t? But I don’t have a reaction to bras. This has me thinking it’s partially mental. Because I’m a J-cup and I HAVE to wear a bra. There aren’t any other options. Hell I’m happy when I find a black bra that fits with no leakage! Yes I have deep crevices in my shoulders but no other rashes. I do get really bad eczema on my back during winter. Looks like those sores Tom Hanks had in Philadelphia. But don’t worry about Serenity. I’m good! So when you see me reviewing patterns, now you know why it’s all cotton!



Peace

2 comments:

Leigh said...

Not being a polyester person myself, I can relate to the itchiness. I remember when I was a little girl my mother used to make me wear polyester slips that drove me crazy! I still can have poly in my bras, has to be cotton. But I don't have the severe reaction you do. Cotton and rayon are cellulose fibers. Wool, silk and cashmere are protein fibers. I wonder if that has something to do with it, though I don't know much about how synthetics are made.

Bootzey said...

Hmmmm.... then I should be able to wear hemp....I never tried hemp.... It's high time I did