I just finished the Netflix documentary The Plastic Detox. I've been going down a rabbit hole since. If you haven't watched it yet, take some time out and do it. Here are my thoughts after doing research...
We put clothes on every day without thinking twice about it. A shirt, a pair of jeans, socks, maybe a jacket if it’s cold. It’s routine. Automatic. Clothing is something we associate with comfort, protection, and identity. It’s how we present ourselves to the world.
But almost no one stops to ask a deeper question:
What is your clothing actually doing to your body?
Not how it looks. Not how it feels. But how it interacts with your skin over hours of continuous contact.
Because the truth is, modern clothing is not just fabric. It’s a chemically treated material that sits on your skin for most of your life. And emerging research suggests that this constant contact may not be as passive as we once believed.
A study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research examined how chemicals embedded in textiles behave when they come into contact with human skin. What the researchers found challenges the common assumption that clothing acts as a simple barrier between you and the outside world. Instead, they suggest that clothing can act as a pathway—one that allows certain chemicals to transfer from fabric, into the skin, and potentially into the body.
The study focused on a compound called benzothiazole, a chemical commonly used in rubber production and textile manufacturing. Researchers simulated real-world conditions by placing treated fabric in contact with human skin samples and measuring how the chemical moved over time. The results were striking. Not only did the chemical transfer from the fabric to the skin, but a significant portion of it actually penetrated through the skin barrier.
After 24 hours of exposure, up to 37% of the chemical remained within the skin itself, while as much as 62% passed entirely through the skin layer. This means that the skin, often thought of as a protective shield, can also function as a gateway—especially when exposure is prolonged.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem to make sense. Clothing is dry. Your skin often feels dry. There’s no obvious liquid involved. So how does anything actually move from fabric into the body?
The answer lies in the nature of your skin.
Your skin is not a static, dry surface like wood or plastic. It is a living, dynamic system. Even when it appears dry, it is covered in a thin layer of natural oils known as sebum, along with microscopic amounts of moisture constantly being released through a process called transepidermal water loss. Your skin is also warm, typically around 98 degrees Fahrenheit, which increases molecular movement.
The outermost layer of your skin, known as the stratum corneum, is structured like a brick wall. The “bricks” are dead skin cells, and the “mortar” is made up of lipids—fat-like substances that can absorb certain types of chemicals. This layer is particularly receptive to compounds that are small and oil-soluble, which includes many of the chemicals used in textile processing.
When fabric rests against your skin for extended periods, several subtle but important things happen. Heat builds between your body and the fabric. Friction occurs as you move. Tiny amounts of moisture accumulate, even if you don’t feel sweaty. This creates a microenvironment where chemicals can begin to migrate out of the fabric, dissolve into the natural oils on your skin, and slowly diffuse inward.
This process is not immediate. It’s not dramatic. But it is continuous.
And that continuity is what matters.
Most people don’t wear a shirt for five minutes. They wear it for eight, ten, sometimes twelve hours at a time. Day after day. Week after week. Over the course of years.
The study emphasizes that this kind of prolonged contact can lead to chemical accumulation in the skin. Some substances may remain lodged within the skin layers, while others pass through and enter systemic circulation. While the long-term health effects of many textile-related chemicals are still being studied, some have already been associated with skin irritation, allergic reactions, and more serious toxicological concerns involving the nervous system, liver, and kidneys.
What makes this issue even more complex is how little we actually know.
The textile industry uses a wide range of chemicals, many of which have not been thoroughly studied for long-term dermal exposure. In other words, we don’t fully understand what happens when these substances sit on human skin for years. The research that does exist suggests that clothing should be considered a legitimate route of chemical exposure—alongside food, air, and water.
And yet, it’s rarely discussed.
We’ve been conditioned to think about health risks in terms of what we ingest or inhale. We worry about processed foods, air quality, and contaminants in drinking water. But the idea that something as ordinary as clothing could contribute to chemical exposure feels unfamiliar, even uncomfortable.
Still, when you step back and think about it, it makes sense.
Clothing is one of the few things that remains in direct contact with your skin for extended periods of time, every single day. It moves with you. It traps heat. It interacts with your body’s natural processes. And if it contains residual chemicals from manufacturing, those chemicals don’t just disappear.
They stay with the fabric.
And potentially, with you.
This doesn’t mean you need to panic or throw out your entire wardrobe. But it does mean that awareness matters. Understanding that clothing is not completely inert opens the door to more thoughtful decisions about what you put on your body and how often you wear it.
It also raises a broader question that goes beyond clothing.
What else in your daily life is in constant contact with your body?
What else have we assumed is harmless simply because it’s familiar?
At Steeltooth, this is something we think about often. Not just in terms of clothing, but in terms of everyday tools—especially the ones that come into direct contact with your skin and hair.
Plastic combs, for example, are widely used and rarely questioned. But plastic is not an inert material. It can degrade over time, generate static, and potentially carry residues depending on how it’s manufactured. It’s another example of something we use daily without considering what it might be contributing over the long term.
That’s why we chose a different path.
Steeltooth combs are made from solid stainless steel. No coatings. No synthetic fillers. No breakdown over time. Just a stable, durable material that does exactly what it’s supposed to do—without adding anything extra into the equation.
Because when something touches your body every day, consistency matters. Stability matters. Material choice matters.
The modern world is filled with invisible inputs—small, cumulative exposures that don’t seem significant on their own but can add up over time. Clothing is one of those inputs. Grooming tools are another. The more aware you become of these touchpoints, the more control you have over what you allow into your daily routine.
And sometimes, that awareness starts with a simple realization:
Not everything that touches your body is as passive as it seems.
Sources
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2018). Dermal exposure to benzothiazole from textiles: an in vitro permeation study.
Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6133113/