Is dye in clothing and thread vegan- friendly?!
Is dye in clothing and thread vegan- friendly?
I was sewing tonight and I thought about it and I got kind of freaked out. Do they use animal byproducts to color thread or clothing, or any material? What do the industries use these days?
Answers:
Generally just petrochemical byproducts, so it should be fine. Very rarely*, the red dyes are from beetles (carmine/cochineal), but since that's more expensive, it's easier for them to just use the petrochemicals. Based on what I know so far, I wouldn't worry about clothing dye. (If you're the type to worry anyway, just check on the reds.)
*The "very rarely" only applies to clothing. Carmine/cochineal is still a fairly common food coloring, even though it's more expensive, because of the possible problems with ingesting Red 40.