Breaking down our eco-denim for our fellow nerds!

Denim is a wardrobe staple, but few of us stop to consider the environmental cost behind our favourite pair of jeans.

Traditional denim production is a major polluter, consuming vast amounts of water and energy. But, thanks to innovations in sustainable fabrics and processes, eco-conscious consumers such as your beautiful self (😘) now have better options.

Without tooting our own trumpet, we truly believe we’re showing how the future of denim is sustainable. Our EcoMorph jeans prioritise environmental sustainability without sacrificing style or performance.

When you think of a typical pair of jeans, the first thing that comes to mind might be how they fit or the colour of the fabric, but not necessarily the environmental impact behind their production. Don’t worry, we’re not judging if that is the case - we’re all guilty of it!

Traditional denim manufacturing uses excessive water and energy, not to mention the harmful chemicals often involved in the dyeing process.

That's where we come in. With 3RD ROCK jeans we’ve taken the time to rethink how denim can be made without such a heavy environmental toll.

This is for the fellow nerds 🤓 👇

There’s lots of different levels to making our sustainable denim, but the short, alien-spaceship-sounding answer is: NOVO DENIFADE BE 700. 🚀

“Right…WTF is that?” you may be thinking… NOVO DENIFADE BE 700 is a natural mineral clay activated with wheat acid. Clay? Yep… but this isn’t the type Patrick Swayze would caress! 👻

This clay (the technical name is montmorillonite) has been designed to remove the colouring materials from textiles for fashion finishes. The non-crystalline particles of this particular clay have naturally occurring, very small grains of multiple ores.
We’ve listed the specific ores at the bottom of this blog!*

Thanks to these grains, BE 700’s ability to lighten a material is increased several fold when treating them with wheat acid or by processing with temperature. That’s what we mean by “acid-activated”

A special feature of this activated natural mineral is the manufacturing process, which is ecologically friendly, with no pollutants or liquid waste/sewage discharge (🤮) being generated during the process.

By hydrating the clay with mineral acid salt, the pore volume & surface area is increased which leads to better absorption. (basically it becomes more reminiscent of that dirty bath sponge we know you’re not throwing away! 😉 🧽) Making the washing, drying and milling process more efficient.

This provides a high filtration rate and excellent colour removal performance without any negative effect.

NOVOFADE BE 700 is an alternative to the chemical oxidizers commonly used for colour removal from textiles and garments.

It is a natural product modified for garment finishes with excellent colour reducing ability for indigo and other anionic dyes. This can be applied for various finishes by directly dispersing in the washing machine, brushing with a carrier gel or spraying with intermediate shaking.

The benefits of using NOVOFADE BE 700:

• It’s a free flowing powder.
• Abrasive action supports colour reduction over time.
• Prevents indigo/dye stains on garment, labels, pockets and patches.
• Excellent effect at low-level addition (it packs a punch)
• Suitable for cotton & blended fabrics (like our 96% organic cotton, 4% lycra EcoMorph 3.0 denim!)

For our retro wash EcoMorph 3.0 denims we use a waterless washing process, this massively helps reduce the water consumption of manufacturing.

Something that standard denim is guilty for… did you know a Standard pair of jeans takes 5L of water to make! Our EcoMorph denim is only 1 glass (0.5L) per pair. 💧

Check out our denim blog post for more info on this!
An Integral part of this waterless process is NOVO DENIFADE BE 700 thanks to how it efficiently removes dye from denim, ensuring vibrant colours while bypassing the environmental damage of standard dye removal methods.

As we said before, it packs a punch 👊 so less is needed. Less water, less energy, less impact… It's all about sustainability through efficiency.
We save about 60% of energy compared to traditional processes thanks to efficient practices. It maximises the use of NOVO DENIFADE BE 700, with thermoballs—reusable up to 100 times—ensuring minimal waste

3RD ROCK EcoMorph Denim is more than just clothing; it's a statement of possibility in the realm of sustainable fashion.

By integrating organic materials, innovative waterless washing, and eco-friendly dyes, EcoMorph Denim significantly reduces its environmental footprint. It represents a major advancement in the industry, encouraging a shift towards more responsible fashion practices.

Ask yourself, if we can make great looking, well-fitting sustainable jeans - why can’t the bigger names in fashion?

*Ore grains found in the clay particles: pyrolusite, calcite, zircon, kyanite, tourmaline, rutile, staurolite, epidote, anatase and few other ores (based on the available topography).