From "Petroleum" to " Clothing": How Has petrpleum "Weaved" Its Way into Our Lives?
The modern textile industry has been deeply integrated with the petrochemical industry. The functional clothing we are familiar with, such as windbreakers, sun-protective clothes, yoga pants, and quick-drying clothes, all have their main raw materials - polyester (polyester fiber), nylon (nylon), spandex, etc., which all come from petroleum.
The "technological aspect" of a piece of clothing is often closely related to petroleum. For instance, the anti-pilling coating inside the down jacket, the glue used for T-shirt printing, the chemical dyes that make the colors of the clothes vibrant, and even the spandex (polyurethane fiber) that gives yoga pants their elasticity, all their raw materials point to the petrochemical industry.
It can be said that petroleum not only drives the operation of textile machinery , but also constitutes the "meat and bones" of a large number of textiles.
From petroleum to ready-to-wear clothing, it involves multiple stages such as "petroleum - chemical fiber raw materials - chemical fibers - fabric - clothing - marketing". Therefore, an increase in oil prices will not immediately lead to a price increase in the final clothing products. There is a certain lag in the transmission of costs.