Sweat
When I initially started ORGANITS® - it was more about creating better scrubs for the healthcare community. It was the summer of 2021 in Las Vegas and it was probably 118 degrees outside. It was hot. Mix that up with working in a small dental office where the AC doesn’t feel like it’s blowing much, so of course I go out and buy two industrial blower fans - the kind you buy when you’re trying to hasten the paint-drying process of a room you’ve just completed - and all it’s doing is kicking up the patients napkin over their face so I tell them to tuck it into their blouse or shirt or whatever they’re wearing.
In any case, it was quite hot and I am now required to sit over another human body with their mouth wide open to me where it’s a balmy 98.6 degrees and despite the windstorm, I was sweating…. everywhere. My boss at the time was obsessed with a particular brand of scrubs and she wanted us all to match. There was nothing totally wrong with that except this particular brand (that I will not name) didn’t fit my body type as well as hers and some of the other girls in the office. I’m 5’7 with a medium and slightly more muscular frame - thank you gymnastics - and she, along with the other girls, were more petite and slender. The fabric was a thicker kind of polyester. They were not comfortable for me at all. So being that I was uncomfortable and sweating in places I didn’t realize had sweat glands as I’m working over my patients I thought, “There has to be a better way.” - And so it began.
I thought, “Why isn’t there an athletic type of scrubwear out there? One that’s moisture-wicking and breathable?” Unbeknownst to me, they did exist, I simply wasn’t aware of them, yet. So I decided to look at the main athletic brands on the market that I was particularly fond of at the time: LuluLemon, Nike, Under Armour, and Gymshark. I did a little recon and went into the stores to see what types of fabrics and materials these brands were using. Mostly polyester, rayon, spandex, and viscose. I didn’t know anything about the fashion industry let alone fabrics or materials at that point so I just thought, okay - let me go buy some fabric and try it out. After picking up some of these materials, I laid out the polyester and began to cut. It was shedding like crazy and I was kind of taken aback by that. I decided I was going to look up these materials with the basic question: “What is polyester and what is it made of?”
My eyes opened a little wider and my lips slightly parted in surprise from the information I just found. Polyester is made from crude oil and the fashion industry is responsible for generating around 92 million tonnes of textile waste - much of which ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Did you know that a garbage truck full of textiles is burned every second? Me either. I immediately thought, “I can’t use this knowing what I know now.”, so I switched gears and thought there has to be something out there that I can use as an alternative. I didn’t want to add to the problem just for the sake of having a brand, I wanted to be part of a solution.
I did a deep dive into what the most sustainable and eco-friendly materials were. Where would I be able to find these fabrics and materials? Is anyone doing this for scrubs yet? Then once I decided on the fabrics, I needed to find someone to source them from. Silly as it may sound, I wasn’t able to obtain them from the local (USA) textile mills as I was not a registered business yet. I continued to research textile suppliers and found a place in Canada. The price point was certainly a bit higher but if it wasn’t for our neighbors to the north I may not have had the opportunity to try so many premium fabrics. They were truly wonderful to me. Perhaps some USA mills might have sourced to me as I doubt I had found all of them - but the mills that I did find also did not have the selection the Canadian’s did - thank you Canada! So with the fabrics they had, I was introduced to rPET (recycled polyester), Econyl (recycled nylon), organic cotton blends such as rib knit and fleece.. The fleece is super nice, TENCEL® lyocell and TENCEL® modal - which by the way I secured the rights from Lenzing® so that I am able to use TENCEL® as a part of my branding with them - followed by hemp and bamboo materials as well. I fell in love with these fabrics. I tested them with washing and drying and some responded well, others not so much.
Next step: sketching.
I was always a little bit artsy so I figured I could come up with my own sketches and what I would like to see on my scrubs. For the sake of going into a longer story than it needs to be - In the span of a few months I hired 2 different people to help me bring my prototype to life, and I was ultimately left disappointed. They both overpromised on their ability and one even went over her very own contract. I cut my losses, gained some lessons and that’s where I decided to do it myself. I taught myself how to sew - in 30 minutes.
Since I was unable to find someone to help me create a prototype, and also to save myself a few thousand dollars more just so I could see if they can actually deliver on a product, I put my time and money into my own materials and learning my new skill. My mom, being supportive, purchased my first sewing machine for me and I got right to work. I wasn’t very good in the beginning but as with anything, good things take time. Quite a lot of practice later, I started creating actual clothes, things I could actually wear! It was amazing and I was so proud of myself! I created a tank top, a scrub shirt, and even two pairs of pants! I was ecstatic! It was actually better than anything I had received back from the two other women I had hired. The materials felt great and were comfortable and you could tell it was very good quality - especially for scrubwear! The best part, I made them out of eco-friendly and sustainable materials, right here in the USA. The even better part? I was only just getting started.
XX,
Lisa, Founder
ORGANITS®