Many clothes are treated with toxic chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and formaldehyde that absorb through your skin, especially during sweat and friction. These substances can disrupt hormones, cause irritation, and accumulate in the body.
More women are starting to ask: “What’s in my clothing?” And it’s not just a trend, it’s a reckoning.
Clothing is our second skin, worn for hours every day, often over our most vulnerable areas. Unfortunately, many garments are laced with chemicals you’d never tolerate in your food or skincare.
At Vibrant Body Company, we’ve made it our mission to change that, starting with what touches you first: your intimates.
In this guide, we unpack the truth behind clothing chemicals, what to avoid, and how to find clean, certified alternatives that won’t compromise your health.
Key Points
- Your clothing could be a chemical risk. Many everyday bras and underwear are treated with toxic chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and formaldehyde. These substances can absorb through your skin and disrupt hormones, irritate skin, or even accumulate in your body over time.
- “Green” doesn’t always mean safe. Terms like "eco-friendly" or "sustainable" aren’t regulated, and can hide toxic processes behind recycled polyester or bamboo rayon. Real safety requires third-party certifications like OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.
- Vibrant Body Company offers certified clean essentials. With OEKO-TEX® certified, wire-free designs, Vibrant creates bras, underwear, and leggings that prioritize your health, not just aesthetics. Clean materials, no harmful finishes, and true skin safety, right where it matters most.
Clothing Chemicals 101: What’s Touching Your Skin All Day
Most people have no clue that clothing, yes, that “soft” t-shirt or “luxury” bra, is a chemical cocktail in disguise.
These garments may look harmless, but behind the scenes, they’ve been soaked, sprayed, or processed with substances you wouldn’t dream of putting on your plate or face. Yet your skin? It’s in constant contact.
Here are just a few usual suspects:
- PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," are used in water-resistant and stain-resistant fabrics. They're incredibly persistent and have been linked to everything from hormone disruption to cancer.
- Formaldehyde, yes, the same stuff used to preserve dead bodies, is still used in wrinkle-free clothing. It's a known irritant and a probable carcinogen.
- Phthalates, usually found in elastic waistbands, prints, and dyes, are endocrine disruptors linked to reproductive harm.
- Azo dyes & aromatic amines, which make those bold blacks and vibrant reds, can release carcinogenic compounds when they break down.
- Triclosan, found in antimicrobial sportswear, is being phased out of soaps but still lingers in textiles, raising concerns about resistance and toxicity.
- Heavy metals like lead and chromium are used in dyes and finishes, often in amounts you’d never accept in cosmetics.
- And then there’s BPA, the poster child for endocrine disruptors, sneaking in via polyester and synthetic blends.
Unlike cosmetics or food, clothing brands don’t have to tell you any of this. There's no labeling law that forces them to disclose chemical treatments. So unless you’re digging into certifications and demanding transparency, you’re likely in the dark.
The Dirty Truth About “Green” Clothing Claims
“Eco-friendly” doesn’t mean skin-safe. The fashion industry loves buzzwords like sustainable, green, and plant-based. But these terms aren’t regulated, and most of them have nothing to do with protecting your body.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Recycled Polyester (rPET)
Turning plastic bottles into fabric sounds great for the planet, but rPET can still shed microplastics, contain BPA, and leach toxins into your skin, especially with heat and sweat.
2. Bamboo Rayon
Bamboo is sustainable as a plant, but once it's chemically processed into rayon, it's soaked in toxic solvents like carbon disulfide, which are harmful to both factory workers and wearers.
3. Stain-Resistant Fabrics
If your clothing repels stains or beads water, it's likely coated in PFAS, also known as forever chemicals. These don't break down in your body and accumulate over time.
4. Organic Cotton (With A Catch)
“Organic” sounds clean, but unless it’s processed without toxic dyes, finishes, or softeners, it can still carry a chemical burden.
That’s why organic cotton isn’t enough on its own, we only use materials that are OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certified; meaning every stitch, thread, and dye is rigorously tested and proven to be non-harmful to human health.
Recycled fabrics may reduce waste, but they’re not always skin-safe. At Vibrant Body Company, we don’t settle for fewer chemicals, we aim to eliminate harmful exposure altogether.
No greenwashing. Just Certified Clean comfort for your most intimate layers.
Clean Where It Counts: The Vibrant Difference
I didn’t set out to start a bra company. I set out to solve a health problem hiding in plain sight.
I founded Vibrant Body Company on one belief: what goes on your body is just as important as what goes in it. And in a world where intimate apparel is laced with hormone disruptors and greenwashed marketing, I knew we had to go further, cleaner, safer, and more human-centered than anything else on the market.
Here’s what sets us apart:
Certified Clean First Layer
We test every single component of our garments. That includes threads, dyes, trims, and elastics. Everything must pass the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, the highest safety standard in textile health.
No Underwires. No Toxic Shortcuts.
We ditched the metal wires and petroleum-based foams found in traditional bras. Why? Because breast tissue is one of the most absorbent zones on the female body, and we’re not about to trap it in a toxic cage.
Designed for Women’s Health
Our products are built for the lymphatic system, the skin barrier, and real-life comfort. This isn’t about trends, it’s about truth. We’re designing for the woman who refuses to compromise.
Vibrant’s Clean Essentials For A Safer Wardrobe
If the idea of clothing chemicals has you feeling like you need to burn your wardrobe and start fresh, pause. The good news is, you don’t need to overhaul everything overnight.
But you do need to rethink your first layer, the pieces that touch your most vulnerable skin, every single day.
That’s exactly why we built Vibrant’s core collection from the inside out, with Certified Clean, body-first design that puts your health at the center of everything.
The EveryWear Bra
This is the anti-bra bra. No wires. Just pure, breathable comfort that supports your natural shape and your lymphatic flow.
Unlike traditional bras that dig, restrict, and suffocate breast tissue, the EveryWear Bra is constructed to move with you, not against you.
And because it’s made with OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified fabric, you can trust that every thread is tested for human health.
The Ignite Sports Bra
Most sports bras are a health contradiction, marketed for strength, but loaded with endocrine-disrupting chemicals that weaken your body from the inside out.
The Ignite Sports Bra was designed to break that cycle. It’s sweat-smart and made for movement. Whether you’re lifting, flowing, or chasing toddlers, it stays cool, breathable, and gentle on sensitive skin.
No more post-workout rashes. Just clean performance you can feel.
The Endure Leggings
Most leggings are made from petroleum-based synthetics treated with toxic dyes. They look good, but your skin pays the price.
The Endure Leggings are different. They’re OEKO-TEX® certified, designed to breathe with your body, and built to last.
Soft? Yes. Strong? Absolutely. But more importantly, clean. Free from invisible harm, and made to support your everyday strength, not sabotage it.
The Shelfie Tank Top
Don’t be fooled by its softness; this isn’t your average cami. The Shelfie Tank Top is double-layered, wireless, and built with the same Certified Clean materials as our bras, giving you next-to-skin safety and all-day comfort.
Wear it to lounge, layer it under a blazer, or sleep in it. No shelf-bra compression. Just breathable support and peace of mind.
The Hikini
Your underwear should be the safest thing in your closet, not the most toxic. The Hikini is made with OEKO-TEX® certified fabric, designed to hug you in all the right places without squeezing.
What Happens When You Switch To Clean Clothing?
I’ve heard from countless women who were dealing with mystery symptoms, skin rashes, recurring breakouts, and hormonal shifts they couldn’t explain.
They’d tried everything: new skincare, new diets, even cutting out coffee. But they never thought to look at their clothing.
And then they did.
When they switched to clean, certified garments, everything changed. The irritation faded. Their skin calmed. Their body started to feel more balanced, less reactive.
When you stop surrounding your skin, your largest organ, with hormone-disrupting, chemical-laced fabrics, your body breathes. It functions better. It heals.
Do I Need To Throw Everything Out?
No. Start with what matters most, your first layer. That means your bras, your underwear, your leggings. These are the items in contact with your body’s most porous, hormone-sensitive zones. That’s where your clean swap makes the biggest impact.
You don’t need more stuff. You need better stuff, designed with your body, your health, and your future in mind.
From Chemicals To Confidence: Make The Clean Switch
If your bras, underwear, or leggings are quietly making you sick, it’s not in your head.
You’re not being dramatic. You’re not overreacting. You’re waking up to a truth the fashion industry has hidden for decades. And you’re not alone.
You’re part of a growing group of women who are choosing safer clothing, not just for how it looks, but for what it doesn’t do: disrupt hormones, irritate skin, or hide behind greenwashed labels.
You want:
- Safer clothes for your skin and hormones
- Peace of mind when you sweat, move, and live
- Confidence in your choices, not confusion
You don’t have to compromise anymore. Not on comfort. Not on health. Not on truth.
👉 Shop Vibrant Body Company for essentials designed to protect the body you live in, not compromise it.
Because your first layer should be your safest layer.
About The Author: Michael Drescher, Founder of Vibrant Body Company.
An unlikely messenger in women’s health, he’s speaking truths the industry has long buried beneath sleek silhouettes at the expense of women’s health. After losing loved ones to cancer, he uncovered the toxic reality of intimate apparel and set out to create a truly health-first alternative. Michael’s work challenges assumptions about who gets to lead wellness conversations, blending radical transparency with science-backed design. He started Vibrant Body Company to rewrite the standard, because comfort shouldn’t come with a chemical cost, and health should never be an afterthought.
