Viscose (more commonly called rayon) itself isn’t toxic to wear, but the chemicals used to make it, like carbon disulfide and formaldehyde, can leave residues that irritate skin and harm the environment.
It’s often labeled as “natural” or “eco-friendly,” but few people realize how chemically intensive its production really is, and how that affects your skin, your health, and the planet.
This guide breaks down what viscose really is, what the risks are, and what clean alternatives exist. If you’re wearing intimate apparel made with viscose, you could be exposing your body to toxic residues every day.
Vibrant Body Company offers a Certified Clean solution that eliminates those risks, without sacrificing comfort. Read on to learn how to protect your body from the inside out.
Key Points
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Viscose isn’t inherently toxic, but how it’s made often is. Chemical-heavy processes using neurotoxins like carbon disulfide and formaldehyde can leave harmful residues in viscose garments, especially those made cheaply or without proper safety standards.
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Intimates made with viscose carry unique risks. Bras, underwear, and sleepwear sit on the most absorbent parts of your body for hours. If they're made with uncertified viscose, you're exposing yourself to hormone disruptors every single day, without knowing it.
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You deserve better than greenwashed fabrics. Vibrant Body Company’s Certified Clean standard ensures your First Layer is safe from formaldehyde, PFAS, phthalates, and other hidden toxins, so you can protect your body without sacrificing comfort or style.
Is Viscose Really Safe? What the Fabric Tags Don’t Say
On the surface, viscose sounds like a dream.
It’s soft, breathable, even plant-based, technically derived from wood pulp. It gets labeled as “natural,” and in a world where women are trying to make cleaner, more conscious choices, that label carries weight.
But viscose is not natural like cotton. It’s a semi-synthetic fiber created through a chemical-heavy process that transforms cellulose (from trees) into fabric.
And that transformation isn’t as gentle as the marketing makes it seem. You’ll find viscose in a lot of places:
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Lingerie
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Sports bras
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Underwear
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Sleepwear
In other words, the most intimate layers of your life. The ones you wear for 12, 16, sometimes 20 hours a day, against the most porous, absorbent parts of your body.
Why Is Viscose Causing Rashes If It’s Plant-Based?
Because the plant part is just the starting point. From there, viscose goes through an aggressive chemical journey involving things like carbon disulfide, a known neurotoxin.
The final fabric might feel like silk, but it can carry residues that don't just touch your skin, they can absorb into it.
I started Vibrant Body Company because too many of us were being fooled by the word “natural.” Viscose may come from nature, but by the time it touches your skin, it’s anything but.
Soft On Skin, Hard On Health: The Truth About Viscose
Viscose itself isn’t the villain. The problem lies in how it’s made, and what it’s made with.
Viscose may feel soft and plant-based, but the way it’s made tells a different story. The process involves carbon disulfide, a neurotoxin linked to nerve damage and reproductive issues in factory workers, and formaldehyde, a known skin irritant and potential carcinogen often added for wrinkle resistance.
These aren’t trace ingredients, they’re chemicals that can linger in the final garment, especially in fast fashion where safety steps are skipped.
The damage isn’t just personal, it’s planetary. Viscose production contributes to deforestation, pesticide runoff, and toxic water pollution, releasing chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and heavy metals into ecosystems.
So while viscose is marketed as eco-friendly, its environmental footprint tells another tale.
If you've ever had a rash, irritation, or recurring discomfort from a soft-feeling top or bra, it may not be “just sensitive skin.” When these garments sit on areas like your breasts or pelvic region, where skin is thinner and more absorbent, chemical exposure can go deeper, especially during sweat and friction.
That’s why I created Vibrant: to eliminate the risk where it matters most.
Viscose And Your First Layer: What You Need To Know
Your breasts. Your groin. These aren’t just areas where you want comfort, they’re also zones of high blood vessel concentration and thinner, more permeable skin.
That means whatever sits against them for hours, especially in warm, sweaty conditions, can be absorbed more easily into your body.
That’s what makes viscose especially problematic when it’s used in intimate apparel.
Bras, panties, sleepwear, items made with viscose often stay on your skin for 12 to 18 hours a day. And when you consider that many of those items are unregulated, unwashed, and chemically finished, the exposure adds up fast.
It's not just about feeling a little itchy. We're talking about recurring irritation, sweat sensitivity, and in some cases, hormone-disrupting chemicals seeping through your skin.
Now here’s the kicker: The U.S. restricts just 40 textile chemicals. Europe? Over 1,000. Let that sink in.
That “eco-luxe” viscose bralette might feel soft, but it could be exposing you to formaldehyde, phthalates, and PFAS, with zero labeling or regulation.
No ingredient list, no testing transparency, just a fabric finish that may come at a cost to your skin and long-term health.
And if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, your body is more hormonally sensitive and your skin more absorbent, making chemical exposure even riskier.
Viscose isn’t safe if it’s untreated, unwashed, and unregulated. You deserve Certified Clean. Because your First Layer should never be a hidden health risk.
How To Avoid The Hidden Chemicals In Viscose Clothing
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering, “So what can I actually do about this?”
The answer isn’t to panic, it’s to get smart.
Because while viscose isn’t always dangerous, the way it’s processed often is. Safer choices are out there, but you have to know what to look for.
Start with OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification. This isn't feel-good marketing, it’s a science-backed safety standard that screens for over 100 harmful substances in every component of a garment, not just the fabric.
Also, be cautious of terms like “bamboo viscose.” It sounds clean, but unless the brand discloses a closed-loop process, it’s likely just another chemically treated fabric with a greener name.
And yes, always wash before wearing, especially when it comes from fast fashion. It may help, but it won’t fully remove chemical residues like formaldehyde or carbon disulfide. And no, at-home tests won’t cut it.
The most reliable protection? Third-party certifications. Because your skin isn’t guessing, and your clothes shouldn’t be either.
Clean Starts Here: Inside Vibrant’s Certified Clean Process
When I founded Vibrant Body Company, it wasn’t to add another pretty bra to the world. It was to fill the massive health gap no one in fashion was talking about, especially in intimate apparel.
We don’t use scare tactics. We use science.
While most brands stop at green marketing or vague “sustainable” claims, we go one step further with our Certified Clean standard. It’s not just about fabric, it’s about every component that touches your body:
🌱 What Certified Clean Means
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Your First Layer is safe from formaldehyde, BPA, PFAS, phthalates, and endocrine disruptors.
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Every thread, elastic, and dye is rigorously tested, not just the fabric roll.
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Designed specifically for health-first, skin-sensitive women who value transparency over trend.
This isn’t just clean beauty for your skin, it’s clean fashion for your body. And once you experience it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
3 Certified Clean Essentials For Softest, Healthiest First Layer
When we talk about solving the problem of toxic textiles, especially in intimate wear, we’re not talking theory; we’re talking actionable solutions.
That’s why we created Vibrant Body Company from the inside out: to give you products that don’t just feel good, but actually are good, for your body, your hormones, and your peace of mind.
Here are three of our flagship solutions that eliminate the risks of viscose without sacrificing comfort or style:
🩷 The EveryWear Bra
This is the bra that launched a movement. No underwire. No compromise. The EveryWear Bra is designed to be your go-to, whether you're heading to work, lounging at home, or running errands.
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Wire-free construction supports breast health and allows for natural lymphatic flow.
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Made with Certified Clean, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 materials, meaning every stitch, dye, and thread has been tested for safety.
💪 Ignite Sports Bra
Most sports bras prioritize performance at the cost of safety, think PFAS-laced “sweat-wicking” materials. Not here.
The Ignite was built for women who want to move hard without compromising their health.
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Sweat Smart fabric that doesn’t leach toxins under heat and friction.
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Supports your body through the toughest workouts, without suffocating your skin in synthetic sludge.
👙 Certified Clean Hikini
The most delicate skin on your body deserves the cleanest material possible. That’s why our underwear is designed with Certified Clean First Layer fabric that’s buttery soft, never digs in, and most importantly, never puts your health at risk.
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Every fiber is OEKO-TEX® certified, so what’s touching your skin is actually clean, not just labeled that way.
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Because if your underwear isn’t safe, what part of your wardrobe is?
These aren’t just products, they’re proof that comfort and health can (and should) coexist.
Because you shouldn’t have to choose between looking good and living well.
Still Wearing Viscose? Here’s What You Need To Know First
Not all viscose is the enemy, but the system behind most viscose garments? That’s where the danger lives.
When viscose is made through open-loop chemical processing, finished with formaldehyde, dyed with unknown compounds, and sold without a shred of transparency, you’re left playing chemical roulette with your body.
And guess what? The fashion industry isn’t picking up the tab. You are.
We’re living in a time where the most toxic part of your day might not be the food you eat or the air you breathe, it could be the bra you’re wearing.
💡 So if your goal is comfort and long-term health, avoid uncertified viscose, especially in products that sit on your breasts, groin, or skin for hours on end.
Your First Layer should be your safest layer. Always.
The Vibrant Difference
If your skin is your largest organ, why treat it like it’s bulletproof?
Look, I didn’t start this company to preach. I started it because I lost too many people I loved to diseases we don’t fully understand, but I do know this: when it comes to what we wear closest to our bodies, ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s exposure.
If you’re the kind of woman who’s already reading labels on your skincare and double-checking ingredients in your food, this is your next frontier.
Because what touches your skin for 16 hours a day matters. A lot.
The real problem isn’t just viscose, it’s the blind spot in the apparel industry around health. Especially when it comes to intimates.
You deserve more than marketing buzzwords. You deserve facts. You deserve transparency. And you deserve clothing that protects you, not pollutes you.
Here’s how we’re solving it:
🌿 EveryWear Bra – Wire-free support with lymphatic-friendly construction. Looks good. Feels even better.
🧘🏻♀️ Sweat Smart Activewear – Moves with you. Never harms you. Certified Clean from gym to errands.
💗 Certified Clean Underwear Collection – For the most sensitive part of your body. No compromise.
Shop Vibrant Body Company, because clean clothing shouldn’t stop at your skincare.
👉 Browse Certified Clean First Layers
Because the layer that touches your skin should never be an afterthought.
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.
