Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-11-18)

andsoarethedayswhenmanufacturerscouldadheretothose

industryspecifications.Clothesandtextilessimplyaren’tas

well-madeastheyusedtobe.A shirtthatfallsapartaftera

fewwashescan’tbetransformedintoa ragsuitableforwip-

ingdowna freshlywashedcarortable.Cheapfastfashion

doesn’tjusthurtthriftshops;it hastensthetriptothelandfill

orgarbageincinerator.

“Gotrytobuya 100%cottonshirttoday,”Wilsonsayswith

exasperation.“Evenwhenit says‘100%cotton,’youcan’tbe

sure.”Thisisn’tidleconspiracymongering.Manufacturershave

beguntoincorporatemoreandmorepolyesterintoclothes

tomeetconsumerdemandforever-cheaperclothing,and

cotton-polyesterblendsoftencontainmorepolyesterthanthe

tagclaims.(Mislabelingis a violationoftheTextile,Wool,and

FurActs,butit’srarelyprosecuted.)StarWipersfirstnoticed

thechangeinthemillionsofpoundsoflinensit purchased

fromlaundriesservinghealth-carefacilities.Sheetsandblan-

ketsthatusedtobecotton-polyesterblendswereturningupas

100%polyester.That’sa problem.“Ahundred-percent-polyester

wipingragis notgoingtodothesamethingasa poly-cotton

blend,”Wilsonsays.“Itwon’tabsorbaswell.”That’stheleast

ofit.Polyestercanmeltinthepresenceofcertainsolventsor

heatand—worsestill—emitstaticelectricity.

AtStarWipers,a sortingandgradingoperationpullsthe

all-polyesterblanketsbeforethey’recutandpackaged.Butback

inthe1960s,beforepoly-cottonblendswerecommonandrag

specswereadheredtomorecarefully,they’dhavebeenrejected

beforetheyevengotinsidethefactory.Today,justascloth-

ingconsumersarewillingtoacceptlowerqualityinexchange

forlowerprices,sotooaremanywiperbuyers.Wilsonsays

manyhaveaccustomedthemselvestopoly-cottonblends.But

notallofthem:“Todayif peoplecan’tfindwhattheywantin

a reclaimedwiper,they’lllooktoa newone.”Papertowels

arealwaysanoption;soaresynthetictowelsthatoffergreater

absorbencythanreclaimedpoly-cottonwipers.It’sa quirkof

theglobaleconomythatthemostdirectbeneficiariesoftherise

offastfashionmightbepapertowelmanufacturers.

Wilsonlovesragsmadefromreclaimedtextiles.Buthecan’t

simplyignorethatdecliningquality.SoStarWipershasstarted

tomanufacturea new,100%cottonragfromyarngrownand

manufacturedinNorthCarolina.“Wecanfollowit fromfield

tohere,”hesays.Theenvironmentalcostofa newragis steep

comparedwiththatofa reclaimedone—growingcottonis highly

water-intensive—butcustomersarewillingtopayit.

StarWipers’100%cottonragis knownastheSTB—short

for “simply the best”—and across the industry, that’s a widely

acknowledged statement of fact. “It’s not our biggest seller by

any means,” Wilson says. “But if a customer wants that con-

sistency and is willing to pay the premium for it, we make it

available.” It’s not good enough; it’s as good as new.

57

T

owardtheendoftheFridayafternoonshiftatStar

Wipers,Wilsonstopsbesidea cartpiledwithcut-up

whitesweatshirts.“Nowhere’swhatI’mgonnatellyou

aboutthisproduct,”hesays.“Thisis a reclaimedwhitesweat-

shirt.Forustokeepupwithdemand,wehavetobuyit off-

shore.There’snotenoughintheStates.”Theproblem,for

thosewhoviewit thatway,is thatit’stypicallycheapertocut

sweatshirtsintoragsinIndiathaninOhio.

Noneofthecut-upsweatshirtfragmentsthroughwhich

Wilsonis rummagingwereusedinIndia.Rather,theywere

likelymadeinSouthAsia,exportedtotheU.S.,andworn

untiltheyweredonatedtoGoodwill,theSalvationArmy,or

someotherthrift-basedexporter.Whentheydidn’tsellthere,

theywereexportedagain(toIndia,mostlikely),cutup,and

exportedagain—thistimetoStarWipersinNewark.Each

stepofthatjourneymakesperfectbusinesssense,evenif the

totalityofit soundsridiculous.

Infact,it’sthefuture.Middle-classconsumersinAsia

alreadyoutnumberthoseinNorthAmerica.Fornow,Wilson

saysmorethan82%ofStarWipers’ragsaresourcedintheU.S.

Butsoon,unwantedsecondhandstufffromAsiawillexceed

what’sgeneratedinmoreaffluentcountries.If thoseclothes

don’tsell,theycanalwaysbecutintowipers,assumingthe

qualityissufficient.Andthoserags,sourcedfromclothes

wornandcutindevelopingcountries,willmaketheirwayto

theU.S.A secondhandtradethatonceflowedinonedirec-

tion—fromrichtopoor—nowgoesineverydirection.

Wilsonunderstoodthatdynamicyearsago.In 2016 hetrav-

eledtoIndiatoteacha localragcompanyhowtocutragsto

StarWipers’exactingstandards.It wasn’thardtofinda part-

ner.Wilsonjustwantstobesureitsragsarecuttoa standard

thathecanimportashisown.

Thatgoalisn’teasy.WorkersinNewarkaretaughttocut

shirtsandothergarmentssotheygetabout 10 wipingrags

perpound.“Buttheindustrystandardis aroundfiveragsper

pound,”Wilsonsays,referringtobig,sloppycutsthatmake

anoldT-shirtlooklikea pairofoversizewings.“Andthat’llbe

thedeathofusasanindustry.Peoplewillfeellikethey’reget-

tinga betterdealbuyingnewrags.Soyouhavetofindthepeo-

plecuttingtheragsthewayyouwantthem.”Hiscut,theStar

Wiperscut,lookslikewhatmostpeoplethinkofasa rag.That

mayseemtrivial—maybeevencomical—tosomeoneoutsidethe

industry.Butit’sabsolutelycriticaltoanyonewhowantstosee

thelifeofsecondhandclothingextendedforaslongaspossible.

Wilson is unswerving in his optimism about the future of

reclaimed wiping rags. That doesn’t stop him, though, from

dropping an occasional joke at the expense of the industry. At

one point, he says that during a recent convention, a fellow

trade association member reported that he had good news

andbadnewsaboutthebusiness.“Thegoodnews,”Wilson

recounts,startingtolaugh,“isthatnobodywantstogetinto

thisbusiness.” <BW> Copyright © Adam Minter 2019. Excerpted

from Secondhand, published by Bloomsbury on Nov. 12.

November 18, 2019

“A RAG IS A TOOL. NO DIFFERENT THAN A SCREWDRIVER”