What is ProECO? The Complete Guide to Sustainable & Organic Fabrics
What ProECO Is and What Problem It Solves
ProECO is AKAS Tex's sustainable and organic fabric line, purpose-built for makers and manufacturers who need bio-based, recycled, or certified-organic textiles without compromising on performance. ProECO addresses a fundamental gap in the textile market: most sustainable fabrics sacrifice durability, absorbency, or consistency to earn their eco credentials. ProECO fabrics don't make that trade-off.
The ProECO line spans four fiber families — organic cotton, bamboo, merino wool, and recycled materials — manufactured at AKAS Tex's USA facilities under EPA, OSHA, and CPSC oversight. Every ProECO fabric ships through Wazoodle Fabrics with full traceability from raw fiber to finished roll.
Key Concept: ProECO fabrics are processed using AKAS Tex's proprietary SustainSafe Technology — a chemical-free finishing system that eliminates harmful solvents, fire retardants, and synthetic softeners. Performance and safety are built into the manufacturing process, not added through chemical treatment.
Whether you're producing cloth diapers that need CPSIA certification, sensitive-skin garments, or reusable consumer goods requiring a verified sustainability story, ProECO provides the material foundation.
The ProECO Product Landscape
ProECO organizes into six fiber families, each serving distinct performance needs and sustainability profiles. Within these families, multiple construction styles allow you to match the fabric precisely to your project's requirements for weight, stretch, texture, and absorbency. Many construction styles are available across multiple weight classes (LITE, Standard, Heavy, Super Heavy, Ultra Super Heavy) and specialty variants (Silver antimicrobial, FoodSAFE food-contact certified, Print).
ProECO Fiber Families
- Organic Cotton: Certified organic, hypoallergenic, 30% stronger wet than dry. The broadest family with the most construction options — the foundation of the ProECO line. Best suited for baby products, sensitive-skin applications, and certified organic product lines where traceability through the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol matters.
- Conventional Cotton: Same core fiber properties as organic cotton — identical cellulose content, moisture regain, and wet strength. The difference is farming method, not fabric performance. Best suited for applications where natural cotton properties are needed but organic certification is not required.
- Bamboo Viscose: Softest hand feel in the ProECO line with more softness than cotton. Bamboo viscose excels at moisture management and drape. Loses 30–50% strength wet and requires gentle washing at max 104°F. Antimicrobial claims do not survive the viscose manufacturing process.
- Merino Wool (Chargeurs Partnership): Absorbs 30–35% of its weight while maintaining a dry surface feel — a property no plant fiber matches. Natural temperature regulation and odor resistance through keratin fiber structure. 100% domestic sourcing through Chargeurs USA's NATIVA™ program — mulesing-free, Five Freedoms compliant.
- Organic Linen: Natural bast fiber with inherent breathability, moisture-wicking, and textured hand feel. Stronger than cotton with natural antibacterial properties that survive processing. Biodegradable and produced from flax requiring minimal water and pesticides.
- Recycled Cotton (ReInspire®): Pre/post-consumer textile waste diverted from landfill, using 20% of the water required for virgin cotton. Requires blending with virgin fiber due to shorter staple lengths from mechanical processing. Best suited for eco-positioned product lines where sustainability narrative is the primary selling point.
All ProECO is manufactured by AKAS Tex in EPA-compliant USA facilities under fair labor standards. AKAS Tex does not hold OEKO-TEX or GOTS certifications — these were designed for overseas supply chains. USA manufacturing under EPA, OSHA, and CPSC oversight meets or exceeds these standards.
All our Sherpa production lines were discontinued in 2025, due to the unavailability of machine parts to continue manufacturing this product within America.
Construction Availability: Not every construction style is available in every weight class or specialty variant (Silver, FoodSAFE, Print). Check individual product pages for current availability in your required construction and weight.
→ For detailed fiber-by-fiber comparison across all Wazoodle brands including synthetic fibers, see Fiber Selection Framework — When to Choose Which Fiber.
Handling Notes for Makers
Grain direction affects performance. Natural fiber fabrics have a grain direction that determines drape, stretch behavior, and shrinkage pattern. Cutting on-grain (aligned with the fabric's lengthwise and crosswise threads) produces consistent results. Off-grain cutting can cause finished products to twist, hang unevenly, or shrink unpredictably.
Pre-wash before cutting. Natural fibers without Ready-AbZORB™ treatment shrink 5–15% in the first wash. Always pre-wash yardage before cutting patterns to complete this shrinkage, or your finished products will shrink when the customer washes them. Ready-AbZORB treated ProECO fabrics have already been industrially pre-washed and require no pre-washing.
→ For complete pre-washing guidance, see Pre-Washing and Fabric Preparation
→ For care by fiber type, see Care Instructions & Troubleshooting by Fabric Type
Key Technologies Powering ProECO
ProECO fabrics gain their performance edge from four proprietary or partnered technologies. Each addresses a specific manufacturing challenge — engineered into the process, not applied as aftermarket treatments.
- SustainSafe Technology eliminates harmful solvents, fire retardants (if any), and synthetic softeners from production. All ProECO fabrics are CPSIA-certified through SustainSafe, making them safe for children's products. For the full technical explanation, see SustainSafe Technology.
- Ready-AbZORB Technology removes absorbency-inhibiting manufacturing agents through proprietary deep-extraction, delivering 60–80% shrinkage reduction while activating full absorbency at no extra charge. Fabrics arrive ready to cut and sew — no pre-washing required. For the full technical explanation, see Ready-AbZORB Technology.
- Chargeurs Wool Partnership provides exclusive domestic sourcing of mulesing-free merino wool through NATIVA™ traceable wool — full supply chain transparency from ranch to roll. For sourcing details, see The Merino Wool Promise.
- Greener Dyeing (iMaster H2O) uses Thies GmbH machines achieving liquor ratios of 1:3.7, reducing water consumption by 40% versus conventional dyeing with automated rinsing and flexible batch sizes.
How to Choose: Navigating ProECO Options
Selecting the right ProECO fiber family starts with your product's primary performance requirement. Each family has a clear strength that makes it the right starting point.
- Baby products, maximum safety certification → Start with Organic Cotton. CPSIA-certified through SustainSafe, traceable via U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, hypoallergenic, gains strength when wet. The standard for infant-contact commercial products.
- Softest possible hand feel and drape → Start with Bamboo. Superior softness with 50–60% more absorbency than cotton. Design for gentle-care washing at max 104°F.
- Temperature regulation across conditions → Start with Merino Wool. Bidirectional thermoregulation plus natural odor resistance through keratin structure. Premium positioning for performance apparel and outdoor accessories.
- Sensitive skin, hypoallergenic priority → Organic Cotton. Processed chemical-free through SustainSafe. Cotton for wet strength and durability.
Multiple priorities? Most finished products combine fabrics from multiple ProECO families or pair ProECO with other Wazoodle brands. A cloth diaper might use ProECO organic cotton shell, Zorb absorbent core, and ProSoft PUL waterproof layer.
Common Applications for ProECO Fabrics
ProECO fabrics serve a wide range of product categories where sustainability, skin safety, or organic certification is a primary requirement:
- Baby and infant products: Cloth diapers, swaddles, bibs, burp cloths, nursing pads, crib protectors, baby apparel, sleep sacks
- Sensitive skin and personal care: Reusable menstrual products, incontinence underwear, dermatologically-sensitive garments, postpartum pads
- Reusable consumer goods: Unpaper towels, reusable gloves, face masks, food-safe wraps (FoodSAFE line is FDA Title 21 CFR Part 175 compliant for food contact)
- Performance and Activewear: Cotton stretch-fit fleece and rib for hoodies and sweatshirts; Merino wool for moisture management and durability where sustainability credentials add market value
- Home textiles: Blankets, bedding layers, mattress protectors using organic cotton fleece and bamboo terry for breathable, chemical-free sleep surfaces
→ For fabric recommendations tailored to a specific product you are making, see the Application Discovery articles for your product category.
Certifications and Safety Standards
ProECO fabrics carry multiple certifications and chemical-free verifications relevant to commercial product manufacturing.
Fabric vs. Finished Product: CPSIA certification of the fabric component does not automatically certify your finished product. Depending on how your product is constructed, independent CPSIA testing of the finished item may also be required.
→ For detailed explanations of what each certification requires and how to download certification documents, see Certifications, Chemical Safety & Compliance Standards.
Where ProECO Fits in the Wazoodle Ecosystem
ProECO is one of several specialized fabric brands in the Wazoodle ecosystem. Choose ProECO when your fabric's primary requirement is organic, bio-based, recycled, or certified-sustainable materials.
Brand Routing: Choose ProECO when sustainability, organic certification, or chemical-free processing is the primary requirement. Choose ProSoft when you need waterproof barrier protection. Choose ProCool when you need moisture wicking and performance transfer away from skin. Choose Zorb when you need super-absorbent cores. Many reusable products combine two or more brands in a layered system.
ProECO overlaps with other brands in specific constructions — for example, ProECO Organic Cotton with Ready-AbZORB activation serves as an absorbent layer, but with an organic fiber base rather than Zorb's engineered fiber geometry. When in doubt, your product's sustainability and certification requirements should guide brand selection.