Plastic Seam Reinforcement on Clothing

January 2, 2009 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Lisa

Hi Debra, 

You post a lot on your website about certain plastics that should be avoided. 

I have noticed that many clothes I buy these days have a plastic material that is used to reinforce the sewing on the seams. It particularly seems to be used on the inside shoulder seams of garments. 

Do you know if this is indeed plastic, or perhaps it is latex or some other material? 

What do you think about the safety of this, especially if the garments are dried using an electric or gas dryer? Would the heat of a dryer cause any problems with the plastic seams? 

Thank you! 

Debra's Answer

I did a bit of a search on plastic seam reinforcements and found that more than one type of plastic is used, so it would be difficult to tell which on any given garment. One of the plastics is polyethylene, which is considered to be a safe, food-grade plastic.

 Updated 2020: A reader provided the following helpful information:

“The plastic is a narrow “taping” that is sewn into the seams, usually at the shoulders to prevent stretching of the seam. The reason it is not listed in the content is if the fiber is less than 5 % of the garment, it need not be listed. This also includes lycra (elastic, spandex) in the cuffs, etc.”

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