To inform the public of the Swiss Textile Museum in St. Gallen, the life cycle assessment of different textile fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, wool, viscose, polyester, polyamide and polyacryl was compared on the basis of the amount of material that is needed to produce a T-Shirt.  For the  cotton T-shirt the whole life cycle was calculated. The different steps of production of the T-shirt (fiber production, yarn production, textile production, dyeing and finishing and assembly) as well as the relevance of the use phase was  illustrated. Different use phase scenarios were analysed (different washing temperatures and use of the tumbler or not for drying). 

The results provide insight to the visitors of the museum regarding the carbon footprint, cumulative-energy demand, and water footprint of the cotton T-shirt and give some hints how the consumer may influence the environmental performance of using textiles. 

Link Textilmuseum