Do coated fabrics shed more microplastics into your laundry water?

What's actually in it

Some clothing brands now sell garments with low-friction coatings designed to reduce microplastic fiber shedding during washing. These coatings create a slippery surface that's supposed to prevent fibers from breaking off. Sounds like a good idea. But your washing machine doesn't hold just one piece of clothing.

The coatings themselves are made from chemicals that change how fabrics rub against each other in the drum. When coated and uncoated items tumble together, the friction dynamics shift in ways that weren't expected.

What the research says

A 2026 study in ACS Environ Au tested what happens when coated and uncoated textiles are laundered together. The coated fabric did shed fewer fibers on its own. But the uncoated fabrics in the same load shed far more microplastic fibers than they would have without the coated item present.

The reason is friction. The slippery coating on one garment changes how fabrics rub against each other inside the drum. The uncoated clothes experience more abrasion, which tears off more fibers. The net effect was that the total microplastic output of the load didn't improve, and in some cases got worse.

This is a good example of a fix that backfires. Unless you wash coated items separately, the coating doesn't help. And even then, the fibers from all your other loads still end up going down the drain and into waterways.