Is Nylon (Polyamide) Plastic-Free?
The honest chemistry, the performance trade-offs, and a straight verdict for founders deciding what their next line is actually made of.
Verdict: Not plastic-free, it is plasticNylon is plastic. It is a synthetic polyamide polymer made from petroleum, spun into fiber. It does not biodegrade and it sheds microplastics in the wash. Conventional nylon (PA6, PA66) is entirely petroleum-derived. The one meaningful distinction is bio-based polyamide made from castor oil, which is a genuinely different, plant-derived chemistry, and it is the polyamide platform OHZEHN-TEX is built on.
What is Nylon (Polyamide)?
Nylon is the common name for synthetic polyamide fibers, most often PA6 or PA66. Conventional nylon is polymerized from petroleum-derived monomers. It was the first fully synthetic fiber and remains a workhorse for its strength, abrasion resistance, and smooth hand.
- Fiber type
- Synthetic thermoplastic (petroleum)
- Source
- Crude oil (caprolactam / adipic acid + hexamethylenediamine)
- Biodegradable
- No
- Sheds microplastics
- Yes
How is Nylon (Polyamide) made?
Petroleum feedstock is converted to the polyamide monomers (caprolactam for PA6; adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine for PA66), polymerized, melted, and spun into filament. As with polyester, standard nylon has no plant content, so it is plastic.
How does Nylon (Polyamide) perform?
Very strong, highly abrasion-resistant, smooth, and elastic-feeling, with better durability and softer hand than polyester in many uses. That is why it shows up in swimwear, hosiery, and high-wear activewear. The environmental cost mirrors polyester: fossil feedstock, no biodegradation, and microplastic shedding.
So, is Nylon (Polyamide) plastic-free?
No, conventional nylon is not plastic-free; it is a petroleum plastic. The important nuance most glossaries miss: bio-based polyamide made from castor oil is a real, plant-derived polyamide chemistry with a very different feedstock. It is the difference between oil-based nylon and a plant-based polyamide, and it is central to how a plastic-free performance fabric is built.
Where you see it: Swimwear, hosiery, activewear, outerwear shells, and high-abrasion trims.
What the research says about nylon and microplastics
Nylon's microplastic shedding is not a talking point, it is measured in the peer-reviewed literature, and in these studies the nylon was tested directly rather than inferred from polyester.
- Nylon sheds at rates comparable to polyester. When nylon, acrylic, and polyester fabrics were laundered under identical conditions, nylon's fiber loss was not significantly different from polyester's, so it offers no shedding advantage as a plastic (Carney Almroth et al., Environ Sci Pollut Res, 2017).
- Lower than polyester in some constructions, but never zero. One wash study measured a nylon knit shedding roughly six times less fiber mass than a polyester knit, yet it still released quantifiable synthetic microfibers, and the authors tied much of that gap to yarn and weave construction rather than the polymer itself (Vassilenko et al., PLOS ONE, 2021).
- It sheds in the dryer too, not only the wash. A polyamide technical garment shed fewer fibers than most of the polyester fabrics tested but still released microfibers in both machine washing and tumble drying (Karkkainen and Sillanpaa, Environ Sci Pollut Res, 2020).
Net for a founder: the shedding number moves with construction, but across the literature nylon is a confirmed microplastic source, never a plastic-free one. The only way to take shedding to zero is to leave petroleum polyamide behind.
| Property | Nylon (Polyamide) | Polyester | Organic cotton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polymer origin | Petroleum | Petroleum | Plant (cotton cellulose) |
| Is it plastic? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Biodegradable | No | No | Yes |
| Sheds microplastics | Yes | Yes | No |
| Process note | Petroleum-derived polyamide, no plant content | Energy-intensive, petroleum feedstock | Water-intensive farming |
The OHZEHN-TEX™ take
This is the fiber where the OHZEHN-TEX story is sharpest. OHZEHN-TEX™ is our own bio-based performance fabric platform: bio-based nylon PA6.10 made from castor oil, with a bio-based stretch fibre made from sugarcane.
Where this fiber lands in production
Nylon (Polyamide) shows up most in leggings and sports bra production, bio-based swimwear fabric, and bralette and slip manufacturing, and the standard that governs all of it is set out at fabric manufacturing. The full definition of what counts is at plastic-free fabric.
Frequently asked questions
Is nylon plastic?
Yes. Nylon is a synthetic polyamide plastic made from petroleum. It does not biodegrade and it sheds microplastics. It is a different polymer family from polyester but it is equally plastic.
Is bio-based nylon plastic-free?
Bio-based polyamide from castor oil changes the feedstock from petroleum to a plant, which is a genuine and meaningful difference in origin and footprint. It is the plant-based nylon route to polyamide performance. That plant-derived chemistry is the foundation OHZEHN-TEX is built on.
Nylon vs polyester, which is worse for plastic?
Both are plastic and both shed microplastics. Nylon is often more durable and softer; polyester is cheaper and dries faster. Neither is plastic-free. The alternative is a different, plant-based fiber, not choosing between two plastics.