Fast Fashion Tested - Which T-Shirt Is the Most Sustainable?

A basic T-shirt is essential in every woman's wardrobe. The question is if it can be both cheap and eco-friendly. We tested four tees from some of the biggest fast fashion brands and rated them in terms of their overall sustainability. Pull&Bear, H&M, Guess and Zara, find out whose T-shirt is the best.

The sample products are tested and evaluated to the best of our knowledge and belief. None of the brands sponsored this article. Nevertheless, we think that the products listed in this article can be useful for our readers.

Producing cheaply, pricing cheaply: that’s the core of fast fashion. No matter the devastating environmental impact of the industry, we all buy fast fashion. However, we see a little change - more and more brands are now introducing sustainable collections in their offer. And of course, we wanted to find out whether these eco collections are worth buying. 

In this blog post, we present test results of four basic T-shirts from the eco collections of four big fashion companies. We will give you valuable insights into the garments’ sustainability, transparency, durability, quality and more. Do you think these products deserve an eco-label? Or can you perhaps predict which fast fashion brand has the best-fitting and eco-friendly T-shirt? Let’s find out together!

Jump to the test results for: Pull & Bear | H&M | Guess | Zara

Don't want to read? Watch the video to see the sample T-shirts and our findings about their performance.

Top Eco-Friendly T-shirts Comparison

We summarized the most important information and test results for our sample T-shirts in this review table.

Methodology

How Did We Pick the Brands and Items?

For this test, we ordered a total of four T-shirts from different manufacturers of the U.S market. These included Pull&Bear, H&M, Guess and Zara. These brands are among the biggest and best-selling fast fashion retailers, counting thousands of stores across the country as well as huge online shops. Also, two out of four brands (Zara and Pull&Bear) are part of the Inditex Group, which is the largest fast fashion company in the world, operating over 7.200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. All of these brands have launched their own extensive sustainable collection within the last couple of years. All sample products belong to the brands’ eco-friendly collections and we believe this justifies our choice for this test. We used the websites’ navigational filters to find them. When selecting the items, we focused on basic pieces that every woman has in her wardrobe and which were available in the online store at the time of purchase.

How Did We Test?

In order to provide a comprehensive, valuable and authentic review, we tested each product extensively. The products were ordered in October 2021 and were delivered to us after a couple of days. The testing period started at the beginning of November 2021 by assigning the items to our five team members. The entire testing process lasted over three months including the evaluation and scoring period.

First, we took photos and measured each product. Then our girls took the items home and treated as their own by wearing the items as many times as possible, washing and ironing them a minimum of five times. We exposed every item to different conditions, including sunnier and colder places, to give you a wider spectrum of their long-term durability and quality to ensure more realistic results. We avoided making predictions and we tried to thoroughly understand how each garment responds over the course of time in terms of shrinking, wearing or washing out, losing shape, fading color and more.

It’s also important to highlight that we followed all suggested handling instructions. All T-shirts were washed in a cold or warm program, with no tumble drying or bleaching and they were ironed on the lowest heat settings. The Guess T-shirt was the only one that required hand-washing with cold water. When it comes to the product description transparency on the websites, we particularly paid attention to how precisely the sustainability of the T-shirt is described and how extensive the information about the production process is. We also cross-checked the online information when receiving the garments to see if any of the brands attempted greenwashing. Last but not least, we checked whether each item carries textile certificates.

All products were tested within our international company. We are five eco-conscious women, living in Europe and the U.S. and sharing similar mindsets about sustainable living. In case you want to learn more about our testers you can check out our about us page.

How Did We Rate?

Materials

The fabric from which a T-shirt is made plays a decisive role in terms of the sustainability of the garment. Most items of our sample are using cotton, either as a fabric blend or exclusively as the primary fabric. While one conventional T-shirt gulps up 2.700 liters of water to be produced, organic cotton requires 91% less water. Moreover, organic cotton fabric is biodegradable and easier to be disposed of in comparison to polyester and it’s also free of GMOs, pesticides or fertilizers. You can learn more about textile fabrics if you read our article about "sustainable textiles in the fashion industry".

We awarded full points only for the Pull&Bear T-shirt that was made of 100% organic cotton. We also scored Zara T-shirt four points, which is made of purely conventional cotton, since it is still a better choice in comparison to other synthetic fiber blends. Consequently, further points were deducted according to each garments’ textile blend.

Textile Certifications

Very often textile certifications come from third parties - independent organizations that are qualified to test, verify and evaluate the materials used for a specific product. The disappointing part of our research was that three out of four products did not carry any textile certifications. Zara claims that the product is certified by Organic Content Standard (OCS), yet it’s questionable if this is true because the garment itself did not carry any label regarding the use of organic fibers.

Product Information

Providing transparent and extensive product information about the garments' production and place of origin is also very important to assess sustainability. In many cases, we had to cross-check the information provided on the website with the inside label of the garment. We believe it's highly important for all manufacturers to share as much in-depth information as possible, including information about the material composition, origin, working conditions, why these particular items belong to their eco collections, and additional care instructions that would make the clothing last longer.

We appreciated Zara’s, Pull&Bear’s and H&M’s efforts to share more information about the suppliers and the production process of their T-shirts. Yet, we believe there’s room for improvement, in terms of transparency. In the case of the Guess T-shirt, we had to score a really low rating because we found the product details misleading and confusing: there was no information about the origin of the product, and the exact percentages of the fabric blend were missing. It was absolutely necessary to check the products’ inside labels to get a more extensive description.

Durability 

The sustainability of a clothing item is strictly connected to durability. A garment that lasts in time means less textile waste, therefore this factor is very important for our rating. Three out of four T-shirts convinced us about their durability since they were not affected by five times laundry, holding their initial shape, fit and color. This is not the case with the Zara T-shirt though, since we had to score zero points for this product. The shirt didn’t survive the second washing, showing different signs of shabbiness, including a hole in the front side. 

Quality

Quality was the most subjective and difficult factor to rate. We trusted our testers' judgment to evaluate the material quality, fit and finish. We checked what the materials feel like, whether it’s comfortable to use as a casual tee, or whether the fabric was thin and transparent or heavy and stiff. We score full points for H&M and Guess and four points for the Pull&Bear T-shirt. We were generally very satisfied with the quality of our products since almost all of them kept their shape, didn’t shrink during laundry and looked “newly purchased” when the testing period was over. On the other hand, Zara got zero points again since the T-shirt wore out and the material was very heavy as for regular white tees.

Our Key Test Findings

The winner product was determined by calculating the scores from five different testing criteria. We were not completely satisfied by the performance of the four tested T-shirts and it’s important to highlight that the differences were small (in a range of 0.2-0.6 points). None of the products achieved the ultimate score and one of them (Zara) completely failed testing after the second wash. However, it’s fair to say that the winner product was the one with the most sustainable material composition. 

What’s also interesting to mention, is that the most expensive T-shirt was not necessarily the only one with the best quality. The Guess T-shirt had the highest pricing ($34.00) and good feedback from our tester. Yet, it landed on the position #3 due to insufficient and misleading product description, lack of textile certifications and poor fabric blend in terms of sustainability. Both Pull&Bear and H&M scored almost the same points as Guess for the quality criterion, while their price difference is over $20. Our last comment is that there's definitely room to get better and more transparent. We wish for more extensive information about each garment's production process and country of origin. 

Wait! Here is more

• Sustainable sweaters review
• Sustainable jeans review
• Sustainable dresses review

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Sustainable T-Shirt?

From how fabrics are produced to how they are transported and sold there are major factors that can potentially play a destructive role to the environment. A sustainable T-shirt is a tee made of more eco-friendly materials, dyed without toxic chemicals, produced by using less natural resources treating fairly all involved employees. It’s an alternative that respects nature and people that can be found in multiple stores at affordable prices. 

To ensure that the product you purchase has a lower environmental impact, you can look for several fabric certifications. Textile certifications set some of the highest ecological and social standards from harvesting of the raw materials, to responsible manufacturing and labeling in order to provide a credible assurance to the consumer.

Does Organic Cotton Make a Difference?

A lot of people might think there can’t be much of a difference between a sustainable cotton T-shirt and a “regular” one. Most of us forget about the early stages of production such as growing cotton. 

Look for a shirt made of organic cotton cultivated according to the guidelines of organic farming. No genetically modified seeds, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or other chemicals are used in organic farming. So the first thing that someone can avoid by choosing an organic cotton tee against a conventional one is toxicity. By purchasing a certified organic cotton T-shirt, you cut out all of the toxins from the production line, the packaging, and of course your body. Other than that, you save water, since organic cotton requires 91% less water than conventional cotton. It’s a wiser choice if you want to protect the planet’s most precious resource!

What Is the Best Quality Fabric for T-Shirts?

Cotton is the world’s most commonly used natural fiber, included in almost 40% of our clothing. Even though it is a clean, breathable and soft material, it comes from an always thirsty plant that consumes gallons of water to be cultivated. Therefore, it is always good to consider more sustainable textile material alternatives, like certified organic or recycled cotton. Organic cotton T-shirts are chemical-free, comfortable, affordable and perfect for casual wear. And recycled cotton tees are even better because they are mostly made of previously used cotton fabric blended with a bit of new raw materials without compromising on your comfort and price.

How Can You Tell a Quality T-Shirt?

The first touch is always a thing to consider when it comes to clothes. A good quality T-shirt would never feel like plastic, itchy or chunky. The fabric should feel soft, comfortable and firm at the same time. It’s also important to check the density of the fabric by holding the garment against a light source to see how transparent it is. Another useful tip would be to check out the overall condition of your tee after a couple of washes, it may look different than before in terms of softness, measurements etc. 

Sources 

1. H&M
2. Guess 
3. Pull&Bear 
4. Zara