From Beech Forest to Pyjama: How Modal Is Made

Modal is the fibre behind our Modal Cloud sleepwear, and it is also the one most often described badly. It gets called "plant-based", which is technically true and functionally misleading; it gets called "natural", which it is not; and occasionally it gets called synthetic, which it also is not.

Here is what it actually is, and how it gets from a forest to a pyjama set.

It starts with beech

Modal is made from the cellulose in beech wood. Beech is a good choice for this, and not by accident:

• It regenerates itself. Beech forests in Europe self-seed rather than requiring replanting, so a managed beech stand is not a plantation in the agricultural sense.
• It needs no irrigation. Forestry in temperate Europe is rain-fed. Compared with cotton — among the thirstiest crops in agriculture — that is an enormous difference in water footprint per tonne of fibre.
• It needs no arable land. Beech grows on ground that would not support a food crop, so it does not compete with agriculture.
• The yield is high. Considerably more fibre comes off a hectare of managed beech forest than off a hectare of cotton.

The land story for modal is genuinely strong. It is the next step that decides whether the fibre is a good environmental choice or an average one.

The bit that matters: dissolving and re-spinning

Beech wood is chipped and pulped, then the pulp is dissolved into a viscous solution, then forced through a spinneret — a plate of microscopic holes — into a bath where it solidifies into continuous filament. That filament is cut into staple fibre and spun into yarn.

This is why modal is semi-synthetic, or "regenerated cellulose". The raw material is a plant. The fibre is manufactured. Both halves of that sentence are true and the second half is the one brands tend to drop.

Dissolving cellulose takes chemicals. Whether that is an environmental problem depends entirely on one thing: whether the mill runs a closed-loop process that captures and reuses its solvents and water, or an open one that discharges them. The difference between those two mills, using identical beech, is the difference between one of the better fibres available and a polluting one.

So the useful question is never "is it modal?" It is "is it modal from a closed-loop process?" Any brand that cannot answer that has not asked. The same scrutiny applies to every term on a label, which is the point of what sustainable sleepwear actually means.

What the manufacturing gets you in the fabric

Because the fibre is engineered rather than grown, it comes out far more uniform than cotton — finer, rounder, smoother, consistent along its length. Three consequences follow directly:

• Moisture handling. Modal absorbs more moisture than cotton and releases it more readily, so the surface against your skin stays dry for longer. That is the mechanism behind "does not go clammy at 3am", and it is why modal shows up in base layers and recovery wear as well as sleepwear. How far that sporting link really goes is covered in what modal and elastane owe to Olympic sport.
• Drape and softness. A finer fibre makes a lighter, more fluid knit — less bulk trapped against you, and a smoother surface than a coarser spun fibre gives. It is most obvious on a long set like the Floral Grace, where there is more fabric to hang.
• It resists creasing. A uniform fibre bends without setting a hard line, which is why modal sleepwear comes out of the machine looking fine and never needs an iron.

The 5% we do not hide

Our Modal Cloud sets are typically 95% modal and 5% elastane. Elastane is not biodegradable and it makes a garment harder to recycle at end of life. That belongs on this page rather than buried on a wash label.

What it buys is recovery — the ability to return to shape instead of bagging at the knees and elbows. A pure modal knit loses its line faster, which means it gets replaced sooner. Since keeping a garment in use for longer is by a wide margin the biggest lever on its footprint, we think a small amount of a non-renewable fibre in exchange for years of extra wear is the better trade. It is still a trade, and it should be described as one.

How to make yours last

Modal is durable, and almost all of the damage done to it happens in domestic machines rather than in wear:

• Wash at 30°C. Heat is what breaks fibres and sets colour loose.
• No fabric softener. It coats the fibre in a waxy film, reduces the moisture handling you paid for, dulls colour, and increases pilling.
• Tumble low, or hang. Take it out slightly damp and it will finish smooth.
• Do not overload the drum. Abrasion between garments is what raises pills.

Four questions worth asking any brand

1. Where does the pulp come from, and is the forestry managed?
2. Is the processing closed-loop?
3. What is the full composition — not just the headline fibre?
4. How long is it built to last?

A brand that answers those four plainly is telling you more than one with a leaf icon and a paragraph about the planet. Read where we stand on all of it on our sustainability page, or browse the Modal Cloud range.