Is nylon the same as polyester?

No. Both are synthetic plastics made from petroleum, but they're chemically different. Nylon (polyamide) is slightly more stretchy, absorbs marginally more moisture (4% vs 0.4%), and is more durable under abrasion. Polyester is cheaper, more UV-resistant, and wrinkles less. Both shed microplastics. For everyday clothing, the differences are minor — the main point is that both are plastic.

Is nylon bad for your skin?

Nylon shares most of polyester's skin problems: it traps heat, doesn't breathe well, and can harbour bacteria. It's marginally better than polyester at moisture absorption but still dramatically worse than any natural fibre. People with sensitive skin, eczema, or allergies should avoid nylon against their skin, particularly in underwear, bras, and socks.

Where does nylon hide in clothing?

Nylon is most common in: tights and stockings (often 80-100% nylon), swimwear, activewear, bras and underwear, windbreakers, and blended into dresses and tops for stretch. It's also sold under the name 'polyamide' on European labels. If you see 'polyamide' on a label, that's nylon.

Is recycled nylon better?

Recycled nylon (like Econyl, made from fishing nets and carpet waste) uses less energy to produce and diverts waste from landfills — genuinely better than virgin nylon. But it still sheds microplastics when washed, still doesn't biodegrade, and still traps heat against your skin. Better origin story, same endpoint.

What Is Nylon? The Other Plastic in Your Clothes

Polyester gets all the bad press. It's the villain of the fabric world, and rightly so. But while everyone was busy hating polyester, nylon quietly became the second most destructive synthetic in your wardrobe — and nobody's talking about it.

Nylon is in your tights, your swimwear, your sports bras, your windbreakers, and half the "stretch" dresses on Zara. It's made from petroleum, it releases one of the most potent greenhouse gases during production, and it will outlast you in a landfill by about 200 years.

Let's get into it.

What Nylon Actually Is

Nylon is a synthetic polymer — specifically a polyamide — derived from petroleum. It was invented by DuPont in 1935 and first commercialised as a replacement for silk stockings. The original marketing pitch was literally "as strong as steel, as fine as a spider's web." That was 90 years ago, and nylon still dominates the stocking and hosiery market.

The manufacturing process involves heating petroleum-derived chemicals (adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine) to create a polymer that's extruded through spinnerets into long filaments. Those filaments are then stretched, twisted, and woven into fabric.

On labels, you'll see it called either nylon or polyamide. They're the same thing. European brands tend to use "polyamide" while American and UK brands use "nylon."

The Climate Bomb Nobody Mentions

Here's where nylon gets genuinely alarming. The production of nylon 6,6 (the most common type in clothing) releases nitrous oxide as a byproduct. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that traps 310 times more heat than carbon dioxide.

The fashion industry's nylon production is estimated to release the equivalent of tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 annually — just from this one chemical byproduct alone. That's before you count the petroleum extraction, the energy-intensive polymerisation, the dyeing, the finishing, the shipping.

Polyester is bad for the climate. Nylon is worse, tonne for tonne.

Where Nylon Hides in Your Wardrobe

Nylon doesn't always announce itself. Here's where to find it:

Tights and stockings — often 80-100% nylon. This is nylon's original market and it still dominates.
Swimwear — nylon is the standard swimwear fabric because it handles water better than polyester
Activewear and sports bras — blended with elastane for stretch
Underwear and bras — a huge amount of underwear uses nylon, particularly women's
Windbreakers and lightweight jackets — ripstop nylon is the standard
Dresses and tops — blended in for stretch and "silky" feel, often 10-30% of the composition
Linings — many jackets and dresses use nylon linings

The common thread: anywhere brands want stretch, durability, or a cheap approximation of smoothness, nylon shows up.

Nylon on Your Skin

Nylon shares most of polyester's skin problems, with one minor difference: it absorbs slightly more moisture (about 4% of its weight, compared to polyester's 0.4%). This makes it marginally less terrible against skin — but still dramatically worse than cotton (27%) or silk (30%).

The practical effects:

Heat trapping. Nylon doesn't breathe. It creates a warm, humid microclimate against your skin.
Bacterial growth. Like polyester, nylon's surface is hospitable to odour-causing bacteria.
Chemical sensitivity. Nylon is typically treated with dyes, softeners, and finishes that can trigger contact dermatitis.
Static. Nylon generates more static electricity than almost any other fabric. Clingy, crackling, annoying.

For sensitive skin, nylon underwear and bras are a particularly bad combination — these are areas where breathability and moisture management matter most, and nylon fails at both.

The Environmental Cost

Beyond the nitrous oxide emissions, nylon's environmental rap sheet includes:

Petroleum dependence. Nylon is made from crude oil. Every nylon garment starts in an oil refinery.
Microplastic shedding. Like all synthetics, nylon releases microplastic fibres every time you wash it. These particles pass through wastewater treatment and end up in rivers, oceans, and eventually your drinking water.
Non-biodegradable. Nylon takes 30-40 years to even begin decomposing, and full decomposition takes 200+ years. It will outlast you.
Energy-intensive. Nylon production requires roughly twice the energy of polyester production per kilogram. It's the most energy-intensive common textile fibre.

Recycled Nylon: Better, But Still Plastic

Econyl (by Aquafil) is the most well-known recycled nylon. It's made from recovered fishing nets, carpet waste, and industrial scrap. The energy savings are genuine — about 80% less energy than virgin nylon — and diverting fishing nets from the ocean is genuinely valuable.

But recycled nylon is still nylon. It still sheds microplastics. It still doesn't biodegrade. It still doesn't breathe. The recycling makes the production better; it doesn't make the product better. Sound familiar? It's the same story as recycled polyester.

What to Wear Instead

The alternatives depend on what nylon was doing in the garment:

Nylon Use	Better Alternative
Tights/stockings	Swedish Stockings (recycled nylon — best available) or skip tights when possible
Swimwear	Recycled nylon is the least-bad option here; nylon is genuinely needed for water
Underwear/bras	100% cotton, silk, or Tencel underwear. They exist and they're better for your skin.
Activewear	Merino wool base layers, cotton-elastane blends
Windbreakers	Waxed cotton (Barbour-style), or accept nylon for genuine outdoor gear
Dresses/tops	Cotton, linen, silk, or Tencel — all drape beautifully without plastic

The Bottom Line

Nylon was revolutionary in 1935. It replaced silk stockings during wartime shortages and gave the world durable, affordable hosiery. That was a genuine innovation.

But 90 years later, brands aren't using nylon because nothing else works. They're using it because it's cheap. In most garments, natural fibres do the same job better — with better breathability, better skin contact, zero microplastics, and an actual end-of-life that doesn't involve sitting in a landfill until 2226.

Nylon has its place. Swimwear, genuine outdoor technical gear, and tights where no natural alternative truly works. Everywhere else, it's just another petroleum product disguised as fashion.