Submitted by Mary Rundell-Holmes on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 13:32
Microbiology student turned fashion designer, Anke Domaske of Hanover, Germany, has developed a fabric called QMilch made from high concentrations of the milk protein casein. "It feels like silk and it doesn't smell; you can wash it just like anything else," Domaske told Reuters. She also contends that the milk fabric has health benefits in addition to being ecological. It is supposedly atibacterial and helpful for regulating blood circulation and body temperature.
While milk fiber existed in the 1930s, it was made with toxic chemicals. Domaske's fiber is the first man-made fiber produced entirely without chemicals. The casein is extracted from dried milk powder, mixed with other natural ingredicents and heated up in a type of meat-mincing machine. The strands produced in the process are then spun into yarn.
The young fashion designer has used QMilch fiber in combination with other fibers in some of her clothing. However, she plans to add a whole line of apparel made completely from the milk fabric to her high fashion label Mademoiselle Chi Chi, reportedly a favorite of musician Ashlee Simpson and actress Mischa Barton.