One cup of coffee can now make two T-shirts, according to the general manager of Singtex, makers of S.Cafe shirts. S.Cafe weaves used coffee grounds into interlaced fibers to create textiles that offer fast drying properties, UV protection and odor control. Every month, Singtex collects around 300kg to 400kg of used coffee grounds for free from Starbucks, (it’s getting harder to dislike SB) and churns them into fabrics.

S.Cafe

Jason Chen, general manager of the technical fabric company, came up with the innovative fabric idea while sipping Starbucks coffee with colleagues. He then spent the last four years in research and development to extract and transform used coffee grounds into nano-sized structures to be put into the S.Cafe yarn, which is then turned into many styles of knitted and woven fabrics, as well as soft-shell fabrics.

Chen thinks the future is bright for the reuse of used coffee grounds not just in fabrics, but also in shoe soles, socks, luggage, soaps and a slew of other products.

Now if only they managed to infuse the fabric with a little caffeine we’d be onto something!