Which is worse? Plastic or polyester? By far polyester. We are eating it. It breaks apart in the laundry. It is throughout everything. Whereas a plastic bottle in the landfill matters far less.
For our health and wealth, we need to outlaw polyester in clothing.
PSA
Polyester is one form of plastic (the common name for polymers of any type). There are many, many kinds of plastic.
PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is the chemical name for polyester. When PET is used for fiber or fabric applications, it is usually referred to as “polyester.” When used for container and packaging applications, it is typically called “PET” or “PET resin.”
So the only difference between polyester in clothing and in plastic (PET) bottles is the method of processing — fine fibers vs. molding the solid resin.
Many other kinds of polymer are used in garments. Some are natural but many others are synthetic (nylon, dacron, elastane, etc.). You might just as well outlaw any synthetic polymers used in clothing. That’s a nice, practical idea. 
Wendy
Very easy conclusion for the entire human race right about now.
The traditional natural fibers are wool, cotton, and linen. Supplemented with leather.
Most of us will end up with cotton. But it is heavily treated with chemicals. Bleach, crease proofing resins, and it glows under uv light due to optical brighteners. Usually smells of formaldehyde until washed due to crease proofing resins.
And it takes a lot of water to grow.
Tires too, to be honest. They are just as bad as synthetic fibers in clothing. That will never happen, of course. Paint is pretty bad too. Especially road paint, white and yellow lines. Sigh
Tires are mostly natural rubber actually polyisoprene. In the good old days we had cotton, then rayon, then nylon belts. Now most of us have steel belts. No polyester involved.
People do say tire wear creates most microplastics. But they are polyisoprene.
In the good old days, road paint was mostly alkyd. That is a form of polyester. But I would be surprised if that is still used. Latex paint is now very common. The best is acrylic but there are others. Not polyester. Water cleanup. No smelly solvents.
General comment on the thread: Plastics are completely integrated into our society and economy. It is literally impossible to get rid of them at this point. We can and should nibble around the edges to reduce our usage, but nibbling is about the best we can hope for.
Dear Syke,
Polymer fibers in clothing are a big mistake we can end.
Cotton, silk, and wool are polymers. You don’t want to get rid of those do you?
I kid. I know what you are talking about. By why clothes in particular? Why not all the other stuff like single use plastics?
Dear Syke,
In clothing going through the wash the fibers from everything get shredded and washed away. Dried as well and taken apart.
A plastic bottle in the landfill barely changes how much plastic is in it for decades.
We are eating our clothing. We have the equivalent of five bottle caps of plastic in our brains alone. It is our clothing.
For those who forgot, cotton fibers cause “brown lung disease”
Steve
Dear Steve,
So employers add proper ventilation.
Now what do you do about the plastic throughout your body? That keeps entering your body and mounting up.
The best prevention for dust diseases like black lung and brown lung is for those exposed to wear dust masks.
That is often a problem where it is hot and sweaty. Mask wearing often gets resistance. But then who is at fault? Employer or individual who resists mask?
Problem is usually made worse by smoking.
Is this a public health issue? Should tax dollars be used for treatment?
Makes sense to spend tax dollars educating on the risks. If you disregard the advice you should be responsible for your own care.
Dear Paul,
We have very little of the rag trade in this country.
True, but cotton is still big business. Fiber is found everywhere it goes. We do have brown lung disease.
But we digress - The problem is plastics, everywhere, all the time. In everyone’s, and everthing’s body, on this earth. There is no political will, or technical will, to get rid of them. We all like our lightweight, water proof, jackets. I don’t really want to go back to tarred canvas, or whatever. So we conduct an enormous experiment on what happens to the world when we inject massive amounts of micro plastic pollution into it. Sorta like the massive experiment where we inject massive amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere for generations. We will find out the results, and it is an irreversible process.
A plastic bottle in the landfill is not equal to a polyester shirt in the laundry. Time wise the shirt is something we all start eating pretty quickly.
We need to find economical ways of destroying or recycling plastics. Dumping plastic in landfills and oceans is not solution.