In the future, it might be perfectly normal to wear suits and dresses made of chicken feathers or rice straw. But don’t worry: These clothes won’t resemble fluffy plumage or hairy door mats. Scientists at the University of Nebraska -Lincoln plan to develop these agricultural waste products into conventional-looking fabrics as a way to reduce the use of petroleum-based synthetic fabrics.

The feather-based fabric will resemble wool, while the rice straw fabric will look and feel more like linen or cotton, according to the researchers…Both fabrics are still in early development and may not reach the consumer market for several years, the researchers say.

With millions of tons of chicken feathers and rice straw available worldwide each year, these agricultural wastes represent an abundant, cheap and renewable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic fibers, Professor Yiqi Yang says. And unlike petroleum-based fibers, these agro-fibers are biodegradable. The development could be a boon to the nation’s rice and chicken farmers, Yang says.

Rice fabrics are the most developed of the two fabric concepts to date. Rice straw consists of the stems of the rice plant that are left over after rice grains are harvested. Like cotton and linen, rice straw is composed mostly of cellulose.

Chicken feathers and rice straw also could become “green” fabrics used in carpets, automobiles, building materials and a host of other everyday applications – all at potentially less cost and with novel and sometimes superior properties than their synthetic counterparts, the researchers say.

What goes around, comes around. Folks forget [or never knew] that many original synthetic fabrics, even transparent packaging — came from renewable materials like wood cellulose. Oil replaced those raw materials when oil was cheap.