TL;DR
Wove is a new mobile app that scans clothing for PFAS, microplastics, and hidden toxins, giving shoppers plain-language safety ratings and cleaner alternatives. Launched amid rising regulatory pressure and renewed public concern following Netflix’s The Plastic Detox, it aims to do for wardrobes what Yuka did for grocery aisles.
Most health-conscious consumers have already ditched plastic containers, switched to filtered water, and overhauled their skincare routines. Clothing, however, remains a stubborn blind spot, and a new app called Wove wants to change that.
Launched this week, Wove bills itself as the first mobile app that scans everyday garments for PFAS, microplastic shedding potential, and other hidden toxins. Users can upload a photo, screenshot, clothing tag, product description, or shopping URL, and the app returns a plain-language rating based on fibre composition, chemical concerns, and microplastic risk. If the score is poor, Wove recommends cleaner alternatives that match the shopper’s style, lifestyle, and budget.
The comparisons to Yuka, the popular food and cosmetics ingredient scanner with more than 80 million users worldwide, are inevitable. Like Yuka, Wove positions itself as fully independent, ad-free, and free of paid brand placements or sponsored rankings. The difference is the domain: instead of scanning barcodes on cereal boxes, Wove focuses on the synthetic materials draped over your body every day.
The timing is deliberate. Netflix’s documentary The Plastic Detox, which premiered in March 2026, has reignited public concern over synthetic materials, chemical exposure, and their links to fertility problems. That cultural moment sits alongside a growing body of regulation: France banned PFAS in textiles as of January 2026, California’s AB 1817 already prohibits intentionally added PFAS in clothing, and the EU is tightening its REACH restrictions on related substances this year.
The underlying data makes the case for scrutiny. Synthetic fibres have grown from roughly 45% of global fibre production in 1996 to around two-thirds today, with polyester alone accounting for more than half of all fibre output worldwide. Every wash cycle sheds microscopic plastic particles into waterways, yet a 2025 survey for the National Cotton Council found that only 42% of consumers who are aware of microplastic pollution actually connect it to their clothing.
PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” prized for water and stain resistance, present a parallel concern. Studies have linked PFAS exposure to endocrine disruption, reduced fertility, immune suppression, and several cancers. The chemicals are notoriously persistent, taking thousands of years to break down in the environment, and they have been detected at hazardous levels across thousands of sites in Europe alone.
Wove was founded by Emily Hemphill, a product leader based in Charlotte, North Carolina, whose own fertility and wellness journey led her to investigate what was in her wardrobe. “Clothing is often the last blind spot,” Hemphill has said, describing the gap between the attention consumers pay to food and skincare ingredients and the near-total lack of transparency around textile chemistry.
The app is currently available on the Apple App Store, with an Android waitlist now open. Whether Wove can replicate Yuka’s viral adoption trajectory remains to be seen, but it enters a market where consumer demand for transparency is clearly outpacing what fashion brands voluntarily disclose. In an industry where microplastic pollution is measured in millions of metric tonnes per year, giving shoppers a way to see what their clothes are actually made of feels less like a niche feature and more like overdue infrastructure.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
