Every listing on this site names its material in the specification. Here is what those names actually change about the bag in your hand, using the materials that are genuinely in the range rather than a general survey.
Cotton
Twenty of our bags are cotton. It is soft, it takes dye well, it softens further with use, and it is the only material here that a machine wash improves rather than tolerates. It absorbs, which is why it makes a good shopping bag and a poor bag for a wet day. Heavier weights — the ones we list around 320 g/m² — hold their shape standing up; the lighter 140 g/m² ones fold into a pocket instead.
Certified organic cotton and organic twill
Five bags in the range are certified organic. The certification is about how the cotton was grown, not about how the bag performs: an organic twill tote and a conventional cotton tote of the same weight behave the same on your shoulder. Twill is a weave rather than a fibre — the diagonal rib you can see in the fabric — and it resists abrasion better than a plain weave at the same weight, which is why the twill totes have a gusseted base and stand up on a counter.
Denim
Denim is cotton in a particular twill weave, dyed on the warp thread only. That is why it fades on the high points and keeps its colour in the creases, and why a denim tote looks different after a year in a way a plain cotton one does not. It is heavier than it looks and stiff until it has been used.
Polyester and recycled polyester
Twenty of the bags are polyester of some kind, six of those recycled. Polyester sheds water where cotton drinks it, dries quickly, and holds a printed colour without fading in sun. It does not soften with use — a polyester bag feels the same in year three as on day one, which is either the point or the drawback depending on what you wanted. Recycled polyester is the same fibre reclaimed; the specification says which you are getting.
Nylon taslan
The sling bags are nylon taslan — a nylon woven to a slightly textured finish. It is lighter than polyester for the same strength and it is the reason a sling bag can hold a phone, a wallet and sunglasses and still sit flat against you. Like polyester it repels a shower and, like polyester, it is not waterproof.
TPU and neoprene
Two outliers. The clear stadium tote is TPU, a rubber-like film that wipes clean and meets the clear-bag rule most arenas now enforce. The laptop sleeve is neoprene, the same closed-cell foam used in wetsuits, which is what gives it padding and a snug fit without a rigid shell.
How to read the spec
Two figures do most of the work. Fabric weight, in grams per square metre, tells you how substantial the cloth is — under 150 is packable, over 300 is structural. Maximum weight limit, where the maker publishes one, is the load the handles and seams are rated for, and it is worth checking before you plan a grocery run around a bag.
Where a maker does not publish a figure, we leave it out rather than estimate it. If a number you need is missing, email us and we will get it or measure it.