Bamboo has been touted by the eco community for its sustainability, and I was excited to stumble upon Shirts of Bamboo. I contacted the company, as I have yet to venture into bamboo textiles for my family, and Shirts of Bamboo was gracious to send us two compressed bamboo towelettes. The towelettes are a very interesting, green product that may be useful for families.
Bamboo is a soft fiber, softer than cotton, which makes it perfect for young, tender skin. It is breathable, absorbent, and fast drying. The compressed bamboo towelettes are very small, about the size of a silver dollar, and they would fit nicely in a small purse or diaper bag. When placed in water, the towelettes expand to 14″ x 23″. It is truly amazing to watch! The compressed bamboo towelettes would be perfect for spills, babies, eyeglasses, camping, etc. and last for approximately one to three weeks before disintegrating. This may be a disposable product, but it is not a one time use disposable. The only drawback to the compressed bamboo towelettes is that they are made in China, because that is where the bamboo is grown.
Bamboo reaches maturity after only three years, and it is grown without pesticides. Cotton crops use about 25% of the pesticides applied worldwide! Bamboo also releases 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of of trees. Shirts of Bamboo states that all of their bamboo is grown on family-owned farms and is not harvested from tropical forest. They use Moso bamboo in the production, which is a species panda bears do not eat and covers 7.4 million acres of China. No wonder the eco community has embraced bamboo.
Bamboo is nice. I’ve knitted a couple of small sweaters from it. I first discovered the concept of using bamboo fibers in textiles after carting home a wonderfully soft hand towel for the bathroom, looking at the tag for washing instructions and being dumbfounded when I saw bamboo listed as the main fiber. I was hooked after that. It’s so soft, and luxurious; I thought it was a synthetic fabric!
Just a slight warning – not all bamboo fabric is eco-friendly. Some is highly chemically processed – the bamboo fibres are used in the same way as wood pulp to manufacture a fabic that is similar to Rayon. Check with the manufacturer to see whether they use spun bamboo fibres (similar to cotton) or processed cellulose.
Thank you joyfulone. I knew this was true with bamboo flooring, that it often contains very toxic fillers, but I didn’t realize this about bamboo fabric. It makes sense though.