Natural Clothing Blog

At the recent radio interview, consumers inquired “How green is bamboo clothing?” Is bamboo a true and viable eco-friendly material? Bamboo clothing is popping up more and more often, not just in selective boutiques but at the main chain retailers across the US. Always promoting it as being eco-friendly, sometimes organic, sometimes anti-bacterial. Is it true? In case of bamboo even green activists seem to be quite divided, so no wonder that general consumer is quite confused. The additional controversy is added by the fact that China is the only place where bamboo is processed,  simply that’s where the patent is closely held.

Well, to some extend it is an illusion that one plant, one fiber will be everything we want it to be, wearing a green halo around its leaves. The simplicity is that commercial manufacturing of anything is not a black and white (or green) process, period. Breaking down the fiber requires either significant mechanical (energy consuming) efforts and water or chemical processes. The true evaluation comes from looking across all the factors involved from start to end AND comparing it to alternatives. That places that product higher or lower on the scale of sustainability.

Bamboo as a crop is actually classified as grass and is one of the fastest growing plants on a planet. Talking about renewable – you cannot really beat that. On top of it, bamboo fends off the insects and pests very well, so it does not need chemical spraying and requires very little water to grow. A lot of eco friendly clothing is made from actually certified organic bamboo, grown in truly sustainable manner. When bamboo grows, magic happens – it processes carbon dioxide in volumes larger than similar size trees. That is probably actually the biggest benefit of bamboo crop where it truly earns our support. Bamboo unaltered fibers have also multitude of wonderful characteristics, mentioned later in the article.

The problem is that – according to Federal Trade Commission, there is no evidence that these properties actually stay with the fabric after is processed. Bamboo is processed a lot and at this time is not processed organically at all. The fibers are broken down and dissolved through series of chemical processes, sprayed through the small holes and then regenerated back again into cellulose fiber. The FTC requires calling “bamboo textile” a rayon or viscose, being chemically altered, not carrying the characteristics of original fiber and a man-made textile. For more information, go to www.ftc.gov and search bamboo. There are many types of viscose, some

created from wood, cotton and some – from bamboo in similar process. There is a lot of effort put into creating better processing methods and not releasing the chemicals but reused. There is also bamboo processed mechanically like flax but it’s not very common.

The finish viscose from bamboo is quite beautiful though it might vary depending on length of fibers. It is extremely soft, has beautiful sheen and it being anti-static drapes very well, allowing for flattering clothing.  Like I mentioned before there are legal limits of what I can say about viscose from bamboo but I can share my own experience. I was stunned when I used bamboo towels at first, it wicked water so well, much better than our old friend cotton. Bamboo is said to have anti-bacterial properties, similar to hemp or soy, which inhibits creation of body odor. Is it true?  My son loves wearing his bamboo Tee for PE classes (despite different intentions of his mother) because it absorbs the moisture so well and there is no unpleasant smell, same for his bamboo socks. That’s a sell! It is very comfortable and it washes very well without losing any color or getting much wrinkles. Probably the best is to give it a try – all in all considering the benefits of bamboo as crop, great properties of clothing itself and especially comparing it to oil derived polyesters, this textile has quite a lot to be respected for.

For more info visit http://www.naturalclothingcompany.com/bamboo_clothing