Bamboo Fabric

What are the benefits of Bamboo products and how are they Eco-friendly?

For us the true measure of sustainability starts with the plant itself, Bamboo. The use of this highly resourceful plant in the textile industry greatly improves the quality of textile products such as thread, yarn, fabric, and garments. Our company’s application of a new innovative bamboo fiber production process allows us to produce and provide true environmentally-friendly bamboo fabric.

Here are some of the natural traits of bamboo fabric made from the new process:

• Anti-Bacterial/Anti-Fungal properties.
• Anti-Static.
• Hypoallergenic and non-irritating to the skin.
• Breathable, highly ventilating, and cooler to the Touch.
• Natural insulation: keeps body temperature cool in the heat, and warm in the cold.
• UV - light Protection (Approximately: SPF 15)
• Highly absorbent.
• Moisture-repelling properties.
• Odor-repelling properties.
• Soft, Shiny.
• Retains design and print, longer.
• Excellent maintenance.
• Quick drying.
• Luxurious feel and look.
• Durable.
• Environmentally friendly from plant to fabric.
• 100% Biodegradable.

In fabric form, bamboo is also extremely kind to users with asthma, allergies and skin sensitivities; especially those to synthetically or artificially processed fabrics. As you can see, this fabric has many unique features.

About the Plant

Bamboo is the largest of the grasses. It has a very diverse family of over 1600 different species. Bamboo naturally and most commonly resides in Southeast Asia; however a good percentage also inhabits Latin America, and Africa; it is one of the fastest growing plants on earth.

It has been recorded and verified that a single shoot grew 3-feet in one day. This rapid growth rate is completely natural and very common as bamboo does not use or rely on chemicals, fertilizers, insecticides, growth advancers, or large amounts of water merely to grow.

The most common textile resource used today is cotton; which is one of the world’s most destructive crops in regards to water and pesticide use, soil contamination, maintenance requirements, and farming inadequacies. Simply to grow cotton or other plants, chemicals and pesticides must be added to protect the plant to achieve growth.

In comparison bamboo is known to improve watersheds, purify air quality, remove toxins from contaminated soil, provide sweet edible shoots, and in our case, produce highly advantageous fabric for textile use; all with less water consumption and no harmful environmental impact. This plant is very efficient and one of the most environmentally-beneficial plants in the world. It can also be used for building materials, furniture, flooring, and tools.

Many, including ecologists, promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and even to reverse environmental dilemmas such as global warming. Planting more bamboo will actually help reduce, absorb, and purify the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide in our air; it absorbs up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare and it produces 30% more oxygen than any hardwood forest of similar size. It can also be selectively harvested annually, and it naturally regenerates without replanting. We can use nature to solve earth’s current problems, and this is as natural as it gets.

About the Fabric

Using bamboo plants in the textile industry is relatively new and the process of extracting fiber from them to make fabric is nowhere near its full potential. In fact, today’s most common form of producing and extracting fiber from bamboo was initially invented in 1884; a chemical process called “Regenerated Cellulose”. The French inventor used this process to produce artificial silk which was named “Viscose”; Viscose is a liquid that is used to produce rayon and/or cellophane. Three scientists later patented this process in 1891, and soon after it became simply known as, “Rayon”. After many years of research we have found and developed a new process for extracting bamboo fibers naturally from the bamboo plant to produce real bamboo fabric; first, let us tell you more about widespread use of the chemical production process that is used to produce bamboo fabric today.

The Chemical Process
This process, “Regenerated Cellulose,” is very old and is widely used for the production of hemp, linen, rayon and other artificially-processed fibers. The chemicals that are used in the regenerated cellulose process actually alter/change the genetic structure of natural bamboo turning the end result into Rayon. Rayon is not Bamboo. This process involves treating a variety of woods or plants with chemicals such as sodium hydroxide (aka: Lye/Caustic Soda - commonly used in paint strippers and heavy duty cleaning solutions) and carbon disulfide (commonly used in insecticides) to produce a viscose solution that, when extruded, creates either Rayon or cellophane.

The regenerated cellulose process, or chemical process, of bamboo production is not at all eco-friendly. Disposing of the chemicals that are used in this process can lead to soil and water contamination. Not to mention, these chemicals are also dangerous to human exposure. In fact, the viscose-rayon production industry is the only industry where humans are directly exposed to large amounts of carbon disulfide and sometimes hydrogen disulfide.

The other chemical process, the Lyocell process (aka: Solvent Spinning - invented in 1987), uses different types of chemicals which allows some of them to be recycled, but none can be recycled entirely. This means at some point these chemicals must also be disposed of, and the aftereffects can be problematic. Either way the Lyocell process and the regenerated cellulose process both produce Rayon, not Bamboo.

Thus, the great qualities that come from the plant’s Bamboo Kun property are not present in the product of these processes; most, and usually all of bamboo’s wonderful traits are deteriorated by the chemicals used. Even though some manufacturers may use bamboo plants initially, through the use of these processes, the end result is not actual bamboo.

Our Process
In comparison, we use a new proprietary process for extracting and producing natural bamboo fibers from the bamboo plant. Unlike the regenerated cellulose process or the solvent spinning process, this proprietary process does not use any sort of harmful chemicals to produce bamboo fiber for yarn production. Most importantly this process leaves absolutely no traces or footprints on the environment or on the people using it.

This new process is relatively simple; it involves separating and extracting fibers directly from the shoots using a mechanical procedure. This multi-step process produces much longer fibers that have a brilliant sheen, amazing softness, and retain all of the plant’s natural traits. In turn, we are developing a high-quality 100% natural product that is also 100% Environmentally-friendly – start to finish.

Please contact us if you have any questions, or to receive more information about obtaining our natural bamboo products.