Update on Bamboo Fibre from the December 2011 edition of the Bamboo Bulletin
Just about everyone involved with bamboo seems to be interested in the debate about bamboo textiles and whether or not they are what their promoters and some retailers claim they are – clean and green with antibacterial and other near magical qualities. Some time back, many who looked into the matter came to the conclusion that most, if not all, of what was being marketed as being bamboo fibre was bamboo viscose or rayon (different names for the same thing). This was confirmed when in 2009 the USA Federal Trade Commission charged four clothing companies with falsely advertising that their clothing was made of bamboo. Read more at:
inhabitat.com/bamboozled-by-bamboo-rayon-we-arent-so-sure/
Viscose is a regenerated cellulose fibre and, because of the process used to manufacture it, viscose made from bamboo can not be substantially different from any other viscose. It can’t have unique properties and can only be greener than other viscose to the extent that bamboo is probably grown in a more environmentally friendly way than other sources of cellulose such as wood chips.
A few years ago when I first tried research bamboo fibre online I found lots of greenwash but virtually nothing about how it was made. Now Wikipedia has what looks to me like a quite a good overview of the topic at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_textiles
As well as the ubiquitous viscose it does seem that there is a fibre, sometimes called bamboo linen, that is a more natural product. Unfortunately it much more expensive than viscose; 4 to 5 times as expensive according to one source. I have no idea what that translates to in a finished article but I think it is fair to conclude that anything that is being sold at prices comparable to those for cotton and other common fibres is not bamboo linen.
There’s a very comprehensive scientific paper published the Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management which quotes prices of around $4 per Kg for viscose and $11 for "linen". It is titled “Sustainable textiles: the Role of Bamboo and a Comparison of Bamboo Textile Properties”. Check it out here if you want to get right into the topic:
ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/JTATM/article/viewFile/651/458
A Switzerland-based company produces what it describes as “a natural bamboo yarn made of bamboo bast fiber” which is “produced using mechanical and enzymatic processes”. It is “processed in France, has a natural staple length between 70 and 150 mm, and is cut to shorter lengths for processing”. There is more information on it here:
www.textileworld.com/Articles/2010/April/Issue/QFOM.html. I can’t find any information on clothing made from the product.
There have been articles on the topic of bamboo fibre in previous Bamboo Bulletins including one by BSA member Tarannum Afrin and others in Volume 11 No 1 May 2009. Tarannum is doing research into the production of bamboo fibre. There is information about what she is doing here:
www.deakin.edu.au/research/stories/2011/...-catalyst-for-change
What conclusions can be drawn from all this? Well “buyer beware” for one. I have a T-shirt which I bought because it had “bamboo” on the label. It’s great to wear, has lasted well and is nothing like the rayon I remember from years back. But, given what I paid for it, it’s a fair bet that it is rayon and the quality is due too better manufacturing processes and not the magic of bamboo. That’s OK by me but, if you want to be sure that what you are buying is environmentally friendly, maybe you should research just what it is that the bamboo on the label or in the promotion really means.
For anyone reading the print version of this who (like me) doesn’t like having to type long URLs, I have posted this article under “boc’s boo links” in the Forum on the BSA website at:
bamboo.org.au I’ve been posting links there for a while now and may do it more often if I get some feedback to indicate that people find it useful.
