Is Bamboo Clothing for Baby Natural and Chemical Free?
Another safe alternative to conventional cotton is bamboo.
We’ve heard about the toxic process of bamboo from plant to fiber which can be harmful on the environment. So, we searched for a company that offered a safer, non-toxic processing alternative.
We were impressed with Bamboosa’s integrity and had to rave about their baby soft gift set. Bamboosa chooses to not use bleach on their fabrics and many of their purely natural products are without any dye at all.
Bamboosa states:
“We have eliminated the use of chlorine in our bleaching or pre-bleaching process. Using chlorine releases dioxins, which are known carcinogens, into the air.
When dyeing our fabrics, we do not use any banned AZO dyestuffs in our fiber reactive dyes. Our dyes consume less water and less energy and generate less waste, and therefore have a lower impact than non fiber reactive dyes. Also, because bamboo fabric accepts and holds dye well, we do not use any dye-fixing agents, which often contain heavy metals and formaldehyde.”
We also like that all of Bamboosa’s clothing and baby products are made “sweatshop-free” in America.
My little girl never wants to take off her bamboo outfit once she has it on. This fabric is SO SOFT, you don’t know where the clothing stops and your baby’s skin begins. The little socks also fit so amazing, I wanna get a pair for myself!
Facts About the ‘Greenness’ of Bamboo
Here are some facts we love about bamboo:
- Bamboo fiber is softer than the softest cotton, has a natural sheen to the surface and feels similar to silk or cashmere.
- Bamboo absorbs water 3-4 times better than cotton, keeping skin comfortable, rather than sticky, in hot weather.
- Bamboo stays 2-3 degrees cooler in hot temperatures and warmer in cold temperatures.
- Bamboo fiber clothing is naturally anti-microbial requiring no added harmful chemicals.
- Bamboo apparel is thermal regulating, anti-fungal, anti-static and will keep you cooler, drier, warmer and odor free.
- Bamboo fiber is 100% biodegradable.
- Bamboo is grown without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
- Bamboo requires no irrigation
- Bamboo rarely needs replanting
- Bamboo grows rapidly and can be harvested in 3-5 years
- Bamboo produces 35% more oxygen that an equivalent stand of trees
- Bamboo is a critical element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
- Bamboo is an excellent soil erosion inhibitor
Bamboo’s Natural UV Protection
Bamboosa states: “Bamboo fiber also has natural UV protection. In April of 2005, we sent out our Purely Natural 100% bamboo jersey to the Suncare Research Laboratories in Winston Salem, N.C. for UV Protection testing.
The UPF label rate is 15. The fabric scored 18.3 on the UPF scale with 94.15% UVA block and 93.17% UVB block. The UPF system was created specially for sun protective fabrics.
UPF measurements of fabrics are generally tested by spectrophotometer equipment and are not tested using human subjects. The UPF rate indicates how much of the sun’s UV radiation is absorbed by the fabric.”
Bamboo Baby Gift Set comes in 4 pieces, and retails at $40.00 on Bamboosa.com.
Enjoy the eco-bliss as you and your baby melt into a cuddly puddle with your Bamboosa Bamboo Baby Clothing.
Check our coupon code page for a savings with Bamboosa!
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:40 am
I recently attended the FTC workshop on green claims for textiles and building materials. The invited experts were unanimous in their opinion that while bamboo (the plant) and natural bamboo fiber is a sustainable material with many of the characteristics you mention, nearly all bamboo textiles and yarns available on the market are nothing more than rayon (viscose, in the UK). For more, see the detailed coverage in my blog:
http://nicewhitelady.blogspot.com/search/label/bamboo
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 am
Jo, as you and I both had several rounds of correspondence with each other concerning this blog post. Sandra from Safbaby.com asked me to share our e-mails with the blog audience.
“Jo,
Thank you for your e-mail. I have read your latest post on your blog regarding bamboo and the FTC conference and I am preparing my comments. I think you will be surprised at how much misinformation was disseminated at the conference.
While the bamboo fiber that we use and 99.9% of all the fiber out there is produced via the viscose methodology, the process is neither hazardous, contaminating, or nearly what some people are trying to make it out to be. Further, the assertion that bamboo converted through the viscose process does not possess the attributes of its more natural cousin, mechanically processed bamboo, is patently and demonstrably false. We have making, selling, wearing and testing this product for over four years and we can document the properties regarding it being antimicrobial, thermal regulating, absorbent, fast drying, and odor resistant.
Compared with other fiber options, bamboo fiber for textiles is an excellent choice, even considering the not so green processing.
Thanks,
Morris Saintsing”
Here is Jo’s response.
“Morris,
Thanks for your prompt reply! I look forward to finding out more about your rayon studies. I have read the material about rayon and the viscose process on your site and am eager to set the record straight, if it turns out the NCSU, Customs, Good Housekeeping and CU labs are wrong.
You may want to take a close look at the FTC transcripts, especially from the Hauser and Gerde presentations. (They are transcripts of oral material so some of the words and phrases got garbled, but otherwise clear.) The labeling section of the Textile and Wool Acts are pretty clear that regenerated cellulose fibers using the viscose process — whatever the original material — is rayon (viscose in the UK). The FTC reps at the workshop admitted that they have not been enforcing it, but that may change with the new Green Guides. Why not be ahead of the curve? I have already seen other manufacturers using the “rayon from bamboo” wording.
Jo P.”
Here is my last response to Jo.
“Jo,
This issue is not really about how the product is labeled. I will admit that it should be labeled viscose from bamboo or rayon from bamboo and we are going to change that immediately. We were not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. We were just ignorant of the law, which is no excuse. To further confuse things, 99% of the product in the market does NOT say viscose or rayon. It doesn’t really matter to Bamboosa whether the label reads ‘bamboo fiber’ or ‘viscose from bamboo’. It doesn’t change the product in any way, shape, or form. It will still be functional, comfortable, and made in the US.
The issue is about whether or not products made from bamboo source materials into viscose meet certain criteria and whether the claims being made can be supported and documented. Is the consumer getting ‘truth in advertising’, would be the question.
You seem like a fairly reasonable person. Does it not strike you as somewhat odd that no one at that conference offered up any ‘good science’ as they put it? Think about this for just a minute. Numerous tests have been conducted in China, Japan, India and the US to evaluate the antimicrobial properties, or lack thereof, of viscose from bamboo. The tests that we conducted and the tests that we have seen show the fiber has antimicrobial properties. So, that’s what you have on the one hand.
On the other hand you have a bunch of people sitting around and saying, ‘Well, I haven’t seen any evidence that viscose from bamboo is antimicrobial, so I’m not sure. What’s really needed is good science.’ Do you wonder at all where the documents are that show viscose from bamboo is NOT antimicrobial? If it is as obvious as these experts seem to think, where is the evidence? You would think that some of the bamboo naysayers coming out of the cotton, organic cotton, or hemp business would just go ahead and spend a couple of hundred dollars and prove their point instead of relaying on conjecture and supposition. You would think that someone, somewhere could produce some test results that dispute what we assert.
And, I would make the same argument with anyone who says that once it is viscose the source material is irrelevant and undeterminable. We have tests on bamboo viscose that quantitatively and qualitatively prove, using ‘good science’ that the source material is distinguishable as bamboo and is unique among source materials. Again, the counter argument put forth is D.C. was hearsay. I’m sorry but where is their evidence supporting their position?
So, what you wind up with is a bunch of people jumping on the anti-bamboo bandwagon armed with speculation. We have done our due diligence in determining if the bamboo fiber that we use has the properties that we claim it does and until someone produces some evidence to the contrary, it is nothing but a witch hunt.
I will admit that a lot of people, beginning with the fiber producers in China, have over-hyped this product. Using terminology such as ‘totally green’, ‘100% environmentally friendly’, ‘all natural’, etc., does nothing to support the product in the long run. What Bambrotex, Tenbro, Tanboocel, and Hebei Jigao should have said was that the fiber process was not all that great but they would work to improve it. They should have just been honest. And, because they weren’t you then had some downstream suppliers of fabric and apparel pick up on the marketing of the fiber producers and further spread inaccurate information. That was then counteracted by those on the other side who said that the chemicals were harsh, then hazardous, then toxic, then deadly. Pretty soon, everybody in the fiber plant is dead or dying. So it goes. It’s like the game of Chinese Whispers where you whisper something to the person next to you and they to the next. When it gets back to you it will bear little resemblance to its beginning nature. So it goes.
Jo, Mindy and I started this company with three goals. The first was to manufacture our products in the US. The little town we are in was decimated by NAFTA. 10,000 jobs were lost in the textile and apparel industry.
The second was to make a product as sustainably as possible using materials that we felt had the lowest environmental impact, from the raw material to the shipping carton.
The third was to act as a good corporate citizen and make a contribution to the grater good where we could and to provide our customers, our employees, and our vendors a chance to make a difference.
We know that bamboo is not a perfect material and we will work to facilitate improvements. In the meantime we will continue to produce a high quality, American made product, give exemplary customer service, provide our employees with an opportunity for a better life, and be as honest as we can about what we do and who we are.
For anyone who wants more information about bamboo growing, harvesting, processing, or attributes please take at look the page on Bamboo Fiber Processing on our site.
Thanks,
Mo