High-end, High-performance and Low Impact
PURE BAMBOO is Pure-luxury! Finally, a material that fulfills all our needs for comfort, beauty and sustainability. Bamboo itself is one of the fastest growing, most readily renewable natural resources on the planet. It's 100% naturally grown without pesticides or fertilizers so PURE BAMBOO clothing is better for your skin than most cottons and it's deliciously comfortable. The unique properties of the fabric make it soft and durable—smooth and free-moving much like a fine silk and cashmere combined. This is why the fabric, even at average thread counts, is considered in the luxury category. But it's also why—for people who care about taking care of their bodies, and the environment, bamboo is the perfect choice.
Naturally Renewable and Durable
As one of the world's most versatile and environmentally-friendly materials, bamboo has been used as the perfect natural resource for thousands of years. And because bamboo requires no fertilizers, pesticides or insecticides to grow, the fabric has NO harmful chemical residues to irritate your skin—unlike most cotton clothing, which leaves behind damaging chemicals in the fabric. (Cotton requires the use of fertilizers and insecticides, 7 out of 15 are rated among the most toxic chemicals on earth!) The non-sustainable cotton industry not only exacts an enormous toll on the earth's air, water and soil, it poorly impacts the health of people working in those fields as well as those living in cotton growing areas.
Bamboo is one of the most prolific plants (it's actually considered a grass) on the planet. Some varieties can grow up to 4 feet a day! Once cut a bamboo plant is fully mature in 3 to 4 years and ready to be harvested. Compared to a similar strand of trees bamboo absorbs 45% more carbon dioxide from the air. Bamboo can even improve soil quality in places where erosion and degradation of the natural minerals has occurred. It needs very little water to grow, which means it can thrive in a variety of climates without depleting water supplies.
In fact, PURE Bamboo is committed to creating GREEN businesses, if you are a spa or hotel supplying your clients with these ultra-soft, long-lasting bathrobes, towels or sheets, you can get a little R & R—ask about our Rebate and Recycle program.
"There is never waste in nature."
And...Panda Safe!
There are over 1000 different species of bamboo. All PURE Bamboo products come from a type of bamboo called Moso or if you're botanically inclined Phyllostachys pubescens, a variety of bamboo that Pandas do not eat. So yeah, it's Panda safe too!
We receive many inquires about how bamboo is made. Read below to find out how.
Production of Bamboo: The Naked Truth
Yes, it’s true bamboo fabric is made through a chemical process. Actually there are two methods for producing bamboo fiber. The first is usually described as mechanical and the second as chemical. Very little of the mechanical fiber is in circulation and is not widely used. Our bamboo fabric uses a chemical process to turn its cellulosic fibers into fabric. And yes, it’s also true that the process is similar to rayon production and is, in fact, considered a category of rayon. The production of rayon has been in existence since the mid 1800’s and since then has undergone many iterations. More recently, new processes have been developed which enable plant-based fibers (such as bamboo) to be utilized in the production of fabric. The main chemical used in the processing is sodium hydroxide also known as caustic soda. Caustic soda is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world. It is used in food production, soap making, manufacturing of bio diesel, production of paper, and is used on nearly all cotton fabrics, including organic cotton, during wet processing. Caustic soda is approved for use on textiles under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
Some companies, such as ours, produce bamboo fiber via what’s called an advanced “closed loop” solvent spinning process, which has minimal impact on the environment and an economical use of energy and water. The solvent is continually recycled during the production process. So, production plant emissions into the air from smokestacks and from waste water are significantly lower in comparison to many other man-made fiber operations. The solvent to digest the bamboo pulp can be toxic, but utilizing the closed loop process, this solvent is carefully reused and not thrown into local water systems. It’s also important to note that products made from bamboo can be recycled, incinerated or digested in sewage.
So where does that leave us? Unfortunately, the truth is that 99% of all products we consume…even the so called eco friendly ones…have some negative environmental impact. Given this, it often comes down to choosing between the lesser of two evils when purchasing products.
We all know how great bamboo is to grow, but do we all know how bad cotton is to grow? Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides; seven out of ten of these are among the most toxic chemicals on earth. It takes 1/3 of a pound of chemical fertilizers to produce just one pound of cotton (essentially one t-shirt). This exerts an enormous toll on the earth’s air, water and soil and impacts the health of people working in this industry and in cotton growing regions.
In comparison, bamboo requires NO fertilizer, pesticides or chemicals to grow. It is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. In addition, it has no harmful residues left on it compared with the non-sustainable, chemically damaging cultivation that cotton requires. When measuring carbon dioxide, bamboo consumes 45% more carbon then a similar stand of trees. It is for these reasons many consider bamboo to be an environmentally viable alternative to cotton. So does bamboo fabric have some drawbacks? Of course! But just consider what product does not? The answer to that may just be donning your birthday suit and going “au natural” – and that’s the naked truth.