Benefits and Features of Bamboo Fiber Garments
Bamboo fiber is a revolutionary new fabric that has unparalleled advantages, including strength, versatility and luxurious softness. In a relatively short time, clothing made from bamboo fiber has made it to the top ranks of fabric choices.
It’s only been in the past few years that Bamboo has been discovered to have huge potential in textiles. Bamboo is actually a tropical grass that grows rapidly and without the need of much water or any pesticides and is naturally regenerative. The pulp of the bamboo is made into fiber, which can then be knit or woven in a variety of way.
Our bamboo is certified organic by the OCIA, whether from wild grown or farm grown sources. Here is the proof:
Bamboo fabric is knitted from fiber spun from bamboo pulp. The fabric is bleached without the use of chlorine. 
Bamboo fabric takes low-impact dyes beautifully and does not need to be chlorine bleached or to have color fixative chemicals applied. Also, the Bamboo fabric is used for a range of clothing, such as shirts, dresses, socks and slacks is ideal for active wear. Bamboo is often blended with 30% organic cotton or a small amount of spandex to add structure to garments.
Bamboo is extremely soft and comfortable! — even more so than the softest cotton. It is also silkier and drapes beautifully. The bamboo/organic cotton blends are also very soft, but are heavier in weight and provide more structure.
Bamboo wicks moisture! It naturally ventilates and does not cling in hot weather or during exercise. Bamboo is four times more absorbent than cotton. Bamboo is perfect for performance and exercise wear!
Bamboo Charcoal helps naturally regulate body heat, wick moisture, resist UV rays and inhibit odor. Fast-growing bamboo is harvested, dried and heated at high temperatures until it becomes bamboo charcoal. After being broken down into extremely fine particles, the bamboo charcoal is then infused throughout the fabric and knit into our exceptionally fine high performance sport shirts.
While some don’t think of polyester as natural, polyester from bamboo charcoal is natural and has no petroleum products. It is also fire resistant, doesn’t shrink, wicks moisture, doesn’t stick to your skin, and is wrinkle and stain resistant. The combination of Bamboo Charcoal and polyester is the natural solution for comfort and performance.
Our Bamboo Icon
The icon to the left indicates that the item contains a majority of bamboo. It assures you that the listed product will demonstrate all the advantages you have come to expect from fine bamboo fabrics.
Organic Cotton
Cotton Boll Organic cotton is simply cotton that is grown without pesticides or chemicals, and is not genetically modified. In order to be certified organic, the cultivator must follow strict standards, including crop rotation and only the use of natural and approved products that inhibit insects. Our cotton has been certified organic by the OCIA. While this means that the production of organic cotton is more expensive than conventional cotton, the organic methods promote long-term better health, a better environment and replenished soil fertility. This is extremely important because the way cotton is grown world-wide is particularly pesticide intensive. Cotton production uses more chemicals per unit area than any other crop and accounts in total for 16% of the world’s pesticides [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide poisoning in the developing countries, many of these from cotton farming [2].
More Bamboo Facts
While bamboo is so hardy that it can grow almost anywhere in the world, the bamboo in Amazing Tee’s clothing is grown and processed into pulp and fiber in China. Currently, there is only one facility in the world that processes bamboo and it is located in China.
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. While caustic soda is a strong chemical it poses no health hazard if used and disposed of properly. Caustic soda is approved for use on textiles under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
In addition, Amazing Tee’s products have Oeko Tex 100 Standard certification. The certification states that there are no chemicals present in the product, at that point in the processing, that would be harmful to human health, including that of babies. It does not certify that no chemicals were used in the processing nor does it make any evaluation of what processes were used or any evaluation of the facilities that participated. There are other Oeko Tex certifications, such as 1000 and 100+ that certify processes or facilities but Oeko Tex 100 does not.
As if you weren’t already convinced, consider these facts about the greenness of bamboo:
- Bamboo is grown without 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
References
[1] “Picking Cotton Carefully” Institute of Science in Society, March 2007 and www.wikipedia.org
[2] ibid.
