It isn't just for the back yard anymore: Its versatility in items from fabrics to furnishings almost bamboozles.
By JUDY STARK, Times Staff Writer
Published July 1, 2006
[Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co.]
Anji Mountain Bamboo Rug Co. uses bamboo from the Anji Mountains of China.
[Times photo: James Borchuck]
When most folks think about bamboo, these sturdy, fast-growing canes are what’s on their mind. Fabrics made from one kind of bamboo feel downright sensuous.
[Wamsutta]
Wamsutta Zen Comforts bamboo sheet sets combine bamboo and cotton to create luxury and softness. The sheets are available in white and ivory at Linens N’ Things.
Bamboo that’s soft enough to wash a face? St. Petersburg’s Shirts of Bamboo sells three bamboo washcloths for $10.
Like any kind of fiber derived from a plant source, bamboo can be treated, spun into yarn — and knitted into sweaters.
[Times photos]
What's as soft as silk, and as hard as oak?
It's bamboo, the fabric and fiber of the moment, turning up in sheets, towels and T-shirts, in flooring and crown molding. It's a long way from tiki huts and fishing poles.
Why bamboo, and why now? Call it the intersection of several powerful factors:
* Sustainability. Bamboo grows as much as 18 inches in a day, maturing to harvestable size in three to five years, compared with 50 to 100 years for most hardwood species. It requires little fertilizer or pesticide. Those are big pluses for people concerned about the environment.* Global market growth. The techniques for spinning fiber and making fabric were developed in China, which produces most bamboo and is eager to manufacture and sell products to the world.
* The search for tranquility. At a time when many Americans are desperate to de-stress, when green tea and Zen meditation and yoga are regarded as keys to inner peace, bamboo's all-natural qualities and Asian origins are a logical fit.
"It falls into that umbrella of health and well-being," said Leslie Gillock, vice president of brand management for Springs Industries, the parent of bedding manufacturer Wamsutta, which this month is rolling out a line of bamboo sheets, pillows and blankets. The packaging of its "Zen Comforts" line includes a little piece of bamboo on the zipper pull.
"It's an eco-friendly fiber, it's extremely replenishable, it doesn't require pesticides," Gillock said. Its soft, silky feel, its antimicrobial quality, its ability to take colors well, and its breathability are designed to appeal to customers who want natural luxury. "It's the perfect fiber to bring into the sheet category."
Fast change from fiber to fad
A few years ago, nobody seemed to care much about bamboo.
Rich Delano was selling wood fiber four or five years ago when he heard about bamboo. His clients passed it by, but Delano went to the factories in China that were producing yarn and fiber and ordered bamboo T-shirts. "The surfers in Newport Beach, in Orange County, went crazy for them," he recalled from his office in La Brea, Calif., now the home of Bamboo Textiles, which imports bamboo yarn, fabric and finished goods from China. He spent a year improving the quality of the fabric, working out of his garage, then started selling in the summer of 2004, "and the customers loved the shirts and couldn't get enough."
Now he sells to Target, and predicts that "by 2007, you could probably walk into a Penney or a Nordstrom or a Macy's to buy apparel and it will probably be our fabric." He operates a factory in China and an office in California.
After an initial investment of about $250,000, "we'll do $1-million this year," he said. It's still a niche: Bamboo makes up less than 1 percent of the $40-billion U.S. linens and home-textiles industry, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Delano's clients include Shirts of Bamboo, 2414 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg. Owner Daniel Jacobs bought a bamboo shirt about 10 months ago, wore it to a party "and people couldn't keep their hands off me all night. They kept asking, 'Where can I get one?' I figured, if I love these shirts, and my wife does and my father does, I may be on to something." He started selling bamboo shirts, other clothing and towels at the Saturday morning market in St. Petersburg and held the grand opening of his store last weekend. "I love the look on people's faces when they touch the bamboo fabric and their eyes light up."
The pandas needn't worry
Morris Saintsing imports bamboo yarn from plantations in China and manufactures fabric and a line of apparel for men, women and babies at his Bamboosa factory in Charleston, S.C. www.bamboosa.com that employs 40 people. "I don't think natural fibers are going to be a niche product," he said. "It will be a lot more mainstream and bamboo will be a big player in the natural fiber and fabric market."
It's well on the way. Catalog giant Lands' End sells bamboo towels for $20, a summer-flannel twin sheet set for $99. The Garnet Hill catalog shows solid-color bamboo sheets starting at $30. Bed Bath & Beyond sells its own line of bamboo products, including sheets and pillowcases; twin sheet sets (flat, fitted and two pillowcases) are $39.99.
Bamboo is a grass, not a tree. The kind of bamboo used for fabrics and wood is not the same kind eaten by cute panda bears. Bamboo is not the only woodlike fiber used in clothing: Rayon, for example, is made from cellulose - wood fiber; Tencel is made from wood-pulp cellulose, and Modal is made from beechwood fibers. Linen, hemp and burlap are all plant-based fabrics, but they're all coarser than bamboo.
Some manufacturers use 100 percent bamboo. Others blend it with cotton, organic or not, to achieve a desirable weight and durability and minimize shrinkage.
Stronger than a sturdy oak
The July issue of House Beautiful magazine features a home in Chicago whose kitchen island is topped with end-grain bamboo, which the owners selected because they say it's harder than maple.
It's certainly hard enough to walk on. "It has a tensile strength eight times that of oak or maple," said Bob Buckalew, head of sales at Weiss Hardwoods in Largo, one of many Tampa Bay area retailers that sell bamboo flooring. The planks are treated with eight coats of urethane and aluminum-oxide finish with a wear warranty of 25 years. "You're not going to walk the finish off in 25 years," he said. At Weiss, bamboo flooring starts at $4.25 a square foot uninstalled.
Flooring is manufactured by slicing the cylindrical bamboo shoots into thin strips, boiling them in water with a preservative, flattening them, then laminating them into boards. "It's the most highly technical floor we have," Buckalew said, "and the only product I have that we can throw in a pool and the next day it will be the same size. It doesn't swell; it doesn't gather water."
The flooring comes finished in a natural blond and a darker tone, ranging from honey to caramel, that is achieved by pressure-steaming to release natural sugars (a process that also softens the fibers). The natural markings in the wood are known as knuckles. The grain may run horizontally or vertically. Most buyers prefer the horizontal look, which is less busy-looking than the vertical.
There are other uses for bamboo: paneling, cabinetry, veneers, stairs.
"Bamboo is the most sustainable plant on Earth," Saintsing said. "You cut it down, it grows right back within three years. You don't fertilize or irrigate it. It makes a cool, light, thermal-regulated, nice fabric. As the product is on the market and gets more exposure, it's going to be more accepted as a good natural fiber."
