If you are familiar with bamboo clothing, then you must know that it is sumptuously soft and incredibly comfortable to wear. And you might have noticed that bamboo clothing costs a little more than clothing made from conventional cotton or polyester. But bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on the planet. So if bamboo is such a remarkably sustainable resource, then why is bamboo clothing more expensive?
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It seems surprising that clothing made from bamboo is more expensive than clothing made from slower-growing cotton and less sustainable polyester. But what we are looking at here are mass production and economies of scale. In other words, an increase in the level of production leads to a significant lowering of costs. Cultivation, processing and manufacturing of cotton takes place on an enormous scale compared to the 'cottage industry' levels of production we have with bamboo. These scales and quantities of production have a far greater influence on the cost of a finished product than the simple rate at which the raw material grows.
NOTE: This article first appeared in July , most recently updated in March .
We love our bamboo shirts, our bamboo sheets and our bamboo towels. But it's true that bamboo clothing and textiles are more expensive than conventional fabrics. Exactly how much more expensive is difficult to say, because it's hard to compare apples to apples. But we can try to look at a few examples.The first all-bamboo boutique in California, Bambu Batu was known for great service and fair prices.
A basic Onno® or Spun Bamboo® brand bamboo t-shirt typically sells for about $25. At Bambu Batu, we always sold our printed bamboo t-shirts for $30. These shirts are 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton. Other bamboo manufacturers charge more. A silky soft bamboo shirt from Boody Wear® sells for about $40. A high-end men's short sleeve shirt from Yala®, with 95% bamboo and 5% spandex, costs $60.
Compare that to a cotton t-shirt, and you could find a quirky design on a shirt rack from Target for about $5. A t-shirt from H & M is going to be more like $10 or $15. Go to a surf shop and you'll probably spend more like $20 for a printed t-shirt with a cool print or a trendy logo.
So bamboo t-shirts generally cost a bit more. But for the comfort and softness, most people still think it's a good value. If you're used to buying shirts from Ross, Target or Goodwill, then bamboo shirts look pretty expensive.
But if you go shopping for a cotton t-shirt at Mr. Porter, you'll see price tags from $50 to $100 or more. So there's a lot more than just the content of the fabric going on here. And you could make similar comparisons with women's bamboo dresses and skirts. Shop around a bit and the price range from store to store can vary dramatically, regardless of the material.
Again, it's not easy to make an apples-to-apples comparison, because there's a great range of prices for bamboo towels or cotton towels. If you go looking for cotton towels sets at Target or Costco, you'll probably pay about $15-25 for a set that includes one bath towel, one hand towel and one wash cloth.
A three-piece set of bamboo towels could vary between $30 to $80. Our favorite towels from Daisy House, a blend of bamboo and Turkish cotton, sell for about $60 a set. But I've never touched a cotton towel at any price that could compare to these.
Bamboo sheets can run you anywhere from $80 to $500 for a queen set. Our bamboo sheets sets sell for about $160 and customer satisfaction is excellent. I've heard less favorable reviews of the $80 sheet sets from elsewhere, and the $500 sheet sets are said to be absolutely heavenly, but I haven't tried them myself.
Bamboo Dialogues (no.9): Tif Zohara from Yala explains bamboo clothing
The Industrial Revolution transformed society and elevated our species' standard of living like nothing before. A big part of what was happening was the specialization and concentration of labor and industry to make production of ordinary goods astronomically more efficient. Rather than having a spinning wheel and a loom under each roof, where every family could spin their own thread and weave their own fabric, one hand-crafted garment at a time, factories came into being, producing standardized garments by the hundreds and thousands.
And so the age of capitalism and industrialization began. And if you've ever played the game Monopoly, you have a pretty good idea of what came next. Basically, the factories grew larger and the competition grew fierce. The titans of industry quickly realized that the best way to vanquish the competition was to out-size them.
Basically, larger factories and businesses have greater economies of scale. This means that manufacturing in larger numbers enables them to produce the same goods at a slightly lower cost. Essentially, this is the same mechanism that Wal-Mart uses when it moves into a town and drives the mom-and-pop shops out of business. Vast scales of production allow big manufacturers to undercut smaller dealers until they can no longer survive.
In time, the end consumer sees stores grow bigger and prices going down. So it's hard to complain. But it also results in an uneven playing field where it's exceedingly difficult for small manufacturers and speciality goods to enter the marketplace without being prohibitively expensive. This is essentially the same dynamic happening with mass-produced textiles and niche industry eco fabrics.
The comfort of bamboo and its remarkable sustainability are what make the clothing a good value for most of our customers. But a lot of people think that bamboo should be less expensive since it's so sustainable. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
Consider fossil fuel energy. Fossil fuels have to be drilled and extracted from the earth's crust, then shipped around the globe in giant tankers, then highly refined to make fuel for cars or consumer plastics. And yet, in many places, a liter of bottled water is more expensive than a liter of gasoline.
Solar energy, on the other hand, is literally in the air we breathe. But it has taken decades of innovation and government subsidies to make solar power and electric cars even remotely competitive. It's not because of the availability of the raw materials, i.e., crude oil and sunlight, but because of the scale at which these resources can be collected and processed.
According to The World Counts, the cotton industry produces 27 million tons of cotton each year, which they explain is enough to provide 27 t-shirts to each person on the planet. Cotton covers about 2.5% of the world's arable land, and the Business Research Company says that the global cotton market amounts to approximately $64 billion a year.
It's hard to find statistics on how much of the earth is covered with bamboo, but it has a global industry of about $70 billion a year, according to Grand View Research, an online database and business consulting firm. That's a lot of bamboo, but keep in mind, the majority of that bamboo is not being made into fabric. Of the bamboo that is not simply being sold as a raw material (plain bamboo poles), the great majority goes into flooring, furniture and other building materials.
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Reliable and accurate figures about the size of the bamboo textile industry are difficult to obtain, but we can be certain that is is a small fraction of the size of the cotton fabric industry. Furthermore, the wheels of the cotton industry have been spinning for centuries, and an enormous international infrastructure is in place to ensure that this abundant fiber can get processed cheaply and efficiently. As such, newcomers like hemp and bamboo will have a very hard time competing.
Bamboo Dialogues (no.4): Fina Vanbuel - Bamboo Fabric and Textiles
In order to turn bamboo the grass into bamboo the viscose fabric that makes such wonderfully soft clothing, there is a chemical hydrolysis procedure that extrudes the cellulose from the plant tissue. This stage of production raises some environmental concerns for many, and rightly so. Although I think the quantity of chemicals and pesticides used for conventional cotton farming seems to overshadow the use of lye in processing bamboo.
This step of converting bamboo into fabric would also add to the overall production costs. However, the expenses incurred in this stage have less to do with the final cost than the issues of mass production and economies of scale described above.
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PHOTO CREDIT: High-end bamboo dresses from Yala Designs
Bamboo pajamas and bamboo clothes for babies have become all the rage with people looking for comfortable and sustainable baby and children's pajamas. Is bamboo clothing better than cotton?
Bamboo fabric is made from processed bamboo pulp. It has been gaining popularity because of the abundance and sustainability of naturally growing bamboo. Cotton has been the material of choice for a very long time, especially in warmer climates, and everyone is familiar with the benefits of cotton fabric. Bamboo, on the other hand, is a relatively new fiber and not as many people are familiar with the experience of wearing bamboo clothing.
There are many questions about bamboo fabric, like if it is a safe and sustainable fabric, and how it differs from cotton. Read on to discover more!
Cotton vs. Bamboo: Cotton an extremely popular textile around the world, coming in second only to polyester.Because the cotton plant is a natural and renewable resource, cotton ranks high on the list of eco-friendly and safe fabric options. Most cotton is not farmed in an eco-friendly way, however, requiring chemical fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides. Additionally, chlorine, surfectants and heavy metals are often used in the finishing stages of cotton textile production.
GOTS Certified Organic Cotton: The Global Organic Textile Standard is an internationally recognized leader in in organic fiber standards. Certified products go through strict regulation for social and environmental responsibility. GOTS monitors the entire production cycle to ensure transparency, so you can feel confident GOTS certified cotton is safe for you and your children.
Cotton clothing is beloved for the following properties:
Hypoallegenic: Cotton clothing is gentle and comfortable on skin and does not trigger sensitivity.
Environmentally Friendly: Organic cotton is a sustainable and natural fiber that's biodegradable.
Durable low maintenence: Cotton fibers can be washed and dried easily and the fabric becomes softer with every wash. The washability is especially important for children's pajamas and children's clothing.
Bamboo Fabric: Bamboo fabric is made by processing the bamboo plant into a textile. Because bamboo is a naturally abundant resource and a rapidly growing plant that requires few to no chemicals, it's an excellent choice for an eco-friendly textile.
How is it made? Bamboo fabric can be made 2 ways: chemically or mechanically.
The first stage of the process is to break the bamboo down into pulp. This can be done manually, which is more labor intensive and expensive, or chemically. The fibers are then combed out and spun in a process similar to hemp and linen.
Which process is safer for the environment? Manually processed bamboo is safer for the environment. When produced this way, bamboo is one of the most eco-friendly materials.
Are bamboo clothes good for babies? Bamboo cotton baby clothes are some of the most comfortable and desirable baby clothes and baby pajamas. The main advantages of bamboo are:
Soft and strong: bamboo fabric is silky soft to the touch with a smooth texture. This makes it ideal for baby's sensitive skin. When properly cared for, bamboo is also more durable and holds it's shape longer than cotton.
Antibacterial: This is a natural property of the bamboo plant due to a naturally occuring bio-agent called Bamboo Kun in the plant. THis allows bamboo plants to flourish without the use of pesticides, and it remains in the bamboo textile to provide the same benefit.
Hypoallergenic: Bamboo is an excellent choice for babies and children with senstive skin or allergies to other natural fibers.
Thermo-regulating: Bamboo fabric is breathable and allows your baby to stay warm in the cold or keep cool on a hot day.
Extra Absorbent: Bamboo fabric is 40% more absorbent than cotton fibers.It can absorb 3 times it's weight in water, which helps wick moisture away from baby's skin and keep them comfortable.
What are the disadvantages of bamboo: The bamboo plant can be considered invasive, which means when it's grown outside it's natural habitat it can overtake native species.
Bamboo fabric can shrink more than cotton fibers when exposed to heat. It can also wrinkly more than comparable cotton fabric.
What to choose for your children's pajamas?
Both bamboo baby pajamas and organic cotton baby pajamas offer compelling benefits! Both offer breathable, comfortable options for babies and kids. Organic cotton offers durability, softness and absorbancy. and Bamboo has the extra benefit of silky softness and thermo-regulation. When buying bamboo, look for high quality, mechanically produced materials. When buying cotton, seek out GOTS certified fabrics.
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