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About Bamboo
Bamboo is a wonder plant by all accounts. Its many uses include erosion control, watershed protection, soil remediation, and environmental greening. It is also the fastest growing timber plant on earth, with many applications as a wood substitute. Traditionally thought of as the poor man's timber, bamboo has in recent years emerged as a much sought after timber for industrial applications and environmental enhancement. It is a multipurpose plant with numerous uses. In particular bamboo is useful for combating erosion and for rapidly greening barren land areas.
Key Features of Bamboo
- Bamboos grow more rapidly than trees and start to yield within four to five years of planting.
- Bamboos can be selectively harvested annually and non-destructively.
- The establishment of a bamboo plantation requires a minimal capital investment and builds upon the inherent plant-cultivation skills of local farmers and foresters.
- Bamboos are excellent for restoring degraded lands and protecting against soil erosion.
- Bamboos may easily be intercropped with vegetables.
- The whole bamboo plant is beneficial for rural livelihood. The poles (technically referredto as 'culms') are useful as a construction material; the young shoots are edible; the leaves make good animal fodder; and branches are useful for making handicrafts.
Fibers and yarns made from bamboo
IntroductionBamboo fiber and starchy pulp are made from bamboo that grows widely throughout Asian countries. Starchy pulp is a refined product of bamboo stems and leaves through a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching. Chemical fiber factories then process it into bamboo fiber.
Many Asian countries overall development policy is to make limited use of natural resources, concentrating on the renewable ones. This policy recognizes the importance of rural activities, such as agriculture, forestry and handicrafts production. Bamboo is involved in all of these. The demand for bamboo is bound to increase over time, particularly for use as fodder and other multipurpose uses. There is ample scope for greater bamboo production, especially in the higher areas where communities are widely dispersed and agriculture is less profitable.
The manufacture of handicrafts using locally available materials, such as bamboo, and employing simple techniques and equipment is now emphasized in many countries. It is fortunate in having highly skilled craftsmen, a strong cultural heritage, and a good supply of renewable resources. There is a need, however, for improving the design of handicrafts and hence their market appeal. This could raise the income of the rural people while allowing them to maintain their culture and way of life.
Increasing the use of bamboo resources in the making of Asian handicrafts has the advantage of building upon existing traditions without threatening the cultural heritage or way of life.
Properties
Repeated technological analysis has proved that this kind of fiber has a thinness degree and whiteness degree close to normal finely bleached viscose and has a strong durability, stability and tenacity.
It stands abrasion and possesses a perfect quality to spin. The yarn and cloth made by this kind of fiber are labeled first-class quality in all aspects of quality standards.
Bamboo fiber fabric is made of 100% bamboo pulp fiber. It is characterized by its good hygroscopility, excellent permeability, soft feel, easiness to straighten and dye and splendid color effect of pigmentation. It is also a new environment-friendly raw material that enjoys a splendid prospect for application as its predecessor wood pulp fiber. Meanwhile cloth made by the mixed texture of bamboo fiber and cotton or other raw materials also boasts the same superior property.
Towel and bathrobe made of bamboo fiber have a soft and comfortable feel and a special luster. When dyed, it is sparkling and beautiful. It is also highly absorptive to water. Bacteria are hard to breed on the foot mat and mat.
ApplicationsThe fashion world is constantly seeking and latching onto new materials. The folk fashion craze spurred demand for natural, handmade-looking textiles that exude warmth, while synthetic fabrics with a sleek look have also recently been popular. One of the hot item is fabrics made from traditional Japanese materials, such as bamboo and washi (handmade Japanese paper).
A spotlight grabber at the Tokyo Spring and Summer collection was a series of coats and pants made of fabric containing bamboo fibers. Bamboo fiber clothes have actually been showing up in department stores and women's boutiques. An exclusive manufacturing process makes it possible to create a highly breathable, absorbent fabric entirely from bamboo fiber. Clothes made of this fabric sell for around the same price as ordinary clothes and have a distinctive softness and cool, light texture. The fabric is highly versatile; other garments, such as blouses and tank tops, are also available.
- bathrobes and towels
- foot mats
- mats
- bed clothes
- underwear
- close-fitting T-shirt
- stockings
Current and Potential Uses
A few of its major uses, identified with the genera most commonly used for each product, are listed below:
Bambusa species
- split and woven mats
- used whole for construction and scaffolding
Dendrocalamus species
- roofs and walls of houses
- domestic and agricultural implements, such as water containers,
- baskets, trays, mats, etc.
- leaves provide valuable fodder for livestock
- shoots are edible and can be preserved
Drepanostachyum species
- finely woven domestic and agricultural equipment, such as baskets, trays, mats, sieves, etc.
- livestock shelters and temporary dwellings
- parts of traditional houses
- edible shoots
Thamnocalamus species
- roofing, mats and fencing
Arundinaria species
- high-quality woven handicraft products, such as food and drink containers, hats, arrows, quivers, etc.
- winter and dry season livestock fodder
- durable mats for building construction fencing material
- edible shoots
- shelter and food for endemic fauna in reserve areas
Grades
- flat yarn
- fibers
- tow/tops
- spun yarns
Processability
The merits of bamboo for use in textile fibers are their breathe ability (ideal for humid summers), the ease of processing them into fabric, their high functionality, and their beauty. The fashion world's fascination with all things Oriental and Japanese continues unabated, and bamboo is attracting the interest of a growing number of designers. More and more of this material is expected to find its way onto store shelves as time goes by.
Bamboo fibers and yarns can be treated in the same way as you would treat viscose rayon fibers and yarns.
Background informationA very brief Bamboo Glossary
- Auricle: an ear-like appendage that occurs at the base of some leaves.
- Cilium (pl. Cilia): one of the marginal hairs bordering the auricle.
- Caepitose: growing in tufts, or close clumps, as in bamboos with sympodial rhizomes.
- Clone: all the plants reproduced, vegetatively, from a single parent. In theory, all the plants from the same clone have the same genotype (genetic inheritance).
- Culm: the main stem of the Graminae (grasses). The stem of a bamboo is also referred as a cane.
- Culm Sheath: the plant casing (similar to a leaf) that protects the young bamboo shoot during growth, attached at each node of culm. Useful for distinguish species within a genus.
- Cultivar: seedling sports from a species which have multiplied from a single clonal source. A sport is a plant abnormally departing, especially in form or color, from the parent stock; a spontaneous mutation.
- Gregarious flowering: usually occurs when all plants in a single clone (which has been repeatedly divided and distributed) flower at about the same time.
- Gutation: water expelled over night as droplets from the tips of bamboo leaves.
- Internode: segment of culm, branch, or rhizome between nodes.
- Leptomorphic: temperate, running bamboo rhizome. It's usually thinner then the culms they support and the internodes are long and hollow.
- Monopodial: describes the growth habit of the rhizomes of running temperate bamboos. The main rhizome continues to grow underground, with some buds producing side shoots (new rhizomes) and others producing aerial shoots (new culms).
- Node: the joint between hollow segments of a culm, branch, or rhizome; the point at which a rigid membrane of vascular bundles lends strength to an axis of bamboo by crossing it from wall to wall.
- Pachymorphic: describes the rhizomes of clumping bamboos. They are short and usually thicker then the culms they produce. These rhizomes have a circular cross-section that diminishes towards the tips. The internodes are short, thick (except the bud-bearing internodes, which are more elongated) and solid (with no cavities). See also Sympodial.
- Rhizome: a food-storing branch of the underground system of growth in bamboos from buds of which culms emerge above ground. Popularly known as rootstock, rhizomes are basically of two forms: sympodial (tropical, clumping, Pachimorph) and monopodial (temperate, running, Leptomorph).
- Rhizome sheathe: husk-like protective organ attached basally to each rhizome node.
- Running: describes a bamboo whose rhizomes have a markedly horizontal growth habit, and tend to develop along the surface of the soil.
- Shoot: the stage in the development of the bud before it becomes a culm with branches and leaves.
- Sulcus: a groove or depression running along the internodes of culms or branches.
- Sympodial: describes the growth habit of the rhizomes of caespitose bamboos. The rhizomes emerge from the lateral buds of other rhizomes, while the terminal buds produce new culms. See also Pachymorphic.
- Turion: the tender young shoot as it emerges from the ground without branches or leaves.
More than 200 species of bamboo are recognized, varying in size from a few feet to more than 100 in height. The tender, young shoot growth of many of these species is used as food, in the United States mainly in Chinese dishes. Sprouts harvested in the United States are limited to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but substantial quantities are imported. Since new sprout growth quickly becomes hard and woody, the maximum period of exposure of edible parts to direct pesticide application would be approximately a month.
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BAMBOO FIBER YARN is eco-friendly and natural anti-bacteria
Green & Biodegradable
What's more, bamboo fiber is biodegradable textile material. As a natural cellulose fiber, It can be 100% biodegraded in soil by microorganism and sunshine. The decomposition process doesn't cause any pollution environment. "Bamboo fiber comes from nature, and completely returns to nature in the end"
Bamboo Fiber Shirts
Apparel made from bamboo fiber is giving a feel as Air Conditioning Dress .
As the cross-section of the bamboo fiber is filled with various micro-gaps and micro-holes, it has much better moisture absorption and ventilation. With this unparalleled micro-structure, bamboo fiber apparel can absorb and evaporate human's sweat in a split second. Just like breathing, such garments make people feel extremely cool and comfortable in the hot summer. It is never sticking to skin even in hot summer. According to authoritative testing figures, apparels made from bamboo fibers are 1-2 degrees lower than normal apparels in hot summer.
Description
Count (Ne) 100% bamboo Yarn
6-40 70% bamboo 30% Tencel
21-40 70% bamboo 30% Tencel (core spun yarn)
30 70% bamboo 30% Combed cotton
21-40 50% bamboo 50% Combed cotton
16-40 Bamboo / Modal ring-spinning yarn
16-40 Bamboo / Corn fiber yarn
16-40
Bamboo fiber is made from bamboo that grows widely throughout China. Starchy pulp is a refined product of bamboo through a process of hydrolysis-alkalization and multi-phase bleaching. Chemical fiber factories then process it into bamboo fiber. Repeated technological analysis has proved that this kind of fiber has a thinness degree and whiteness degree close to normal finely bleached viscose and has a strong durability, stability and tenacity. the yarn and cloth made by this kind of fiber are labeled first-class quality in all aspects of quality standards. The characteristic antibacterial of Bamboo makes the bamboo fabric made of bamboo fiber yarn is antibacterial.
APPAREL & KNITTED GARMENTS AND UNDER WEARS
Bamboo intimate apparels include sweaters, bath-suits, mats, blankets, towels have comfortable hand, special luster and bright colors, good water absorbance. Bamboo fiber has such a sole function as anti bacteria, which is suitable to make underwear, tight t-shirt and socks. Its anti-ultraviolet nature is suitable to make summer clothing, especially for the protection of pregnant ladies and children from the hurt of ultraviolet radiation.
Will You Wear Bamboo This Summer?
By XIAO DING
Many Westerners may find it hard to understand why a Chinese poet once wrote, "Man can live without meat, but he will die without bamboo." Bamboo is a favorite plant of the Chinese people. They decorate their courtyards with bamboo plants and their rooms with paintings of it. Now, they are even starting to wear bamboo.
The fashion world is constantly seeking new materials, and the folk fashion craze spurs demands for natural, handmade-looking textiles. This summer, hot items are clothes made from plants, including bamboo, soybeans and genetically modified colored cotton.
An exclusive manufacturing process makes it possible to create highly breathable, absorbent fabrics entirely from bamboo fibers. Clothes made of such fabrics have a distinctive softness and a cool, light texture. The fabrics, highly versatile, are very suitable for summer garments.
Clothes made of soybean fibers are also a new favorite on the market. After tasty and nutritious oil is extracted from the soybean, leftovers are spun into fibers and woven into fabrics. Soybean fiber dresses are soft and pleasant to wear, and feel even better than cashmere. Both bamboo and soybean fiber dresses are germ-proof, odor free and environmentally friendly. Their coolness and permeability make them a perfect choice for summer.
Genetically modified cotton grows in natural colors. During the spinning and weaving process, no chemical bleaching or dying is used; hence, no pollution is caused to the environment. Clothing made of this type of cotton has a natural glow, and comes in two basic colors-green and brown.
Plant dresses are unique and surprisingly wearable alternatives to clothes made from traditional natural materials. Analysts say that it has become a trend to increase the environmental protection functions of clothing through new technologies.
Zhang Shijun, General Manager of Menghu Co. Ltd., is confident of the market for his plant clothes. As president of a plant fashion company based in Beijing, Zhang admits that he once had the impression of bamboo as nothing more than a "tall green stick." But today, "our company is the first in China to mass produce plant clothing," says Zhang proudly.
The firm's bamboo and soybean fiber items are very competitive in terms of price. In Japan, a women's T-shirt made of bamboo fibers costs around $400, while the Chinese company's clothing of the same quality costs just 650 yuan, around $80. No doubt plant clothing made in China, along with its toys and computer chips, will grab a considerable share of the world market.
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The number one reason for wearing a Bamboo T-shirt? Comfort? COM4th!