How Is Bamboo Fabric Made?
Depending on the type of fabric that is being made, bamboo textiles can be produced using a number of different methods. The majority of bamboo fabric produced worldwide is bamboo viscose, which is cheap to produce even though it has environmental downsides and represents workplace hazards.
Viscose is a term used to refer to any type of fabric that is made using the viscose method developed in the early 20th century. This type of fabric is one of the newest versions of rayon, which is a semi-synthetic fabric that was originally developed to mimic the desirable qualities of silk.
The process of producing viscose rayon is lengthy and involved, and it is incredibly wasteful. Any type of fabric made with tree cellulose produces a great deal of waste, but this waste can be handled sustainably when the right manufacturing processes are used. The waste produced by viscose rayon production, however, is contaminated with carbon disulfide, which is a toxic chemical that can cause a variety of health problems.
Production of viscose rayon begins with the extraction of cellulose from wood pulp. Wood is broken down into tiny chunks, and it is then exposed to chemical solvents to remove the cellulose. Quite a few different processes are used to make viscose rayon, and almost all of them include additional harmful chemicals like caustic soda.
To produce a wearable fabric, extracted cellulose is compressed into sheets, exposed to carbon disulfide, and filtered. It is then pushed through a spinneret, which transforms the cellulose into strands. These strands are immersed in a vat of sulfuric acid to create filaments, and these filaments are then spun into yarn that can be woven into fabric.
Alternatively, bamboo cellulose can also be created with a closed-loop production process. Unlike the process used to create viscose rayon, closed-loop rayon production doesn't chemically alter the structure of the cellulose that is used, which results in a fabric that can be considered purely organic. While the solvent used to make traditional viscose rayon is wasted and usually ends up in the biosphere, the solvents used in closed-loop rayon production can be reused again and again, which significantly limits the environmental impact of this industry.
Bamboo fabric of the highest quality is made with production practices that do not extract cellulose. Instead, a natural enzyme is used on crushed bamboo wood fibers, and these fibers are then washed and spun into yarn. This yarn usually has a silky texture, and the fabric made by this process is sometimes called bamboo linen.
When bamboo fabric is made with this method, it is not environmentally harmful, and the resulting textile is strong and long-lasting.
