Cotton substitute
12-13-2010, 07:28 AM
#21
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Maryville, Tn
Posts: 1,786
There are 2 methods for processing bamboo.. one is "natural" and doesn't use harmful chemicals.. but takes MUCH longer to process and much more work. the second uses enough chemicals that it totally negates the "green" benefits.. so until they find a third option I'll stick with cotton. That is why they quit making so much linen.. retting it takes a LONG time and you have to stomp it and tend it daily to process it properly.
12-13-2010, 08:12 AM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ
Posts: 1,329
Cotton IS still grown in the US and sold to make fabric. The problem is that we don't weave much fabric here, so most of the cotton is shipped to Asia where labor is cheap. They weave, print/dye/etc the cotton then ship it back to us and elsewhere. Makes great sense, huh? Cotton is still grown in the southern US, and in Arizona. Yes, it depletes the soil, but crop rotation will replenish the soil. Most corporations are too cheap to take a field out of production for a year or two, and our family farms are nearly gone. It's up to us to force the issue. Keep buying cotton, folks.
12-13-2010, 01:28 PM
#25
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Flushing, Michigan
Posts: 170
Originally Posted by Scissor Queen
There is no real substitute for cotton. Cotton is nearly ready to use straight off the plant. You have to remove the seeds and comb it but that's about all you have to do to make it ready to spin into yarns. All the other plants, bamboo, soy, flax and hemp have to be processed into useable fibers first. They use chemicals to do the processing.
12-13-2010, 01:36 PM
#26
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Paris, Texas
Posts: 170
I purchased some bamboo fabric. Luckly I prewashed a piece I had measured and cut. After the wash I measured again and it had shurk about 2 inches. And as far as going green, how much more green can you get than cotton.
12-13-2010, 01:48 PM
#27
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Grew up in WV but retired in Between, GA
Posts: 1,046
Originally Posted by Donna Hall
I purchased some bamboo fabric. Luckly I prewashed a piece I had measured and cut. After the wash I measured again and it had shurk about 2 inches. And as far as going green, how much more green can you get than cotton.
12-13-2010, 03:41 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fayetteville, GA
Posts: 2,879
Originally Posted by jojosnana
I have bamboo pjs and they are wonderful. I think I also saw bamboo sheets but they were a bit high in price so perhaps it is a market to come yet.
12-13-2010, 03:50 PM
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: MN
Posts: 448
Here's my question. Quilts have been made for a long time with cotton batting and with polyester batting. You know from history how these battings hold up. How long has bamboo batting been around and has any findings been done on how they hold up. I've not used bamboo for this very reason. After all the time and money I put into a quilt, I don't want to read (probably here) that it doesn't hold up or work as great as they first thought. Opps!! Any information on that????
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