The other day I picked my daughter's quilt up off her bed and noticed how soft it felt. Much more so than the couple of quilts out on the couch. All are made with high quality fabric, all have been washed but hers was made with bamboo/cotton blend batting. The other two were 100% cotton (Quilter's Dream). Could that factor alone effect how soft the quilt would feel? (When I say soft I don't just mean the feel of the external fabric, but the drape and everything is "soft" )

My husband thinks because her quilt has been really "used" (read thrashed around :) ) and broken in is why it feels so much softer. Maybe I need to stick my couch quilt on her bed for awhile and see if it softens up? :)

Some battings do have a softer feel to them.
Also, more heavily quilted quilts will have a stiffer feel to them :D:D:D

The cotton bamboo batting is sooo soft. I think it may be because of the batting. If you feel how dense cotton batting like Warm and Natural is compared to the Bamboo, you will see a definite difference

I know from mattress covers that our bamboo ones are much softer than the cotton filled ones. The bamboo also seems to soak up more water when washing it, too.

Bamboo batting is a lot softer. I love it for baby quilts

i will have to try the bamboo

I read recently that bamboo is being phased out as a "green" fabric because so many chemicals are used in converting it to cloth. (For example, Target is discontinuing its bamboo line of bedding.)

I sure hope that doesn't extend to quilt batting, because as others have noted, the bamboo-cotton blend is THE BEST for softness and drape.

Sushi

I have some bamboo towels, and they appear to become more "matted" as they are washed more and more. Not so soft any more. I wondered about this too, the chemicals they used.
there is always an up side and then the down side to everything.
Sue

the bamboo blend batts are very soft..i've found the same outcome with dream wool and dream orient (a silk/ bamboo blend) 100% cotton batts seem to be the (stiffest) of the batts available. amount of quilting dictates stiffness too...if it is very (loosely) quilted it tends to *soften-fluff* more than one that is heavily/closely quilted-- but the cottons do soften up a little bit every time it's washed/dried. :thumbup:

Well the mention of high amounts of chemicals used is enough to keep me away from the bamboo, no matter how soft it is. Think I'll stick with good 'ole USA grown cotton. :) (Which isn't chemical free I realize but less so than the bamboo I'd think)