I am a fan of bamboo knit fabric, and buy it when I can find it at a reasonable price. Like most rayon knit fabrics, it's hand and drape gives a garment a higher-end look than cotton and it breathes better than polyester or nylon. From a crop standpoint, bamboo certainly has a sustainability advantage over other fibers because it grows quickly, without harsh chemicals.
However, according to the FTC, the soft and drapey bamboo textiles we are seeing in the stores should be called "rayon made from bamboo:"
The Federal Trade Commission has charged four sellers of clothing and other textile products with deceptively labeling and advertising these items as made of bamboo fiber, when they are made of rayon. The complaints also charge the companies with making false and unsubstantiated “green” claims that their clothing and textile products are manufactured using an environmentally friendly process, that they retain the natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, and that they are biodegradable....The proposed orders do allow the companies to describe their products as "rayon made from bamboo," as long as this is true and can be substantiated.
Hype and green-washing in the textile industry? Well, consider my bubble burst!
Modal is another rayon fabric that has some hype issues. I have been offered "modal" fabric from wholesalers (nice, but no better than regular rayon knit), and have seen "modal rayon" fabric being sold online for half of what I know the price should be. I buy genuine Modal knit fabric (a fiber licensed from Lenzing) directly from a domestic mill -- a mill a friend of mine has toured personally. And it's expensive for a reason. I have rolled out 40 yards of this fabric without finding a single flaw -- rare for knits, where sometimes I am lucky to get 8-10 continuous perfect yards.
When we first started carrying Modal fabric a couple of years ago, Lenzing's printed marketing materials and website focused on "green" -- "Modal is sustainable because it is made from beech wood and uses fewer harsh chemicals." When I went to update our website with our new Modal stock, I noticed that Lenzing now emphasizes softness and color fastness and no green claims are to be found (even the color palette has changed from green to tan). I therefore no longer include Modal under the eco-friendly fabric category in our store. This is such a huge shift that I suspect that Lenzing was asked by the EU or USA to remove the green claims from their marketing materials.
Unless I buy a fabric directly from a mill, as with our Modal and recycled cotton knits, or has a tag from a mill on it, I am wary about green or brand name claims.
Some textile salesman make used car salesman look like Mary Poppins.
