Bamboo textile
Examples include clothing such as shirt tops, pants, and socks for adults and children,[1] as well as bedding such as sheets and pillow covers.
This process removes the natural characteristics of bamboo fibre, rendering it identical to rayon from other cellulose sources.
[5] The viscose rayon process then treats the fibers with lye, and adds carbon disulfide to form sodium cellulose xanthate.
After time, temperature, and various inorganic and organic additives (including the amount of air contact) determining the final degree of polymerization, the xanthate is acidified to regenerate the cellulose and release dithiocarbonic acid that later decomposes back to carbon disulfide and water.
Rayon factories vary widely in the amount of CS2 they expose their workers to, and in the information they give about their safety limits or their compliance.
It is a natural fibre (as opposed to popular synthetics like polyester) whose cultivation results in a decrease in greenhouse gases.
[1] Studies in China (2010) and India (2012) have investigated the antibacterial nature of bamboo-rayon fabric against even harsh levels of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
[20][21] The USA's Federal Trade Commission has charged companies with false antimicrobial claims when the fibre has been made with rayon.
[22] Critics cite the cotton industry's powerful lobbying groups in influencing the FTC decision, and dismissal of the international studies proving otherwise.
[23] In this way, the woody part of the bamboo is crushed mechanically before an enzyme-retting and washing process is used to break down the walls and extract the fibre.
The natural processing of litrax bamboo allows the fibre to remain strong and produce a high quality product.
The handcrafted bamboo artifact, known locally as "odapoovu" is in the form of a tuft of white fibres of up to 30 cm (1 ft) in length.
The article is made out of newly emerging Ochlandra travancorica culms, which go through a process of alternating pounding with stones and retting in water lasting several days, followed by a combing to remove the pith, leaving the cream white fibres and a stub of the bamboo.
This regular harvesting stimulates the plant, to regrow at a higher rate and to produce younger, and therefore healthier, faster growing shoots.
Studies have shown that felling of canes leads to vigorous re-growth and an increase in the amount of biomass the next year.
Bamboo grows very densely, its clumping nature enables a lot of it to be grown in a comparatively small area, easing pressure on land use.
If the same area of land is not used for harvesting, a typical forest can persist more Biomass in the long term while also providing a more divers biotope, however the slower growth rate of trees delays this effect significantly.
The benefit is, that the same amount of harvested Biomass requires less deforestation of trees compared to planting other cellulose producing crops for the same expected yield, still resulting in less CO2 emissions.
[citation needed] Bamboo uses considerable water, but there is evidence that its water-use efficiency (relative to growth) may be greater than many trees.
The bamboo plant's root system can hold soil together along river banks, deforested areas and in places prone to mudslides.
Having reached the end of its useful life, clothing made from bamboo can be composted and disposed of in an organic and environmentally friendly manner.
