amma

I came across this article from the Federal Trade Commission... It made me wonder about all of the bamboo quilting fabric and batting being advertised as being "green" "organic" and such. I don't know how it can be if bamboo clothing fabric is being treated with such awful, toxic chemicals...wouldn't it make you think the quilting fabric and batting are being manufactured similarly?

I know several members who are buying and using bamboo in quilting because of chemical sensitivities that they or loved ones have... or who are trying to go green....

Anyway...you can read this, do more investigating, or if you know more about this, please feel free to post here. :D:D:D

emmy

Thanks for the info. A few quilters have mentioned how they liked the bamboo/cotton batting. As I'm new at this, I'll stick with one of the Warm and .........'s.
Mary Ellen

BellaBoo

Same with organic grown food. People need to get educated! The chemicals allowed for organic food are worse then the regular chemicals used on plain old food crops. And the no hydrogenated oils? It's cotton seed oil. Cotton crops are not regulated at all as food. So it gets the strongest chemicals available, ask any cotton grower if he would eat his cotton plant or the seeds. Too many heads in the sand and taking media hype seriously. Follow the money trail.

butterflywing

this is a chemical-free bamboo batting. bamboo is also naturally anti-bacterial. i've used it and it's very nice. the cost compares very favorably with warm and natural. the shrinkage is about the same. i've made baby quilts with it and it washes well.


http://reprodepot.com/kbcblr1190.html

lisalovesquilting

Thanks for this link. If JoAnn's stops carrying warm and natural i will try this.

k3n

Inetersting - I've never used bamboo batting or fabric although I do have some bamboo socks! :mrgreen:

I googled around and found this http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_...-facts-be.html

It claims that there are two ways of transforming bamboo into fabric - mechanical and chemical. The mechanical way is hardly used as it is so labour intensive, therefore expensive. The chemical way is toxic, especially to those involved in the process but also, potentially to the consumer. New chemical means that are less toxic are being developed. The marketing people concentrate on the eco-friendly way that bamboo can be cultivated and gloss over the manufacturing processes. There are accreditations you can look for when purchasing from organisations like the Soil Association and Oeko-Tex.

k3n

I googled this and it appears to be made in the good ol' US of A. :-D

The link I posted above suggests that bamboo products manufactured in the US are by implication, safe and eco friendly. I googled this product to see if I could find specific details on the manufacturing process (ie if it is mechanical NOT chemical) but no joy - the problem is that the brand name is 'Kyoto' so I learned a lot about the bamboo forests in Kyoto, Japan! :lol:

patricej

the full article from the FTC website: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/08/bamboo.shtm

i've never bought the stuff and hadn't planned to. too expensive altogether.

having read the whole FTC article, i can't help but wonder how the bamboo plants are processed before the stuff gets to the Kyoto plant for final manufacture of the battting. i can't find any detailed description of the entire process, from grove to batting plant, that proves anything either way.

i believe people should feel free to buy what they want, so i'm not trying to change anybody's mind. but the old adage, "buyer beware" still applies.

Quilt Mom

Thanks for the information. I had wondered about the bamboo batting.

butterflywing

100% organic cotton batting: is that completely chemical free?