Cotton T-Shirt Vs Bamboo Blend: Here’s Why This ‘Grassy’ Fabric Is Awesome!

My ‘go-to’ comfort wear is loose, pure cotton T-shirts or kurtas—as I suspect is the case for many of us. And I was SO sure that no other fabric will ever be as easy on my skin as pure cotton.

(Silk is a big no—I don’t like what happens to the worms, and also static electricity.)

Do you want to switch to a fabric softer than cotton, eco-friendlier than silk and more breathable than nylon? Then, waste no time and check out our collection of bamboo apparel.

But bamboo-blend took little more than one wearing to convince me that this fabric is incredibly soft, quite breathable and flows as smoothly as cotton.

I always thought ‘bamboo cloth’ would resemble jute fabric. Perhaps not that rough, but ‘rough’ nonetheless. This was just the opposite!

Now I can’t exactly share via words how excited I was when I wore a bamboo blend t-shirt for the first time. But I can heartily recommend it as a must-try for those into fashion and comfy clothing!

Why Bamboo?

Cotton is vegan (ish), widely produced, and if you are careful where you buy from—organic.

All of that is true, but Bamboo is all of that and MORE.

Bamboo, as perhaps many of us know, is a fast-growing grass. Some species grow as fast as three feet within 24 hours. Imagine a bamboo stalk that grows as tall as your desk in a day! (They also have a Guinness World Record for it! Who would have thought?)

India grows about 15 species commercially—all of which are faster, and better, to grow as a cash crop than cotton.

On the sustainability front, cotton’s big curse is water.

Thirsty cotton plants require about 20,000 litres for every kilogram of cotton extracted. Bamboo uses only one-third of that to grow to harvestable levels.

Speaking of harvesting, you have to pull out the entire cotton plant if you want to harvest the fibre. While Bamboo is cut as needed and the rest is left to grow on. This means it is easier in terms of labour, as well.

However, there are problems with the manufacturing process. The more popular viscose process is similar to that of rayon and uses a lot of chemicals to make the fabric. Lyocell is another process which uses fewer chemicals—but it is not much better either.

So which choice is better?

via GIPHY

Honestly, why pick and choose? Let’s go for bamboo-cotton blends. They encourage the growth of Bamboo and thus are just that much more sustainable than plain cotton.

Not to mention, they are soft and comfortable like heck, especially for comfy clothing and sportswear.

Yes, we are all attached to our fibres (get it?) and have our favourite T-shirt that we will never part ways with. But try something different this time and let an ancient plant give you some new love!

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

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