Shirts Of Bamboo Blog

Welcome to the second installment of Grand Canyon Product Testing. Today’s subject are our towelettes.

The towelettes are the most amazing thing for the river — and speaking of the river, here is a shot of what happens if your compressed towelettes disc gets wet before you open it:

So the phrase, don’t try this at home applies.

Now let’s get back to the uses for these amazing little gems:

• Biodegradable kitchen towels — great for the river and keeping the sand out off the tables
• Wet them down and try them around your neck to keep cool
• Handy towel for washing in the river
• Butt Floss (see photo)

Well folks, I’m back from the Grand Canyon rafting experience mostly in one piece. Over the next several posts I’ll give you my impressions of how products from Shirts of Bamboo work in the wild and woolly world.

First — let’s start with the bandannas. I took two of the bandannas (Tahiti Blue and Bamboo Green) along on the trip. These turned out to be popular with not only me, but several others on the adventure. The uses?

• Head covering for the sun (no sunburn for my bald head)
• Around the neck for cooling
• As a wrap to keep my camera from getting banged around in the waterproof ammo can.

Of these, for me, most of the use was for keeping cool in the sun — just dip it in the 52 degree Colorado River water — and it keeps you cool for hours. The rest of the crew was clamoring for these soft, absorbent bandannas — too bad I only brought two — I could have given out a dozen!

Keep an eye out for our printed bandannas starting this fall.

In today’s issue of Creative Loafing, they announced the category that Shirts of Bamboo have won!

Critics’ Picks
MOST COMFORTABLE WAY TO SAVE THE PLANET: Shirts of Bamboo
2414 Central Ave
[map]
727-388-6913
http://ShirtsOfBamboo.com

They may be the perfect T-shirts. The eponymous garments at Shirts of Bamboo are odor- and moisture-resistant, washable, and they have built-in UV protection. Plus, they’re made from one of the most sustainable plants in the world, Mosu bamboo, a type of tropical grass grown in China (and not the same kind the pandas eat). Most important of all, these Tees are really, really comfortable — soft as silk but sturdy as cotton and made in a range of colors for both men and women. Shirts of Bamboo has hit on a brilliant idea here, and they don’t just make shirts from bamboo fiber; their towels and robes are extra-soft, too, and their miniature, reusable towelettes may make paper towels obsolete.

Here is the link to the entire list of winners.

We got a lovely review on the EcoChildsPlay blog for our 100% bamboo towelettes.

The compressed bamboo towelettes would be perfect for spills, babies, eyeglasses, camping, etc. and last for approximately one to three weeks before disintegrating. This may be a disposable product, but it is not a one time use disposable.

Check it out at: http://ecochildsplay.blogspot.com/2007/09/bamboo-toweletteshttpwwwbloggercomimggl.html

From Rebecca: I bought two of these sheets for my 10 month old baby boy’s crib. I cannot believe how soft and beautiful they are. My 3 year old loved them so much she said she wanted to sleep in his crib and he could sleep in her bed instead!!!!

Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!]

Smartwool vs. Shirts of Bamboo socks
 
Well, to start, the smartwool was at a disadvantage, since I’d already worn it for a day, but I thought I’d give them a fair side by side comparison.  But, since Mark had a odd SoB ankle sock hanging around and I was wearing smartwool ankle socks, I figured I’d give it a try.  One smartwool came off, one bamboo sock went on.  I usually wear Smartwool socks for a couple days running because I only have a couple pairs, they keep my feet warm and hold their shape.  So, I kept both socks going on and off for a couple days and just took them both out of the dryer (might as well run them through the whole cycle).  Here’s the facts:
 
Fit/thickness:  the socks were very comparable on my feet.  I didn’t sense that one was much thicker than the other or much larger.  This helped in the comparison.
 
Smell factor:  I don’t have super sweaty feet, but in the wrong socks, they’ll go to town.  Tie.  Neither sock gave up the ghost on this one.  After two days, neither sock stunk, and my feet weren’t getting sweaty in either one (I didn’t have an impartial judge on this one, so I can’t promise that’s the case!).
 
Warmth:  since they switched feet from time to time, I wasn’t always aware of which was doing which (making it a fair comparison).  both feet seemed equally warm at all times.
 
Comfort:  the SoB socks are softer which is nice, but they are a bit looser and so they squirrel around my feet more (need to be turned back around if I’m just walking in socks).  Smartwool are a little rougher, but still comfortable, and hold their shape much better.
 
Washing:  I think this is where the SoB sock fell down for me.  After running them through the wash with a whole load of things, it was the only sock that wasn’t dry (well, the only thing that wasn’t dry). 

From Jill in Seattle

From James Whitaker in Seattle…

Mark Souder gave me some samples of your compressed towlettes and I put one to an excellent use today. They make great sachets for cooking. Rolled up they cut easily with a chef’s knife (which cotton muslin will not do as easily) that I can use for small herbs and spices (I used some for mulled wine.) When I’m done I can just throw the sachet into the compost, as I suspect that the bamboo will compost much more readily than cotton muslin. A small strip cut off the end of the towel and twisted makes a good length of twine to tie the sachet. And you take PayPal, too, which means I can order stuff from you online. Yay! You need more men’s products. Boxer briefs would be cool, as would more shirts (turtlenecks would be cool) and pants.

 I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful product. I am so pleased when I got the t-shirts this morning because it is heading toward summer and I wanted a fabric that would not smell of perspiration in five minutes and I really wanted to do more for the environment and avoid sweat shops which is so hard in most shops. The price is not cheap when you convert Australian dollars to US because of currency and postage costs, so I was skeptical it was worth it but it definitely was. When I got them I was worried because I didn’t want to iron them and I also thought I would not be able to wear them with a black bra because of the sheerness of the fabric, but to my surprise the wrinkles shock right out and you can not see my black bra though it at all.  I will be back to order more products soon.  I wish your company continued luck and success and I hope one day you will be able to buy your products in K-mart or big W or something in Australia.