As the air develops a bit of a chill in the evenings, our thoughts turn to warming and softening our living space. Rugs are an excellent way to help transform your home from season to season, but so often inexpensive rugs are a problem for people with allergies or just sensitive noses because of their tendency to off-gas. There are lots of eco-friendly options now available, but we especially love the soft luxurious look of these rugs made surprisingly enough from bamboo...
Viva Terra asserts that this innovative bamboo yarn is softer and silkier than traditional long-fiber rugs made from wool, cotton or synthetic fibers. Given its reputation for being a renewable, sustainable, and eco-friendly natural resources, bamboo is certainly a popular option for hard flooring; now it seems to be expanding into the soft flooring realm as well. The prices seem reasonable especially for the smaller rugs, though certainly we hope to see a greater diversity of colors in the future.
We would love to hear from any readers with experience with bamboo rugs- are they as soft as they look in these pictures?
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I'd be interested in learning how easy they are to clean, too.
view Swordspoint's profile
They look like they'd be lovely to walk on barefoot. Will try to seek them out.
view mirandabee's profile
I hate to be a killjoy, but turning hard stalks of bamboo into soft material involves soaking it in quite a lot of water and chemicals...and some producers dump the chemical bath instead of re-using it.
Truthfully, though, bamboo fabric IS very soft and feels fan-freaking-tastic against the skin. I just wish bamboo fabric were as green and renewable as hard bamboo mats.
view Stiletto's profile
According to a press release on 8/11 by the Federal Trade Commission:
"Looking to be a more environmentally conscious shopper? You’ve probably heard about bamboo. Bamboo stands out for its ability to grow quickly with little or no need for pesticides, and it is used in a variety of products, from flooring to furniture. But when it comes to soft bamboo textiles, like shirts or sheets, there’s a catch: they’re actually rayon.
The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know that the soft “bamboo” fabrics on the market today are rayon. They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don’t feel silky smooth.
There’s also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim. Even when bamboo is the “plant source” used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.
Companies that claim a product is “bamboo” should have reliable evidence, like scientific tests and analyses, to show that it’s made of actual bamboo fiber."
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt160.shtm
view happyfarmr's profile
I would like to see a "round-up" post on inexpensive area rugs for fall...
view clampers's profile