- Bamboo textiles
Bamboo textiles are cloth, yarn, and clothing made out of
bamboo fibres. While historically used only for structural elements, such asbustle s and the ribs ofcorsets , in 2003, inventors Xiangqi Zhou, Zheng Liu, Liming Liu, and Hao Geng developed a way of turning bamboo into yarn, creating new uses for bamboo in clothing.Hats and shoes
In
China andJapan , thin strips of bamboo were woven together into hats and shoes. One particular design of bamboo hats was stereotypically connected with rural life, being worn almost universally by farmers and fishermen in order to protect their heads from the sun. [Yang Ye (1999),"Vignettes from the Late Ming: A Hsiao-pʻin Anthology", University of Washington Press, pp. 17, 112]Corsets and bustles
[
thumb|An_1881_bustle design.] In the west, bamboo, alongside other components such aswhalebone and steel wire, was sometimes used as a structural component in corsets, bustles and other types of structural elements used in fashionable women's dresses. [Akiko Fukai and Tamami Suoh (2002), "Fashion: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute", Taschen, pp. 154, 284]Yarn and fabric
In 2003, Xiangqi Zhou, Zheng Liu, Liming Liu, and Hao Geng invented a way of turning bamboo fibre into yarn. Selected fibres are heated to 80-90° C, then soaked in a mixture of soap and emulsion oil, dried, rehydrated with another mixture of oils, then let to set for five to seven days. The fibres may then be spun, by a variety of methods, into a high-quality yarn. [ [http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en&lr=&vid=USPAT7313906&id=W7mhAAAAEBAJ&oi=fnd&dq=Bamboo+clothing U.S. Patent #7313906] , filed November 24, 2003, issued January 1, 2008. Inventors: Xiangqi Zhou, Zheng Liu, Liming Liu, Hao Geng; Assignees: ZhuZhou Cedar Ramie Industrial Co., Ltd.] Bamboo yarn is a natural
antibacterial , especially if at least 70% of the fiber is bamboo.cite web |url=http://knitting.about.com/od/yarn/a/bamboo_yarn.htm |title=Knitting with Bamboo Yarn |accessdaite=2008-07-14 |last=White |first=Sarah E. |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=]Criticism of bamboo yarn includes loss of strength when wet, considerable swelling in water, and the potential for strands to split. Bamboo fabric requires handwashing, so it's impractical for items that are worn regularly.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
