Is Bamboo Fabric Sustainable? What You Should Know

Bamboo can be a sustainable raw material, but most bamboo clothing is not made directly from bamboo fibers.The soft “bamboo” fabric you typically find in clothing, underwear and pajamas is usually bamboo viscose or rayon, a regenerated cellulose fiber made by chemically processing bamboo pulp. Because conventional viscose production can involve hazardous chemicals and pollution, I don’t automatically consider bamboo clothing a sustainable choice.

The good news? Not all bamboo fabric is made the same way. Bamboo lyocell and mechanically processed bamboo can be better options, and there are a few things you can look for when shopping.

(image: Boody’s Bamboo Lyocell Bra & Underwear Set)

How Sustainable is Bamboo?

Again, due to how different bamboo products and bamboo fabrics are made, we need to separate them to better understand when bamboo is sustainable, and when it is not. Let’s focus on bamboo products in general. These could include all kinds of items made of bamboo, like cutlery, straws, bowls, furniture, or even paper. 

Why Bamboo Can be an Eco-Friendly Material

One of the main advantages of bamboo compared to other materials is that it is the fastest growing plant on the planet. It means that it is an extremely renewable resource! Buying an item made of bamboo instead of normal wood is a lot more sustainable because bamboo regrows in three years, while trees can take decades to regrow once they are cut. Not to mention that bamboo self-regenerates from its own root system, so there is no need to replant it. 

It also reduces the demand for tropical wood, which takes the pressure off forests in many parts of the world where there is massive deforestation. And the plant can even thrive in subpar soil, where others would not be able to grow. As it is naturally pest-resistant, bamboo does not need any pesticides or herbicides to grow, and it needs very little water compared to many other crops. 

Another benefit of bamboo is that the plant’s roots develop to create a fibrous network underground, which helps improve the soil quality and prevents soil erosion. Bamboo also produces 35% more oxygen and absorbs five times more CO2 than similar plants, which is great for mitigating climate change. 

Finally, one of the main reasons why bamboo products are seen as eco-friendly is because they are 100% biodegradable. It means that you can compost them at the end of their life, and if they get lost in nature, they will decompose fairly quickly unlike plastic. 

However, the Way We Produce Bamboo is Very Unsustainable

As we just saw, bamboo in itself can be a sustainable raw material to create all kinds of bamboo products. Unfortunately, the way we produce it in our societies is far from being eco-friendly! The demand for bamboo products has drastically increased over the past decades. To meet this growing demand, very large areas of land are being cleared to create new bamboo forests. 

This is crazy because, as we mentioned previously, producing products out of bamboo was supposed to reduce deforestation since the demand for other types of wood is relatively decreasing! The massive deforestation we are observing to create bamboo forests is leading to biodiversity loss and displacement of local wildlife. 

Another issue is that these newly created forests of bamboo are monocultures, which means that bamboo is the only plant that is grown and all other varieties are eliminated. And just like with any monoculture, the whole local ecosystem disappears. All the animals and plants that used to live there and rely on the ecosystem for food and habitat either die or need to migrate somewhere else. 

Moreover, monocultures can attract pests more easily. For instance, if a bug loves bamboo, it will have such an abundance of bamboo in a monoculture that it will be able to multiply and it may cause problems to the new forest. This is part of the reason why bamboo producers massively use pesticides and other chemicals to grow their bamboo and keep pests away. But these chemicals are also widely used simply to increase yields, which is sad because bamboos do not even need them to grow!  

Of course, pesticides and herbicides are very detrimental to the environment as well as to farmers’ health. Unfortunately, there is no regulation regarding the use of pesticides in this industry and in the countries where bamboo is generally produced.  

Another issue caused by this mass-scale bamboo production is that the harvesting methods are often unsustainable as they lower the regenerative rate of new bamboo shoots. Bamboo is also at risk from overharvesting. According to the United Nations, about half of all the varieties of bamboo are in danger of being eradicated or already extinct.  

How about bamboo fabric?

Since bamboo fabric is made with bamboo plants, we need to take into account all the environmental impacts of growing bamboo that we just mentioned previously. But according to the FTC, when the plant has been chemically processed to become a fabric, “there is no trace of the original plant left”. The production process of the fabric itself also causes environmental issues that we need to be aware of. 

If we look at bamboo lyocell (made using a mechanical processing method in a closed-loop system), the production process is not perfect, but it can be sustainable. The bamboo is broken down using natural or non-toxic enzymes, and the solvents are reused again and again and do not end up in the environment. Water waste is also minimal. 

However, most bamboo fabrics on the market are bamboo viscose (made using a chemical processing method). This production process is very energy-intensive and wasteful, as the solvents are not reused. It also involves using a lot of hazardous chemicals, including caustic soda and carbon disulfide. Both of these are harmful to human health, and the second can be a threat to aquatic life when it is released in water. Thus, the majority of bamboo fabrics are made in a way that exposes workers to dangerous substances, so producing them is not only unsustainable but also highly unethical! 

Quick-Answer Bamboo Fabric Types & Sustainability

What is Bamboo?

Bamboo is a woody plant that belongs to the grass family Poaceae. There are around 1,400 different species of this plant, and it grows in various regions around the world, from tropical and subtropical to mild temperate regions. It is a fast-growing perennial that can attain heights up to 130 feet (40 meters), and some species grow as fast as one foot (30 cm) per day. 

This plant has been used for many purposes over time around the world, and it is estimated that it was first used as far back as 7,000 years ago. More than 5,000 years ago, Chinese people used to build treehouses from bamboo, and between the 16th and the 11th centuries B.C., many household items as well as arrows and bows were already made of bamboo.  

Bamboo was also cut into strips to be used for writing, way before paper was invented. Between 206 B.C. and 220 A.D., humans successfully created paper and books out of this plant, which was fairly cheap at the time. In the 600s, some musical instruments were made of bamboo.   

A few centuries later, during the Song Dynasty, Chinese people started to make clothing items from bamboo, like hats, rain capes and shoes. The plant was a great source of food since it has many nutritional benefits. Humans also used bamboo to produce tiles and rafts, and to burn as firewood.

In the 1300s, during the Ming Dynasty, bamboo became a common interior building material. It was used to create flooring and beds. As millennia and centuries passed, humans learned to use bamboo to make items that were useful in their daily life. The plant has had so many commercial applications and uses!

Today, products made from this plant are found in homes all around the world. Bamboo is used as a building material, but also to make furniture, paper, clothing and home goods. It is popular in traditional Chinese medicine, and it can even be used to produce different kinds of fuels. The global bamboo market is an important industry that was valued at more than $53 billion in 2020, and it is estimated to grow by 5.7% each year between 2021 and 2028. China is the largest bamboo producer in the world, followed by India. 

But this is where things get a little confusing: a bamboo plant and bamboo fabric aren’t necessarily the same thing from a sustainability standpoint.

Turning a bamboo stalk into a cutting board is very different from turning it into the soft “bamboo” pajamas or underwear you see advertised online. To understand whether bamboo clothing is actually sustainable, we have to look at what happens to the plant after it’s harvested.

What is Bamboo Fabric?

When we look at bamboo fabrics, it seems like they have nothing to do with the original plant. That is because the plant goes through an entirely different production process compared to other bamboo products. Bamboo fabric is a textile made using cellulose extracted from bamboo plants; but the word “bamboo” can be a little misleading when you see it on a clothing label.

Here’s the most important thing to understand: “Bamboo” describes the source of the cellulose. It doesn’t necessarily describe the finished textile fiber. Most of the incredibly soft “bamboo” clothing you see today isn’t made by simply spinning natural bamboo fibers into yarn. Instead, the bamboo is usually broken down to extract its cellulose, which is then dissolved and regenerated into a new fiber.

In fact, most bamboo clothing on the market is bamboo viscose (or rayon made from bamboo). Bamboo can also be processed into lyocell, while a much rarer mechanical process can create a linen-like bamboo fiber. These are three different textiles with different manufacturing processes and environmental considerations, so I wouldn’t judge all “bamboo fabric” the same way.

Is Bamboo Fabric a Natural Fiber?

This depends on which type of bamboo fabric we’re talking about. Bamboo the plant is completely natural. Most bamboo fabric, however, is not what I would consider a natural fiber in the same way as cotton, linen or hemp. Bamboo viscose and bamboo lyocell are regenerated cellulose fibers. They begin with natural plant cellulose, but that cellulose is dissolved and processed before being regenerated into textile fibers.

That’s why I put bamboo viscose in the same general fiber category as other regenerated cellulose fabrics rather than grouping it with natural fibers like organic cotton, linen, hemp and wool. Mechanically processed bamboo (sometimes called bamboo linen) is different because the fibers are extracted mechanically rather than dissolved and regenerated. However, this type of bamboo fabric is much harder to find.

How Is Bamboo Fabric Made?

Bamboo Viscose / Bamboo Rayon

Nowadays, the majority of bamboo fabrics you can find on the market are bamboo viscose, which is manufactured using the same process as rayon. To produce bamboo viscose, cellulose is extracted from the wood pulp of the plant: bamboos are broken down into small chunks and are then cooked with chemical solvents to remove the cellulose. 

The next step involves compressing the extracted cellulose into sheets, exposing it to carbon disulfide, and filtering it. After that, it is pushed through a spinneret, which creates strands that are then immersed in sulfuric acid. This process produces filaments, and these are spun into yarn. Finally, the yarn will be woven into fabric. 

Bamboo Lyocell

Bamboo lyocell is another regenerated cellulose fiber, meaning the bamboo plant is used as the source of cellulose, but the finished fiber is man-made through chemical processing. Unlike conventional bamboo viscose, bamboo lyocell is produced using the lyocell process, which can use a closed-loop system where the solvent is recovered and reused rather than released as waste.

For this reason, responsibly produced bamboo lyocell can be a better option than conventional bamboo viscose. However, it’s still important to look for transparency around how and where the fabric was manufactured rather than assuming anything labeled “bamboo” is automatically sustainable.

Bamboo Linen / Mechanically Processed Bamboo

The third method we can use to produce bamboo fabric is mechanical, using a closed-loop production process. Initially, the bamboos are crushed into a mush, and they are broken down using natural enzymes. Doing this does not chemically alter the structure of the cellulose. 

The fibers are then washed and combed out, and finally, spun into yarn. The resulting fabric looks and feels like linen, and it is not as soft as bamboo viscose. This production method is more expensive and labor-intensive, but as we will see later, it is a lot more sustainable than producing bamboo viscose. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find bamboo linen on the market at the moment. 

Why Bamboo Fabric Isn’t Always Sustainable

Bamboo has developed quite the eco-friendly reputation. And while the plant itself has some interesting environmental benefits, that doesn’t automatically make every fabric made from bamboo sustainable. For me, the biggest concern with bamboo clothing is how the bamboo is processed and turned into fabric. Most of the bamboo clothing you’ll find today is bamboo viscose or rayon, which requires quite a bit of chemical processing.

Chemical Processing

To turn hard bamboo into the super-soft fabric we associate with bamboo clothing, manufacturers typically extract its cellulose and dissolve it using chemicals before regenerating it into fibers. Conventional viscose production can involve chemicals such as carbon disulfide, which is associated with serious health and environmental concerns when it isn’t properly managed. This is one of the main reasons I don’t consider bamboo viscose a preferred fabric simply because it starts with a plant.

Worker Exposure

The people working in viscose production are an especially important part of this conversation. Exposure to chemicals used during conventional viscose manufacturing, particularly carbon disulfide, can pose health risks to workers when proper protections and chemical-management systems aren’t in place.

But there’s an important distinction here: hazardous chemicals used during manufacturing don’t automatically mean the finished bamboo garment is toxic to wear. Worker exposure during production and chemical residues in a finished textile are two different issues, and I think it’s important not to lump them together.

Water & Air Pollution

Chemical management also matters for the communities and ecosystems surrounding textile facilities. When chemicals used during viscose production aren’t properly captured, recovered or treated, manufacturing can contribute to air and water pollution. This is why knowing how bamboo fabric was produced matters so much more than simply seeing “made from bamboo” on the label.

Deforestation & Monoculture

Bamboo can grow quickly and doesn’t necessarily require the same inputs as some other crops, but that doesn’t mean bamboo farming is impact-free. Large-scale bamboo production can involve monoculture farming, and expanding plantations can put pressure on natural ecosystems if forests or other habitats are cleared to make room for them. How and where the bamboo was grown is another piece of the sustainability puzzle.

Lack of Supply-Chain Transparency

One of my biggest issues with bamboo clothing is how little information we’re often given about it. A brand might advertise something as “bamboo fabric” without explaining whether it’s bamboo viscose, bamboo lyocell or mechanically processed bamboo; or where and how it was manufactured.

I want to know more than where a fiber started. How it was grown, processed and turned into the fabric we’re wearing matters, too. Until brands provide that transparency, I wouldn’t consider “bamboo” on a clothing label a sustainability claim on its own.

Is Bamboo Viscose Sustainable?

Not necessarily; and personally, bamboo viscose isn’t a fabric I prioritize. Bamboo itself can have some advantages as a crop, including its fast growth, but that doesn’t tell us much about the sustainability of the finished fabric. To make conventional bamboo viscose, the plant’s cellulose has to go through a chemical-intensive process that can come with many of the same environmental and worker-health concerns as other conventional viscose production.

So while I wouldn’t say all bamboo viscose is inherently unsustainable, I also wouldn’t consider something sustainable simply because the label says it’s made from bamboo. How the fiber is processed matters just as much as the plant it came from.

Is Bamboo Rayon the Same as Bamboo Viscose?

For most shoppers, bamboo rayon and bamboo viscose essentially refer to the same type of regenerated cellulose fabric. Rayon is the broader category of regenerated cellulose fibers, while viscose refers to a particular process and is also commonly used as the name of the resulting fabric. So when you see “rayon made from bamboo” or “bamboo viscose,” you’re generally looking at closely related terminology for fabric made by extracting cellulose from bamboo and regenerating it into fibers. Either way, the important word isn’t necessarily bamboo. I recommend paying attention to how the bamboo was processed into fabric, since that’s where many of its sustainability concerns come in.

Is Bamboo Lyocell Sustainable?

Bamboo lyocell can be a better option than conventional bamboo viscose, particularly when the sourcing and manufacturing process is transparent. Like other lyocell fabrics, bamboo lyocell is a regenerated cellulose fiber. The difference is that the lyocell process can use a closed-loop system that recovers and reuses the solvent involved in production, helping reduce some of the chemical waste associated with conventional viscose manufacturing.

That said, I wouldn’t assume bamboo lyocell is sustainable just because it says “lyocell” on the label. I still want to know where the bamboo came from, how it was processed and what environmental standards the manufacturer follows. When those details are transparent, responsibly produced bamboo lyocell is one of the bamboo-based fabrics I would feel better about choosing.

Final Thoughts: Is Bamboo Sustainable?

So, is bamboo sustainable? The answer really depends on what happens between the bamboo plant and the finished product. Bamboo itself can be a promising crop, but a label that says “bamboo” doesn’t automatically mean you’re buying a natural or sustainable fabric. Most bamboo clothing is actually bamboo viscose, which isn’t one of the fabrics I personally prioritize because of the processing involved. When I do choose bamboo, I prefer options like responsibly produced bamboo lyocell with transparent sourcing and manufacturing.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t buy something simply because it’s marketed as “eco-friendly bamboo.” Look beyond the plant on the label and pay attention to how the actual fabric was made. And when in doubt, I tend to stick with fibers I already know and love; organic cotton, hemp, linen and responsibly produced lyocell.