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The Independent's "Best Overall" Bamboo Sheets for two years running🏆

free uk delivery  • 30 night trial

🌳 one order = three trees planted 🌳

What Are The Benefits Of Bamboo?

Bamboo is often deemed the new super-fabric of the textile world. We’ve already covered why it’s softer than cotton or linen, but how is bamboo ‘harder-working’ and why should we care?

Moisture Wicking:

There’s an important distinction to be made between Moisture Absorbing and Moisture Wicking materials. Materials like cotton are moisture absorbing. This means that the structure of cotton cells automatically absorb any moisture they come into contact with, and retain this moisture within the fibre structure of the fabric. This is a big improvement on synthetic materials that don’t absorb any moisture at all, which therefore trap sweat between the skin and the fabric. However, if you’re in contact with the saturated cotton for an extended period of time while you sleep, this can irritate the skin and make you cold and uncomfortable. The next stage up from moisture absorbing materials is moisture wicking fabric. As activewear options have increased hugely in recent years, brands have upped their game and drastically improved the quality of the materials they use, in order to stay ahead of the competition. Sportswear fabrics have been manually enhanced to be breathable, sweat wicking and durable, for ultimate comfort. These moisture wicking fabrics work by absorbing a greater amount of liquid and then forcing these moisture molecules to run down the weave of the fabric and make their way to the surface of the fabric structure, where they then evaporate. Amazingly, bamboo naturally has similar material make up to these artificially created fabrics, and wicks moisture in the same way, absorbing up to 50% more moisture than cotton or silk. So, when you sleep in a SLOTH bed linen set, your sheets will be working hard throughout the night to absorb any moisture from your skin, and move these molecules to the surface of the fabric, where they’ll then evaporate. You’ll be kept cool and dry all night long. 

Naturally Antibacterial:

While there’s no better feeling than freshly washed sheets, the task of washing them (and, let’s be honest, the battle that is putting your duvet in its cover) sometimes feels like a chore. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t need to wash them quite so often and they still retained that freshly washed feeling? You might see where we’re going with this one… Bamboo allows you to do just this. Evidence has shown that Moso Bamboo plants contain a naturally antimicrobial bio-agent known as “bamboo kun,” which works to prevent odours and fungal growth (nice). In a recent study, where bacteria was attempted to be grown on both bamboo rayon and cotton, bamboo demonstrated antibacterial qualities whereas cotton did not. Science and antimicrobial agents aside, SLOTH London have conducted a formal ‘sniff test’ and can confirm that bamboo rayon bed linen was noticeably fresher and totally odourless, in comparison to cotton sets. We’ll let you take our word for it. 

Hypoallergenic:

Alongside the huge environmental benefits of switching to bamboo bed linen, the lack of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and treatments is also beneficial for the sleeper. Because bamboo rayon bed linen is created without these harmful chemicals, which are the main cause of irritated skin and allergic reactions, it’s considered to be hypoallergenic. It can be difficult to find affordable hypoallergenic fabrics, particularly as organic cotton is often extremely labour intensive to farm, as the comparatively fragile cotton fibres need careful handling. Bamboo fibres are naturally stronger, longer and therefore less expensive to farm. Moreover, SLOTH has cut out the middle man to ensure that our bedlinen bundles are a conscious, affordable luxury. Whether you’re prone to allergies or not, you’ll sleep easier knowing that your skin isn’t coming into contact with harsh chemicals every night and you haven’t emptied the bank to do so.