Bamboo textile case settled
Specialty Fabrics Review | December 2009
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with The M Group Inc., operating as Bamboosa, a company that produces bamboo clothing, over allegations that it was making false environmental claims and mislabelled merchandise.
According to the FTC, the company has agreed that it will “not make any future bamboo claims unless they are true and backed by reliable evidence, and that it will no longer claim that the clothing and bath products it sells are made of bamboo fiber when they actually are made of rayon (viscose) processed from bamboo plants.”
The FTC also noted that “the proposed settlement bars Bamboosa from making any false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims that any textile product is made of bamboo or bamboo fiber, is antimicrobial or retains the antimicrobial properties of the product from which it is made, or is biodegradable.”
Three other companies—Sami Designs LLC, trading as Jonäno; CSE Inc., trading as Mad Mod; and Pure Bamboo LLC—settled similar FTC complaints in August 2009, after agreeing to stop making false claims and to abide by the Textile Act and the FTC’s Textile Rules.
The move follows a similar ruling on bamboo fabrics by Canada’s Competition Bureau earlier this year, which aimed to crack down on unsubstantiated ‘green’ claims.
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5:40 pm CST
FTC's misleading claims.
I know nothing of the companies mention in this blurb, but I DO KNOW that there are textiles on the market which are made from true bamboo fibers, and they DO have the antibacterial properties attributed to same. It seems that many people are grabbing onto this info and claiming this means that ALL bamboo textiles fall into this category. This is NOT true. If you want to test, put a drop of acetone, n the subject textiles (fingernail polish remover)ll If it is truly rayon it will dissolve a hole in it. if it is a mix of fibers, it will simply form a "glob"..
6:06 pm CST
FTC’ misleading claims and ulterior motives....
One needs to question the FTC and there motives as well. Bamboo is a superior fabric to cotton, which also uses very harsh chemicals for production, but that topic is never brought up.
This whole FTC against the bamboo industry is nothing more than cotton lobbyists trying to protect there wallets.
yes there are different ways to produce bamboo from the stalk to fiber, and some are not as friendly as others, but for the most part, it is not like what the FTC is trying to make the American public believe.
Cotton uses a lot of pesticides when growing, where bamboo does not require any. This depletes petroleum reserves as it is the key ingredient in pesticides. We are fighting over oil globally and most wear cotton, you figure it out….Cotton also consumes a lot of water due to the large amount of irrigation needed to sustain its growth. Bamboo relies on rain water, end of story. We will be fighting over water in a major way before you know it. On the back side, bamboo is odor resistant in comparison to cotton, so it requires less washing. So it saves water and electricity on the back side…..
Do some research, and you will see. The FTC will lose this fight in time. This is all about money unfortunately.
As more people buy bamboo, it will lead to finding even better methods to produce it from stalk to garment compared to present day technologies!
8:01 pm CST
You are both missing the point of what the FTC is doing. They are, by no means, criticizing the bamboo industry. They are only enforcing laws that certain companies are not following, i.e. mislabeling garments! It is illegal to label a garment "bamboo" when it is actually viscose. The garments are not passing antimicrobial tests, therefore they cannot be labeled "antibacterial".
11:48 pm CST
No, I am not missing the point...
The FTC has not yet provided one shred of evidence to back up there claims. 100% "viscose FROM BAMBOO" does have antimicrobial properties and just like climate change, there are many on both sides of the camp. FTC is simply denying nemerous different forms of antimicrobial tests (presently) when provided at there request by a manufacturer who pay for it themselves.., and tag them as inconclusive. Many foreign lands embrace bamboo for what it is. Compare the softness of any other "rayon or viscose" to a bamboo product and you know right away they are not equal. It is being tossed into the rayon category as other "new" textiles in the past have, until a category was created for them. It is "illegal" because that is what they want the public to think, all the while it is a fight over money unfortunately...hopefully the wise will recognize this!
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