During my fabric selection process for our diapers, I explored MANY fabric options: fabrics made from coconuts, hemp, bamboo, among others. Each one rejected for various reasons (I should note here that hemp was REALLY high on the list, but current legislation in the USA prevents hemp cultivation and it was a HIGH priority to us to have an all-USA-made product).
Bamboo was rejected because my research showed bamboo to NOT be the eco-friendly textile that everyone else was purporting it to be. Bamboo fiber must be HIGHLY chemically processed to create textiles, a process which actually yields...RAYON, rendering it no longer a natural textile.
Apparently, the FTC has begun charging companies who claim the eco-benefits of bamboo, as they're falsely making such claims.
Among these claims are the antimicrobial properties of bamboo. Yes, bamboo in its natural form IS, indeed, antimicrobial; but once processed into textile form, these antimicrobial properties are, in essence, chemical-ed out.
The link below explains:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/08/bamboo.shtm
Be wary of bamboo. It is NOT the eco-fiber many would have you believe it to be.
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