Small Town Natural's Bamboo fleece care guide: Dryer Beware!
Does Bamboo fabric shrink? Quick answer= Ohhhh YES!
Small Town Natural recommendations for laundering bamboo clothing:
Wash: Laundering instructions for Bamboo rayon fleece is not much different than your delicates. Wash by hand or machine in cold water on delicate/gentle cycle. Note* Do NOT use fabric softener in liquid form nor dryer sheets this can discolour bamboo fabrics.
Tumble Dry: Please do NOT use fabric softener in liquid form nor dryer sheets when putting bamboo in a dryer. Bamboo fabric can become discoloured by fabric softener. We all know that any garment (no matter what the fabric is) will last longer if we do not tumble dry with heat. Natural fibre clothing is especially sensitive to heat. Bamboo will shrink every time it is exposed to heat, unlike cotton which stops shrinking after a couple tumble dries. Bamboo viscose/rayon + fleece are particularly sensitive to heat drying (if you must use a dryer; only dry bamboo in dryer on NO heat setting, even low-heat will shrink bamboo viscose/rayon/fleece). Bamboo rayon will shrink up to 10% every single time it is tumble dried on low to high heat. I tested this and I actually discovered that on high heat the garment shrank approximately 40%! Wowza! The garment looked like it was child sized. So I highly recommend avoiding any heat while drying bamboo fabrics.
Tumble Dry exception: The only time it is ok to put bamboo viscose/rayon/fleece in a tumble dryer with low heat is when the garment is dry. You should do this if you need to remove wrinkling; put the garment in the dryer alone with a damp hand towel or kitchen dish towel of similar colour for a maximum 10 mins (you are the best judge of how low your low heat is. Some are hotter than others so reduce time in the dryer the hotter your low heat setting is).
Stain Removal: Bamboo is a very resilient fibre however, it does require more thought and caution when removing stains. We recommend using a dab of de-greaser dish soap on oil stains and almost all other stains. We have found this to be very effective. It may be more difficult to remove stains if you have left the stain on the garment for a long period of time (24 hours or more).
Natural fibres are by far THE most environmentally friendly clothing fabric options! Yes, they may require a little more thought when laundering but we think it is worth it! Reduce your carbon footprint by hang / line drying or laying flat to dry all clothing! This helps to prolong the life of your wardrobe essentials.
You can purchase apparel made from bamboo from Small Town Natural. Visit www.smalltownnatural.ca