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Bedtribe Magazine

Bamboo vs. Tencel

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I’m sure you’re familiar with the debate of Bamboo versus Tencel in the market of choosing your perfect bedsheets. If you are facing that particular dilemma, why don’t you read on to find out?

Tencel and Bamboo are typically placed together in lists when you do a simple search on the Internet, and you’ll find that often times, it’s almost impossible to distinguish the two apart when they’re placed together in the eyes of a layman.

But unlike what you may think, they’re quite different.

Bamboo

When we say bamboo, the first thing that may come to your mind would possibly be the image of a panda munching on bamboo leaves. Adorable sight, I know. But really, the bamboo sheets come from the bamboo plant that we are familiar with (obviously) and are known to be extremely environmentally friendly and sustainable.

A great natural resource, bamboo has natural longer fibers that make them perfect bed-linen material and allows for more cooling sheets than what you will find in the market. The preparation method for bamboo sheets is known to be much more natural compared to any other fabric in the market, where the natural enzymes of the bamboo plant are greatly made use of during the manufacturing process in order to ensure lesser harmful chemicals are added during the manufacturing process. In fact, the manufacturing process of bamboo uses the least amount of harmful chemicals and thus, is often delivered on a heftier price tag to most consumers. But at least now, you know why and what you’re paying for, right?

The benefits of using bamboo sheets are endless, and if you haven’t read it in our article here yet, allow me to reiterate them here. But still, take some time to read about them here

For starters, bamboo sheets are an absolute beaut. Their naturally cooling characteristic renders them perfect for hot climate countries like Singapore and generally, the whole of Southeast Asia. While we emphasize on the fact that the bamboo material is actually 3 degrees cooler than any other fabric in the market, we’ll leave it for you to decide if you actually give them a try. I’m sure you’ll know what we are talking about when you feel them in your hands.

Bamboo fabric is also naturally hypoallergenic and antibacterial, thanks to its natural manufacturing process, and what this means, is that individuals with sensitive skin or eczema-prone skin will have absolutely no problem sleeping in bamboo fabric! I mean, speaking from someone who has mild eczema, bamboo sheets are an absolute God sent. They are also perfect for young children and even newborns, I mean, you wouldn’t want your children to sleep on itchy and scratchy materials, right? As a parent, we know you would never let that happen.

And since we’re in the year of 2021, where anything eco-friendly is placed on the top of the list when it comes to buying your home furniture (as it should because ice bergs are melting), bamboo sheets fit right in. Being eco-friendly and low maintenance, the manufacturing process of bamboo sheets actually use 20 times less water than the manufacturing process of a typical material like cotton, a material most Singaporean families are familiar with.

However, while everything about bamboo seems so perfect at the moment, it does come with its downsides. Typically, bamboo is a softer material and when it comes to making your bed, they do not look as aesthetically pleasing as compared to the beautiful clean creases that you will get from typical cotton sheets, as it has wrinkles more easily than other fabrics but let’s be honest, is aesthetics really the point here? Further, bamboo sheets typically come with a heftier price tag than most of its counterparts, but it’s important that we understand the why, right?

Tencel

Now we come to Tencel, the popular alternative to cooling sheets in the market. Tencel, if you don’t have, is typically made from eucalyptus leaves, the only source of food koalas have. Tencel is typically prepared with conventional dyes during the manufacturing process but requires much lesser dye as compared to the preparation of cotton sheets.

While Tencel is known to be more man-made than Bamboo sheets, they are usually slightly more affordable than Bamboo sheets, though some Tencel sheets can cost much more. The use of Tencel has been variably versatile, even beyond the bed linen market, and extends to use in the garment industry, from activewear to dresses that you typically see in the market.

Its absorbent characteristic also makes it perfect to be a bed linen, but the manufacturing process does use more water as compared to that of Bamboo sheets.

 

If you’re looking for more colour options for your bedsheets, Tencel sheets are a popular choice for the fabric and fibers are known to be much easier to dye, and this is why they are often available in much more colors than Bamboo sheets.

Tencel is also highly absorbent, which provides more comfort as compared to typical cotton sheets, but the material itself is sadly, much more limited than Bamboo.

Aesthetics wise, Tencel would be a better alternative to Bamboo given its extra step in the manufacturing process, which allows for it to be less wrinkly, but the decision is yours to make.

Conclusion

Upon comparison, we know that Bamboo and Tencel actually are quite similar as they tie on versatility, durability and use. While we love Bamboo sheets and base our products on Bamboo, we won’t stop you from choosing either, as long as you are comfortable with it.

But if you ask us, certainly we believe that Bamboo would be much better, especially when you need it for your young and loved one. Ultimately, it is for you to make the choice and for us to provide the best service and suggestions that we can make on our parts to give you the best sleep experience.

And if you haven’t heard already, we’re excited to be launching our new cot sheets, perfect for newborns, and made with 100% bamboo, to give comfort for your precious one. Do check out our Instagram platform here for timely updates. We’ll also love to hear more often from you so feel free to drop us your queries through DM and we’ll do our best to answer them!

In the meantime, we hope you stay safe and look forward to what the month of April has for us!