One of the most popular questions that I am often asked is.. what's the difference between the Anact towels and bamboo towels? Before I answer your question, I believe it's important to know there are two different fibers when it comes to textiles: natural and synthetic. Natural fibers are as their name implies: natural. You can grow them in your backyard. Examples include: cotton, hemp, linen, wool, silk etc., Synthetic fibers are man-made fibers. Examples include nylon, polyester, rayon etc., These fibers are petroleum derived which means you cannot grow them in your backyard and they are manipulated by humans to become textiles. Bamboo i.e. rayon is one of those fibers.
The reason that bamboo is not sustainable (even though growing bamboo is sustainable as long as it is not contributing to deforestation) is because of a chemical solvent that is used to break down the bamboo which wipes out any trace of the bamboo in the textile manufacturing process. If you were to test a bamboo towel, you would find there is no bamboo to trace. And have you ever wondered why there is no organic certification for bamboo? That's because the Global Organic Trade Association refuses to certify rayon fabric even if the start with organic bamboo. If you'd like to learn more about the history of bamboo/rayon fabric click here.
Here's an illustration to show you the difference between natural and synthetic fiber processing:
Due to lack of regulatory requirements on greenwashing in the United States, many companies take advantage of customers by marketing false information to appear to be "green". For example, I was in Costco several years ago and saw a blanket that had sheep pictured on it to make one think that blanket had wool in it. Upon checking the care and content label, I discovered it was 100% polyester. Unfortunately, this happens all the time.
It's one of the reasons why I started Anact and I created the Anact towels. I wanted to know what was in my towel and I wanted to share the people and the process behind it. That's why we use only natural fibers (hemp and cotton) in the creation of our towels and we have two colors available that are not dyed with chemicals. We offer undyed and unbleached (natural) and undyed (white). Our goal in the future is to utilize natural dyeing methods to achieve a larger color palette offering to our customers but for right now, we believe in being as transparent as possible about what is in our towels so that you know what you're putting on your body!