Many retailers and consumers think Bamboo and other plant-based bedding is natural and 100% organic. But this claim doesn't match the chemistry, or US-based labelling laws. Before you buy, here’s the no-fluff guide to what these fabrics are, and what they're like to sleep in.

Buckle-up people, this one's truly a shocker...

😱  🤦 

What are we talking about?

It's time to talk about bedding made from bamboo, eucalyptus, beech, sandalwood, lyocell, Tencel®, modal, viscose and other plant-based derivatives. The internet is filled with retailers claiming these products are 100% natural, 100% organic, 100% pure bamboo. And if they don't say it outright, they use terms like eco-friendly, sustainable and plant-based - often with green imagery...

OK, so these sheets are definitely natural - right?

How are fibres classified?

It's time for a quick textile lesson. Chapter 1 of Textiles and Fashion: Materials, Design and Technology outlines two broad categories for textile fibres; Natural and man-made.

• Natural fibres occur naturally and remain present in finished textiles. Examples: wool, cotton, linen, hemp, silk.
• Human-made fibres aren't naturally occurring, and are created through manufacturing. Examples: polyester, rayon, carbon fibre.

So what are bamboo fibres?

Rayon. A human-made fibre. At some point, someone decided to rebrand rayon and like most rebrands, rayon's rebrand into bamboo has been hugely successful. Here's a typical textbook classification of fibre types from Textiles & Fashion, materials, design and technology...

Put (very) simply, plant matter like bamboo, is chemically dissolved, and the resulting liquid is pushed through tiny holes to create a yarn. The original plant is completely destroyed. Good Housekeeping proved this with lab testing - there are no bamboo fibres in "bamboo" textiles. See the huge list of sources linked at the bottom.

Just calling rayon "bamboo" is a huge greenwashing win.

You can also tell it's not natural because of how shiny it looks and how smooth it feels. Natural fibres aren't this smooth or shiny. Notice how perfect rayon looks compared to a natural fibre like cotton.

So there's no question bamboo/lyocell/viscose/modal rayon isn't natural, it's human-made. But this begs the question, how do retailers get away with this?

Enter The US Federal Trade Commission

Since 2009, the FTC has warned, sued and fined retailers a cumulative $8.06 million across four rounds of enforcement - the largest-ever civil penalties for bogus bamboo marketing. Brands involved include Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, JC Penney, Nordstrom, Macy's, Kohl's, Amazon and Sears/K-Mart.

Sound familiar? Many of these brands were caught up in the fake Egyptian cotton scandal of 2016 and many spent decades dressing-up mediocre cotton in high thread counts (see Bed Bath & Beyond's 1000TC lawsuit).

But back to rayon. Under the FTC's Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and Textile Fiber Rule, rayon products can state the plant source but must identify the fibre type (modal, viscose or lyocell). However, these rules don't extend to our part of the world.

Australasian rules?

New Zealand has mandatory fibre labelling but no bamboo-specific rule. But Australia dropped mandatory federal fibre labelling entirely in 2011. Textile Institute Australia told parliament this "potentially enabled fibre and textile greenwashing" and exposed Australia as a "dumping ground."

It's little wonder everyone thinks bamboo bedding is natural, brands in Australasia can almost say whatever they like.

But what about mechanical bamboo fibre?

All attempts to commercialise mechanical bamboo fibres at scale have failed. Real bamboo fibre also feels fairly harsh or rustic (it's wood), nothing like drapey, soft rayon. The one company that tried (Litrax) cancelled the product. The only active mechanical bamboo producer makes car parts, not pillowcases. As the FTC stated in 2015...

"There is virtually no actual bamboo fibre out there, so be highly skeptical if suppliers tell you their textile products are bamboo."

It's a similar story with cost-effective "silk" seen everywhere. Rayon started as artificial silk in the 1800s. Real silk is shinier than cotton, but nowhere near as shiny as the manufactured stuff 99% of retailers sell. Real silk is also eye-wateringly expensive.

Bamboo isn't natural but it's still great for hot sleepers - right?

Christina is now postmenopausal and like most men, I've always slept hot. To find bedding that balanced our sleep temperature, we spent 16 years (at the time of writing) sleep-testing in a temperature-controlled bedroom. Not super scientific but better than how most people compare bedding heat.

We can make and sell any kind of sheet. The only reason we sell the sheets we do is because they offer the best temperature regulation after sleep-testing. And the lyocell rayon sheets we tested? We found them almost as hot as poly/cotton. So what about the claims?

• '...designed for better sleep through temperature regulation...'
• '...silk-like softness and breathability...'
• '...designed to keep you cool...'
• '...cooling and breathable for hot sleepers...'
• '...naturally breathable...'
• '...more cool and more breathable...'

Or FAQs like: "Q. Does it actually have cooling properties? A. Yes, bamboo bedsheets are naturally cooling due to their breathable and moisture-wicking properties..."

In our experience, these 'cooling' statements betray a home truth about retailers; They don't sleep-test their sheets or if they do, they aren't menopausal or hot sleepers.

Moisture-wicking is science - right?

If the internet is to be believed, it's scientifically proven that "...Bamboo fabric is known for its excellent moisture-wicking properties... keeping you cool and dry." But after sleep-testing rayon, it left us clammy and sweaty. Truly, a horrible night's sleep.

So what's going on here?

• Rayon absorbs more moisture than cotton, that part is true.
• But peer-reviewed research shows rayon (lyocell) holds onto almost twice as much moisture as cotton. It pulls sweat off your skin but stores it in the fabric!
• When researchers tested cotton against Tencel® at equal thread densities, cotton let more air through. Under the covers, airflow is what cools you.
  

"Bamboo" sheets do exactly what the science says they do. They absorb moisture, they just don't let it go. This explains why we found them so sweaty and clammy to sleep in.

If you're trying to solve temperature regulation with "bamboo" bedding, you're buying a sweat problem dressed up as a solution. And if you are sleeping better with bamboo, amazing - who cares what we or anyone else says. But your previous temperatures were likely caused by thicker bedding (high thread count, sateen, thick linen, heavy duvets) which all trap more heat. YMMV.  

Is lyocell rayon different?

In recent years, we've heard brands/consumers claiming lyocell rayon is different because it's 100% natural. So where did lyocell rayon come from? 

Researchers (some from Eastman Kodak) discovered more eco-friendly solvents to dissolve plants into rayon. From 1966 to 1979 they explored commercialisation. A UK team cracked it in 1982. This became Tencel® in 1992, now owned by Austrian company Lenzing.

Lyocell rayon uses cleaner solvents but the resulting fibre is still rayon, a human-made fibre that isn't natural.

So what does Lenzing, the owner of Tencel® say?

Note: In the next section, we share a professional conversation. Several New Zealanders insisted lyocell and Tencel® were completely natural, so we wanted to ask the trademark owner. We don’t hold Lenzing responsible for how retailers advertise rayon; in our experience they were quick to correct misinformation face-to-face. Nor do we believe the representatives we talked to, were involved in anything suspicious and neither should you. If you work for Lenzing and wish to respond, drop us an email.

At Heimtextil 2025, we talked to Lenzing, the Austrian company who owns the trade marked version of lyocell rayon, Tencel®. Initially, a junior representative told us Tencel® is natural. But a more senior representative was very quick to correct the record: "No, it's man-made."

Fact: lyocell and Tencel® aren't natural fibres

But Tencel® is more sustainable - right?

It's definitely more sustainable than other forms of rayon. And when you buy the Tencel® brand, you're also getting a guarantee that the bamboo crop is sustainably sourced. But if you're not buying Tencel®, anything goes. However, is Tencel® as sustainable as claimed? Consider this graph from the Tencel® brochure...

Tencel® has the lowest impact but look at the last sentence under the graph... 

"However, this figure only shows impacts from cradle to fibre production gate."

So it tracks the environmental impact of growing bamboo but doesn't include the impact of processing it into rayon. However, after more digging, it gets worse...

• The tool this graph is based on, is called the Higg MSI and Lenzing's VP of Corporate Sustainability sits as Vice Chair of the board. We're not suggesting Lenzing manipulated the tool. But when the company selling Tencel® holds a leadership position in the organisation scoring Tencel® as sustainable, that's worth questioning. Which is what happened next...
• The tool's own commissioned review couldn't validate the findings.
• An independent peer review found it "does not present a reliable measure of impacts to the environment" and that a full lifecycle assessment could reverse the rankings entirely.
• Norway banned Higg MSI's consumer marketing in 2022, ruling the claims "misleading."
  

Yes judge, it seems the sustainability claims around "eco-friendly" rayon deserve more scrutiny! Also, according to Canopy, 200-300 million trees are logged every year to make rayon fabrics globally - many from ancient and endangered forests. Separately, natural forests in China are being cleared and replaced with bamboo plantations to feed the growing rayon industry.

Oh, it's also less hygienic

Rayon is "readily attacked by mildews and bacteria" according to textile science literature, weakening fibres. Those "moisture wicking" claims are why "bamboo" absorbs sweat at higher rates compared to cotton, and holds onto almost twice as much. 

More moisture, held for longer, in a warm bed? That's not a hygienic advantage, it's the ideal conditions for bacterial growth.

And it seems this applies to all forms of rayon because they all share the cellulose structure bacteria feeds on.

But at least "plant-based" is true?

Yes, rayon starts with a plant. But "plant-based" only tells you what went in, not what came out. If this is the standard for calling something natural, eco-friendly, or sustainable, then ammunition is also "plant-based" and "eco-friendly" (nitrocellulose has been the standard propellant in firearms since 1884). Likewise for cigarette filters (same fibre family as Naia bedding), cellophane (same chemistry as viscose rayon), dynamite, and nail polish.

Are we the only ones who think "plant-based" claims have become absurd? Satire...

Cotton sheets contain cotton. "Bamboo" sheets contain no bamboo. That's the difference between a fibre and "plant-based" marketing.

Courts and regulators are only just catching up, with rulings against SC Johnson over "plant-based" and "non-toxic" cleaning products that contained synthetic chemicals, "apple leather" products containing 30% polyurethane. And all those "plant-based" food products? A peer-reviewed BMJ paper called out the "misleading narrative" of marketing ultra-processed foods as healthy, simply by labelling them as "plant-based." But New Zealand and Australia don't have specific bamboo textile rules, so anything goes.

OK Enough. Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

As a company selling cotton bedding (and linen), you should rightly point out the nonsense around cotton: thread count myths, fake Egyptian cotton, "organic" claims.

Also, it's a fact that fast fashion consumes huge amounts of cheap cotton which consumes land, water, pesticides, and nothing is meant to last. We don't use colour/patterns/fashion to drive obsolescence. But if rayon sheets are more sustainable, why pretend they're natural?

So we're anti-sustainability then?

We're anti greenwashing. We applaud companies creating more sustainable fibres. We monitor much needed progress but try to verify, and talk face-to-face with those leading the charge. But with so much on the line, why obfuscate the truth?

After 16 years, we trust almost no one in the textile industry. We research anything we're told. Frankly, it's exhausting. 

This is why our website doesn't contain fluffy sustainability statements. Each time we look into the latest green trend, we come away with more questions than answers.

For example, we don't fully trust the Oeko-Tex certification, as we're not 100% sure how it works. But unlike other programmes, the Oeko-Tex certification seems to modify manufacturing practices in order to gain accreditation.

By contrast, The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) doesn't. At least that's how our Portuguese team characterised it.

• BCI seems to use a "mass balance" system. A brand buys credits, but the product can be 100% conventional cotton. BCI's own website confirms their cotton is "not physically traceable to end products." A T-shirt with a BCI tag might contain no BCI cotton at all.
• In August 2025, the NZ Commerce Commission warned Kmart for advertising "100% sustainably sourced cotton." Kmart admitted its BCI cotton was mixed with conventional cotton and couldn't say which products, if any, actually contained sustainable cotton.
• Zara's parent company Inditex is now ditching BCI after an investigation linked BCI-certified cotton to illegal deforestation in Brazil. A whistleblower alleged BCI staff manipulated data.
• Better Cotton rarely checks supply chain companies for compliance. Companies don't have to provide invoices or supporting documents, and compliance checks only happen when transactions look suspicious.

To be clear, global change is difficult and it's easy to poke holes. However, after researching the above, we have to agree with our Portuguese partners. Gaining accreditation seems to be less about better practices, and more about buying credits. If you know more, drop us an email. We're always learning.

Why we don't sell organic cotton

We don't currently offer organic cotton as we can't find solid evidence organic cotton is better. Organic cotton doesn't use synthetic pesticides and has 91% reduced blue water consumption which are both huge wins. But none of the longer-lasting, top-grade cotton is organic, and it seems to deliver about 23% less yield for the same land-use.

But the real problem is that there's currently no way to test finished textiles, to verify they actually contain organic cotton.

For example, clients of European mills that we work with, said Chinese manufacturers offered to add GOTS logos to packaging, when the cotton wasn't organic. And after a little digging, we found evidence which shows why the world needs a way to test finished organic cotton textiles...

• In October 2020, GOTS detected 20,000 metric tonnes of fake organic cotton from India - an estimated 15% of India's reported organic fibre production. Fraudsters created fake government certificates with counterfeit QR codes.
• 43 companies have received GOTS certification bans, 32 in India. After the fraud, the USDA ended its organic recognition agreement with India's APEDA. Textile Exchange reported "low" data confidence for India's figures.
• India produces roughly 38% of the world's organic cotton. If the industry's own watchdogs don't trust the numbers from the biggest producing country, why should you trust the label on your bedding?

We want sustainable and ethically sourced raw materials but we don't want to press the hope button. It's not connected to anything.

The highest quality for the cheapest price

This is why we stick to selling decent cotton for the cheapest price we can. Better cotton lasts longer, which reduces the churn of resources.

And unlike "100% natural, pure, organic bamboo," cotton marketing isn't based on a fundamental lie. Cotton sheets contain cotton.

According to One Planet NZ, roughly 180,000 tonnes of clothing and textile waste ends up in New Zealand landfills every year. That's around 34kg for every person in the country. And a lecturer at the University of Otago told us that the first world donates so much textile waste, the third world doesn't know what to do with it all.

It's also one of the reasons we sell white sheets. Colour is less sustainable and fabric dyeing in some countries looks like a horror show. 

• 35% of clothing textile disposal is driven by style and fashion, not wear. Colours get thrown out when the colour fades or the pattern goes out of fashion.
• Colour forecasting is a marketing system designed to make what you already own feel outdated. Researchers call it "a powerful means for planned product obsolescence."
• The only peer-reviewed study on bed sheets specifically, found that lighter dye shades retained colour better and lasted 1.5x longer than darker shades. The shortest-lived sheets "systematically generate the highest environmental impact."
• 18% of home textile purchases are motivated by wanting a new colour or pattern. Not because the old ones wore out, but because they looked "wrong".
• A single bleach wash costs tens of grams of CO2. Manufacturing a replacement sheet set costs kilograms. Production dominates a textile's lifetime carbon footprint, over 75% of carbon and over 90% of water use according to WRAP. Every extra year you keep your sheets, the per-use environmental cost drops.

Yes, chlorine bleach has an environmental cost (don't use it on other brands sheets, and strictly follow the warnings if using it with ours). But to us, the cost is smaller than buying new textiles more often.

Is our stance on sustainability perfect?

Nope. But each time we look into sustainability claims, we come away confused. And we find it impossible to blindly parrot claims like other brands seem to.

If you love rayon, who cares

If you love rayon and it works for you, who cares what anyone says - enjoy it. Just don't think it's natural. Or do, everyone else does!

What we sleep on instead

Christina is menopausal, and like most men, I've always slept hot. The only reason we sell the sheets we sell, is because after 16 years sleep testing sheets in a temperature controlled bedroom, these sheets did the best job of regulating temperature.

But they're not a miracle cure, sleep is complex. You can't sleep in PJs or other bed clothes and expect temperature regulating sheets to work.

Likewise with puffy duvets or any kind of human-made fibre like poly/cotton or rayon, or rayon blends sold as bamboo/cotton. Avoid! And if they work for you, great. But that just means you don't struggle with temperature as much as we do.

Natural fibres like cotton or linen woven for airflow, work best. But we've found linen hotter than our cotton sheets - thickness for any reason is always hotter. This also means you have to be able to see through the sheet. The trick? Find finer sheets made from decent cotton, yarn and weaving, so you still get decent wear. Hence The Hotel Sheet.

More reading and sources

FTC enforcement actions and guidance

• USA vs Kmart & Sears
• USA vs Walmart
• USA vs Amazon
• USA vs Kohl's
• USA vs Macys
• FTC: Retailers Agree to Pay Penalties Totalling $1.26M (January 2013)
• FTC: FTC Warns 78 Retailers including Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart (February 2010)
• FTC: $5.5M Walmart & Kohl's Penalties - Largest-Ever for Bogus Bamboo Marketing (April 2022)
• FTC: Largest-Ever Civil Penalty Press Release (April 2022)
• FTC: FTC Charges Companies with 'Bamboo-zling' Consumers (August 2009) - First FTC enforcement. Four companies charged for labelling rayon as bamboo.
• FTC: How to Avoid Bamboozling Your Customers
• FTC: Bamboo Textiles
• FTC: Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
• FTC: Textile Fibre Rule

NZ and Australian labelling

• NZ Commerce Commission: Fibre Content Labelling - NZ fibre content labelling is mandatory but contains no bamboo-specific rule.
• NZ Fibre Content Labelling Regulations 2000
• Stuff.co.nz: Concerns Raised Over Bamboo Labelling (2010) - Consumer NZ found most "bamboo" clothing was rayon. No enforcement action taken.
• Textile Institute Australia: Parliamentary Submission on Textile Labelling - Australia "potentially enabled fibre and textile greenwashing" by dropping mandatory fibre labelling in 2011.

Peer-reviewed science: moisture, comfort and sleep

• Okubayashi, Griesser & Bechtold (2004): Moisture sorption and desorption on lyocell fibers. Carbohydrate Polymers - Lyocell 46.9% hysteresis vs cotton 24.7%. Lyocell holds onto nearly twice the proportion of moisture it absorbs.
• Okubayashi, Griesser & Bechtold (2005): Water Accessibilities of Man-made Cellulosic Fibers. Cellulose - Follow-up confirming hysteresis persists across conditions.
• Hassabo et al. (2022): Effect of Cellulosic Material and Weave Design on Comfort Performance. Journal of Natural Fibers - Cotton had highest air permeability at equal thread densities.
• Li et al. (2024): How do sleepwear and bedding fibre types affect sleep quality. Journal of Sleep Research - Systematic review of 9 studies. No study has tested rayon vs cotton for sleep quality.

Peer-reviewed science: antimicrobial claims

• Textile Learner: Properties of Viscose Rayon - "Viscose is readily attacked by mildews and bacteria." Rayon absorbs 9.8-13% moisture in normal conditions. When attacked, "microorganisms affect the color, strength, dyeing properties and luster of rayon."
• IntechOpen: Microbial Degradation of Woven Fabrics - Cellulosic fibres including regenerated cellulose (rayon) are susceptible to microbial degradation. Microorganisms accelerate hydrolysis of cellulose.
• PMC: The Bacterial Life Cycle in Textiles is Governed by Fiber Hydrophobicity (2021) - Hydrophilic fibres like rayon provide more favourable moisture conditions for bacterial proliferation.
• Edgar & Zhang (2020): Antibacterial modification of Lyocell fiber. Carbohydrate Polymers - "Lyocell's lack of antibacterial properties limits its application in medical and health fields."
• Wendler et al. (2024): Bioactive Lyocell Fibers. Molecules - Pure lyocell showed zero antimicrobial effectiveness.

Higg MSI sustainability scoring

• Cascale Board / Who We Are - Lenzing's VP of Corporate Sustainability serves as Vice Chair of the board governing the Higg MSI.
• Lenzing/TENCEL: Higg MSI Marketing Claims - "TENCEL scores 34 on the MSI, better than around 70 percent of textiles measured."
• Norway Warns H&M, Norrona Over Higg Claims - Business of Fashion - Norwegian Consumer Authority banned consumer-facing Higg MSI claims, ruling them "misleading" to consumers.
• Fibershed: Why You Should Be Paying Attention to the Higg MSI (2022) - 7 of 10 "worst" materials are natural fibres. Polyester scores among the best.
• Tencel® is a registered trademark of Lenzing AG. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)

• Better Cotton: Traceability - BCI confirms cotton sourced via mass balance is "not physically traceable to end products."
• NZ Commerce Commission: Kmart Investigated and Warned for Greenwashing (August 2025) - Kmart NZ could not say with certainty which products contained sustainable cotton.
• Earthsight: Fashion Crimes Investigation (April 2024) - BCI-certified cotton linked to illegal deforestation in Brazil.
• Earthsight: Complacency and Data Manipulation at Better Cotton - Whistleblower alleged BCI staff manipulated data on their platform.

Organic cotton verification

• TexFash: The Great Indian Organic Cotton Scam - USDA ended its organic recognition agreement with India's APEDA in January 2021. Textile Exchange mandated farm-level traceability from December 2022 and reported "low" data confidence for India's organic cotton figures.
• Eurofins: Organic Cotton - What You Need to Know About Testing - No lab test can verify organic cotton in finished textiles. DNA degrades during manufacturing.
• GOTS: Evidence of Organic Cotton Fraud in India (October 2020) - 20,000 metric tonnes of fake organic cotton detected.
• GOTS: Certification Bans - 43 companies banned as of January 2026, 32 in India.
• USDA terminates equivalence recognition of Indian organic control system - The USDA recently announced that they will end the organic recognition agreement with India, a scheme that had been in place since 2006.
• Fortune: What Welspun Egyptian Cotton Scandal Means (August 2016) - Welspun India substituted non-Egyptian cotton for two years. Target severed $90M in contracts.

Colour, longevity and sustainability

• One Planet NZ - Textiles - Every year approximately 180,000 tonnes of clothing and textile waste is thrown away into New Zealand landfills, equivalent to 34kg per person.
• Cassidy (2019): Colour Forecasting. Textile Progress - "Colour trends are used as a powerful means for planned product obsolescence."
• Laitala & Klepp (2020): What Affects Garment Lifespans? Sustainability - 35% of textile disposal is style-driven, not wear-driven.
• De Saxce, Pesnel & Perwuelz (2012): LCA of bed sheets. Journal of Cleaner Production - The only peer-reviewed LCA of bed sheets. Lighter dye shades lasted 1.5x longer.
• Wang et al. (2015): Carbon footprint of textile throughout its life cycle. Journal of Cleaner Production - Production accounts for over 90% of a cotton shirt's 8.77 kg CO2 lifecycle footprint.
• Cotton Incorporated (2023): Home Textiles Survey via Lifestyle Monitor - "18 percent wanted them for a new color, print, pattern, or style." Separate from worn-out replacement (19%) and general desire (25%).

Deforestation and environmental impact

• Canopy: CanopyStyle Initiative - 200-300 million trees logged annually for cellulosic fabrics. 515+ brand partners.

"Plant-based" greenwashing - cross-industry

• ISPO: Vegan Leather - All Just Greenwashing? - Germany's Higher Regional Court of Cologne ruled in 2025 that marketing plastic-based goods as "apple leather" was misleading. "Appleskin" is approximately 70% apple residues and 30% polyurethane (plastic).
• Earth.Org: Analysing the Pros and Cons of Vegan Leather - 74% of consumers surveyed didn't realise "vegan leather" contains plastic. Most plant-based leather products blend organic material with polyurethane binders.
• Ingredients Matter: What "Plant-Based" Cleaning Really Means - SC Johnson settled a $2.25M class action for labelling Method products as "plant-based" and "non-toxic" while containing synthetic chemicals. SLS made from coconut oil can legally be called a "coconut-based cleaner."
• BMJ Group: Misleading Narrative of "Healthy" Ultraprocessed Foods - Labels like "plant-based" on ultra-processed foods create false health halos. "Plant-based" doesn't mean unprocessed or healthy.
• Wikipedia: Nitrocellulose - Plant cellulose treated with nitric and sulfuric acid is the principal propellant in modern firearms since 1884. Raw material is wood pulp or cotton linters - the same cellulose sources as rayon.
• PMC: Towards a General Ban on Cellulose Acetate Cigarette Filters in the EU (2023) - Cellulose acetate (same polymer family as Naia bedding fibre) makes up 98% of cigarette filters. 4.5 trillion butts end up in the environment every year - the most littered item on earth.
• Wikipedia: Cellophane - Made using the exact same viscose process as rayon fabric. Cellulose dissolved in carbon disulfide and sulfuric acid, extruded through a slit instead of tiny holes. Same chemistry, different shape.
• Oceana: Plant-Based Bioplastics Are Not as Green as Some Think - Only 125 of thousands of US composting facilities accept bioplastics. Without industrial composting heat, they won't degrade in landfills or home compost.
• National Geographic: Are Bioplastics Better for the Environment? - The term "bioplastics" has no standardised definition and can include up to 80% fossil fuel-based plastic. Bio-based plastics "behave just like regular plastics do."

Mechanical bamboo fibre

• Bambooder: Bamboo Fiber Technology - Netherlands-based company with patented mechanical long-fibre extraction. Products are semi-finished industrial materials (yarns, UD-tapes, nets, mats) for composite applications - not consumer textiles.
• Bambooder: Products - Fibre lengths 12-50cm, used for "lightweight fiber-reinforced composite application" including car parts and skis.
• Textile World: Litrax Natural Bamboo - The Real Deal (2010) - Profiled Litrax AG (Switzerland) and their mechanical bamboo fibre. The product has since been cancelled; Litrax pivoted to functional yarns and nylon-based products.

Third-party investigations

• Good Housekeeping: The Truth About Bamboo Sheets and Plant-Based Fabrics - Tested 10 products. Not a single one contained any trace of the claimed plant fibre.
• Bears for Humanity: Setting the Record Straight

Reference books

• Textiles and Fashion: Materials, Design and Technology - Sinclair, R. (Ed.) (2015), Woodhead Publishing. Chapter 1: fibre classification.
• Synthetic Fibers: Machines and Equipment, Manufacture, Properties - Franz Fourne, Hanser Gardner Publications. Moisture absorption / comfort zone chart.

Industry and trade fair sources

• Tencel website
• Tencel PDF Brochure
• Heimtextil Textile Trade Fair
• Eastman Naia: Home Textiles - Eastman Chemical Company's marketing claims for Naia cellulose acetate fibre.
• Google: Is bamboo fabric really 100% natural?