Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Company Store: You Have Made Me Fall in Love with Bamboo

I try to be as environmentally conscious as I can. I recycle my cereal boxes. I carpool to work. I try to bring buy locally grown organic produce.

So when I was asked to try out some new eco-friendly products from The Company Store, I was definitely interested. The Company Store is a retailer of fine products for the home. They specialize in down, bedding, kids bedding, loungewear, and home decor products. And recently, they started a line of bamboo towels, sheets and blankets that are environmentally healthy.

Though I had heard of bamboo being used for flooring, I had actually never heard of bamboo being used as a fabric. To be honest, I was a bit skeptical about how a blanket made of bamboo would feel. For some reason, I thought it might be a little rough.

Well, I was wrong! I received a bamboo towel and a bamboo blanket to test out and I was immediately taken aback by how incredibly soft they were. The towel felt softer than any towel I have ever touched - no exaggeration. This towel is so soft that it feels cozy enough to be used as a baby blanket. In fact, if The Company Store were to make a bamboo baby blanket, I think they'd sell like hotcakes (hint, hint!).

But back to the towel...

I love this towel. LOVE.

I washed it before using it and it maintained its silky softness. But would it be absorbant too? The answer is YES. It was more absorbant than I had expected. I was completely satisfied with it. In fact, I love these towels so much, I am buying a few for our master bathroom.

The towels are made 70% from bamboo and 30% from cotton, and according to the website, the colored towels are created with certified low eco-impact dyes and are chlorine- and softener-free. They retail for $18.00 each and can be monogrammed. (If you are a bigger person - like my husband at 6'3" - you might opt for the larger "bath sheet" which is $36). Check them out here.

The blanket gets high marks as well. Although it was a little challenging to fully try out the blanket in 100 degree weather (heh), I can tell you that it's very soft, finely woven and lightweight. I am guessing that it would keep you comfortably warm in Fall - or even Winter under a comforter. You can see the colors and sizes here.

After testing out these products, I am excited about bamboo as a fabric! The Company Store has a few other products in their bamboo line that are looking good to me too. I am probably going to indulge and buy myself the bamboo robe! I mean, I'm not only thinking of myself here (and how wonderfully luxurious it will be to lounge around in that cashmere softness all day), I'm really mainly thinking of the environment. Really, I swear. :)

1 comment:

Amanda said...

I have the bamboo blanket on my bed and I love it. I could drop some serious cash at the Company Store!