The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) students demonstrated clothes made of bamboo in the institute premises on Wednesday. These clothes would be on display during the International Bamboo Summit scheduled at Indore from April 8 to 10.
The students told media persons that bamboo fiber and starchy pulp are made from bamboo that grows widely throughout Asian countries. Starchy pulp is a refined product of bamboo stems and leaves through a process of hydrolysis alkalization and multiphase bleaching. Chemical fiber factories then process it into bamboo fiber.
Bamboo is the fastest growing grass on earth. It is strong, renewable, durable and it can grow up to three feet each day. Bamboo as a material can be rigid or flexible, so the uses truly are endless. One of the most innovative parts of the bamboo industry has got to be bamboo textile, they added.
Regarding benefits of the bamboo clothing, Prof Sameer Sood, Joint Director NIFT Bhopal informed that bamboo has a rich, silky and soft hand feel due to the shape of the fibre. Bamboo products have natural anti-bacterial properties, which makes clothing made of bamboo remain odourless longer. Bamboo products do not irritate the sensitive skin. Being breathable and absorbent the fabric keeps the body cool and dry when it is warm, though it keeps the body warmer when it is cold.
Notably, the Summit is being organized to make Bamboo as a viable to commercial plantation and also to solicit global cooperation in bamboo sector making bamboo as the change agent for poverty alleviation and climate change.