„Production and Processing

of Bamboo Fiber

ƒPresented by:
QM GONDAL
qmgondal@gmail.com
National Textile University Faisalabad, Pakistan

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 1

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 2
Introduction
„ Bamboo grows more rapidly than trees
and start to yield within four to five years of
planting.
„ Bamboo can be selectively harvested
annually and non-destructively.
„ It grows faster than the any other faster
growing tree.
„ Some species can grow up to 1 meter per
day.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 3

Introduction (cont’d)
„ Size ranges from miniatures to towering
culms of 60 meters.
„ It generates more oxygen than equivalent
stand of trees.
„ A critical element in the balance of oxygen
/ carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 4

 Introduction (cont’d)
„ It lowers light intensity and protects against
ultraviolet rays and is an atmospheric and
soil purifier.

„ It can thrive naturally without using any

pesticide and fertilizer.

„ China has the highest number of bamboo

species and is the largest bamboo-
producing country in the world.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 5
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 6
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 7
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 8
A viable replacement for wood.

„ Its tensile strength is 28,000 per square inch

versus 23,000 for steel.

„ It is widely used in bamboo home.

„ In a plot 20m x 20m, in the course of 5 years,

two 8m x 8m homes can be constructed from the
harvest.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 9

 A Bicycles made of bamboo wood

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 10

An ancient medicine.

„ The powdered hardened secretion from bamboo

is used internally to treat asthma, coughs and
can be used a an aphrodisiac. In China,
ingredients from the root of the black bamboo
help treat kidney disease. Roots and leaves
have also been used to treat venereal disease
and cancer.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 11

Antibacterial function

„ Bamboo is antibacterial, antifungal and

anti-static.
„ Why?
„ Bamboo owns a unique anti-bacteria and
bacteriostasis bio-agent named "bamboo
kun". This substance bonds tightly with
bamboo cellulose molecules during the
normal process of bamboo fibre growth.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 12

„ Itsis tested by the Japanese Textile
Inspection Association found that, even
after fifty times of washing, bamboo
fabric still possessed these functions.
„ Bamboo clothing’s natural anti-bacteria
function differs greatly from that of
chemical antimicrobial fabrics, which
often tend to cause skin problems.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 13

Green and Biodegradable
„ Few inputs and no pesticides.

„ Other fibers such as cotton requires huge

amounts of water and extensive use of
pesticides – that pollute the environment.

„ Bamboo takes up more greenhouse

gasses and releases more oxygen and
does not need replanting, or fertilisers.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 14

„ "Bamboo fiber comes from nature and
completely returns to nature in the
end“

„ Bamboo can be 100% biodegraded in soil

by micro organisms and sunlight.

„ The decomposition process does not

cause any pollution in the environment..

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 15

Breathable and Cool
„ “keep cooler in summer and warmer
in winter”.
„ It has an unusual level of breathe ability,
„ Very cool and comfortable .
„ Due to cross-section of the bamboo fiber
is filled with various micro-gaps and
micro-holes, it has much better moisture
absorption and ventilation. With this
unique microstructure, bamboo fiber
apparel can absorb and evaporate
human sweat very quickly.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 16
Cross Sectional View of Bamboo Fiber

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 17

Longitudinal Sectional View of Bamboo Fiber

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 18

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 19
Deodorisation of Bamboo Fabric
„ Due to antibacterial qualities, it reduce
bacteria that thrive on clothing and cause
unpleasant odours.
„ It kill odours causing bacteria that live on
the skin, reduce the smell of wearer.
„ The fabric is able to take bright dye
colours well, drape smoothly.
„ This fabric ideal for cloth nappy making,

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 20

 Physical Parameters compared with other fibre

Physical Properties Bamboo Viscose Cotton

fibre fibre fibre
Linear Density (dtex) 1.67 1.67 1.67
Single dry tensile strength 2.2~2.5 2.5~3.1 2.5~3.1
(cN/dtex)
Single wet tensile strength 1.3~1.7 1.4~2.0 1.5~2.1
(cN/dtex)
Dry tensile elongation % 14~18 18~22 8~10
Moisture regain% 13 13 8.5
Absorbency rates % 90~120 90~110 45~60
Specific density (g/cm3) 1.32 1.32 1.5~1.6
Double length (mg/100g)
19 Febrauary 2009
1.2
qmgondal@gmail.com
1.2 / 21
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 22
There are two ways to process bamboo to
make the plant into a fibre

Processing of Plant

Mechanically Chemically

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 23

Mechanical Processing of Bamboo
• Similar to flax processing – “natural bamboo
fiber”
• Retting – loosens internal stalk structure
• Enzymatic process (days to weeks)
• Chemical process (boil in mild acid/alkali)
• Breaking - separates fiber bundles from stalk
• Scutching- removes extraneous material
• Hackling – separates and aligns fibers
• Labor and time intensive
• Produces linen-like fabrics.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 24
Chemical process(1)
1.Preparation:
Bamboo leaves and the soft,
inner pith from the hard bamboo trunk are
extracted and crushed;
2. Steeping :
The crushed bamboo cellulose is soaked in a
solution of 15% to 20% NaOH.
T = 20 ~ 25 C
Time= 1~ 3 hours
to form alkali cellulose.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 25
Chemical process(1)
3. Pressing: The bamboo alkali cellulose is
then squeezed mechanically to remove
excess NaOH solution.
4. Shredding:
The alkali cellulose is mechanically
shredded to increase surface area and
make the cellulose easier to process.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 26

Chemical process(1)
5. Ageing:
„ It is then left to dry for 24 hours. During this
process, the shredded alkali cellulose is allowed
to stand in contact with the oxygen of air.
Because of high alkalinity.
„ The alkali cellulose is partially oxidized and
degraded to lower molecular weights. This
degradation is to be controlled to produce chain
lengths shorter enough to give proper viscosities
in the spinning solution.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 27

Chemical process(1)
6. Xanthation:
Carbon disulfide is added to the bamboo
alkali cellulose to sulfurize the compound
causing it to jell. Any remaining carbon
disulfide is removed by evaporation due to
decompression and cellulose sodium
xanthate is the result.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 28

Chemical process(1)
7. Dissolving: A diluted solution of NaOH is
added to the cellulose sodium xanthate
dissolving it to create a “viscose” solution
consisting of about 5% NaOH and 7% ~
15% bamboo fiber cellulose

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 29

8. Spinning:
„ After subsequent ripening, filtering and
degassing, the viscose bamboo cellulose
is forced through spinneret nozzles into a
large container of a diluted sulfuric acid
solution which hardens the viscose
bamboo cellulose sodium xanthate and
reconverts it to cellulose bamboo fiber
threads which are spun into bamboo fiber
yarns.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 30

Chemical Processing of Bamboo (2)
• Similar to lyocell
• N-methylmorpholine–N-oxide (NMNO)
added to bamboo cellulose– cellulose dissolves
• Extrude into water/NMNO solution – fiber forms
• Water wash – removes NMNO
• NMNO recovered and reused (>99% recovery)
• Produces fabrics similar to rayon from bamboo.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 31

Tips in bamboo yarn producing process
when bamboo yarn is producing.
1) It is recommend a high humidity(65%-70%)
and a low temperature (25° C). If bamboo fiber
is too dry before feeding, a vapour pre-
treatment to improve its humidity.

2) As bamboo fiber shows weak cohesion, we

recommend adopting high coefficient of twist.
Low card web tension and low roving tension
is recommended.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 32

Tensile strength
3) In order to control hairiness in spinning,
by using high-quality steel ring and ring
traveler.
4) As bamboo fiber’ tensile strength is low, it
recommend that using yarn count ranging
from Ne8 - Ne60. When using 50s-60s
count pure bamboo yarn, it suggest
doubling the yarn.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 33

 Nanotechnology in bamboo clothing industry
„ It based on a bamboo clothing line made from nano-
particles of bamboo charcoal.
„ Bamboo is dried and burned in 800 °C ovens until it is
reduced to charcoal. The bamboo is processed and
converted into fine nano particles which are then
embedded into cotton, polyester or nylon fibers. This
conventional fiber yarn that contains trapped bamboo
charcoal nano particles is then woven into fabrics …
mostly socks and blankets now.
„ The active bamboo charcoal ingredients will only
remain active in the clothing for about six months of
active use.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 34
Knitting
„ Due to low tensile strength mostly knitted
product are made from bamboo.
„ No special technique is required.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 35

 Bamboo fabric weaving

1) A twist coefficient in the range of 350 to 410

turns per meter..

2) As bamboo yarn’s moisture regain rate and

elongation is relatively high, you should
maintain even and relatively low tension during
the process of warping and sizing of the yarn.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 36

Bamboo in Denim
„ In Rana Textile Mill in 2008
„ 50%/ 50% cotton/bamboo was used in
denim on request of a Turkish customer.
„ 20,000 metre is processed.
„ It price was 3.1 $/m as that of cottton.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 37

Pretreatment and Dyeing
1) Because bamboo fiber is regenerated cellulose
fiber, it is sensitive to both acid and alkali. So
you must notice the volume of alkali in
pretreatment.
2) Because bamboo fiber fabric has lower wet
tensile strength, you should adopt lower
tensions or negative tensions during dyeing &
pretreatment.
3) Recommending to choose reactive dye-stuffs in
dyeing. Reactive dye can react with bamboo
fiber molecular under weak alkali condition.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 38
General principles in dyeing &
pretreatment
„ Light-singeing:
A mild condition in singeing in
order to avoiding damaging bamboo fiber
„ Enzyme-desizing:
A high desizing rate above 80%.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 39

„ Light-Scouring:
For 100% bamboo fiber fabric/yarn you may skip the
process of scouring, because pure bamboo fiber
contains little trash and pigment. If you need to make
sure the volume of caustic soda does not exceed 10g/L.
„ Bleaching:
The processing should be made in terms of the
specification and thickness of fabrics
„ Light – mercerizing:
Because bamboo fiber owns an excellent natural shine
it does not need mercerizing. However you can use light-
mercerizing so as to improve absorbing rate of dyes.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 40

Dyeing
„ Bamboo fiber’s wet tensile strength is low.
It swells acutely in water. Bamboo textiles
are suitable to be dyed on jigger or winch
loose rope dyeing machine.
„ Note : In dyeing, the volume of caustic
soda can not exceed 25g/L. The
temperature can not exceed 100° C. In
drying you should keep low temperatures
and maintain low tensions.
19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 41
Finishing
„ Concerning finishing of bamboo fabrics and
bamboo/cotton blended fabrics, normally
intermittent drying should be applied. It suggest
not adopting direct drying such as through single
cylinder or multi-cylinder dryers.
„ If the temperature is not controlled well,direct
drying may cause many defects such as fabric
yellowing, harsh hand feeling, weft sloping and
high shrinkage.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 42

Finishing
„ As result, we choose stentering frame and rotor
drummer dryers to dry, to fix width and over
feed-in (over 5%-10%), temperature should be
kept around 130° C.
„ For drying dyed yarns, it is suggested to use
infrared loose drying in order to ensure even
evaporating , upgrade hand feeling, avoid
cohering and tenacity decreasing which may
affect the subsequent processing.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 43

Processing flow
(1) Dyed fabrics—stentering & shape setting
--softening(steeping 2 times & press 2
times) ---over-feed drying ---finished
fabrics
(2) Dyed yarns --- softening ----infrared
loose drying---finished yarns.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 44

Softening process

„ Softening process should be applied to

dyed bamboo fabrics and bamboo/cotton
blended fabrics. For dyed bamboo yarn, a
little silicon oil should also be added in
order to improve its smoothness and
weaving ability.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 45

The purpose of using softening
agent
• Reduce friction and improve its smoothness.
• Uniform bamboo fiber’s surface exertion; improve
fabric tensile strength and abrasive resistance
• improve bamboo fiber’s elasticity and drapability.
• softening agent need to be able to prohibit
bamboo textile reacting with dyes in dyeing
process.
• softening agent need to be able to prevent
bamboo textile yellowing in drying process.

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 46

Uses:
Skin Care Products:
Natural sterilisation properties make it ideal
for products like:
„ bandages
„ masks
„ surgical clothes/operating gowns
„ nurses’ wear

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 47

Bathroom Products
Excellent anti-bacterial and moisture
absorption properties make it ideal for
products like:
„ Bath and hand towels and bath robes
„ Swimwear
„ Underwear
„ T-shirts

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 48

Anti UV Products
Bamboo's anti UV properties make it
ideal for products like:
„ Children's clothes
„ Wall paper (will not discolor)
„ Curtains

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 49

Anti Damp Products
Bamboo will not go moulding in damp
conditions which makes it ideal for
products like:
„ Wallpapers
„ Curtains
„ Furnishing fabrics

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 50

19 Febrauary 2009 qmgondal@gmail.com 51